Is sugar addictive? Debunking sweet myths
More and more we hear that someone can’t cope even on a well-balanced diet because they are addicted to sugar and snacking. These fears are not entirely unfounded, but the whole truth about sugars is a little more complex.
Sugar is not the same as sugar
When we talk about the presence of sugar in our diet, we usually think of the sugar contained in sweet crystals. It is much easier for us to visualise the sugar content of a given product using, for example, white cubes. In fact, sugars are just a common name for carbohydrates, which are organic chemical compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Carbohydrates are the basis of a good, balanced diet and play an important role in the proper functioning of our body.
However, not everything is as black and white as it might seem, and consequently not all carbohydrates have a positive impact on our health. We can divide them into two groups: simple and complex carbohydrates. In order not to mix things up especially, the former will function in the rest of this article as “bad” sugars, while the latter will function as “good” sugars. Bad” sugars have been deprived of fibre and many other valuable nutrients as a result of processing. In general, a diet rich in such carbohydrates leads to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Products containing “bad” sugars are mainly:
- table sugar,
- sweets,
- cakes and pies,
- salty snacks,
- fast food,
- coloured drinks,
- jams (with exceptions, e.g. Łowicz 100% Jam or Sympathica)
- ice cream,
- white bread.
The ‘good’ sugars, the aforementioned complex carbohydrates, occur in their natural form. This means that they take much longer to digest and the energy from the food is released gradually. Products rich in “good” sugars also contain a lot of fibre and the most important ingredients which support metabolism and allow us to maintain glucose levels at a constant level. They can be found in, among others:
- wholemeal bread,
- bran and oatmeal,
- buckwheat and millet groats,
- carrots, beetroot, cucumbers or tomatoes,
- wholemeal pasta,
- brown, red or black rice.
As you can see, demonising the presence of sugars in the diet is mainly due to a misunderstanding of the concept. The most important thing is to control the amount of “good” sugars consumed, while avoiding processed products rich in “bad” sugars.
| Recommendations |
| The World Health Organization (known as WHO) recommends that ‘bad’ sugars should not exceed 10% of our daily intake. If its 1800 kcal, you can eat a maximum of 180 kcal of ‘bad sugar’ in any form. |
All right, but can you then become addicted to sweets and snacks?
White death
For many years now, we have been hearing the statement that sugar is as addictive as drugs. Calling it the “white death” has a much better effect on our imagination and works very well as a message for numerous media awareness campaigns.
However, assuming that one is addicted to sugar (from the products mentioned earlier in the group of “bad” sugars) is completely unjustified and, above all, physiologically unproven. If the fact of sugar addiction really existed: during a craving for sweets, we would pour the contents of a sugar bowl into our mouths. However, this is not the first thing we reach for. There is usually chocolate, which has more than 50% of its energy content in fat, or candy bars with more than 45% fat. Again, sugar is not entirely to blame for the “addiction” to sweets.
It is all about the high palatability of the product, which depends on the amount of carbohydrates and fat in the diet, because it is the carrier of taste. In the same way, we find a baguette with garlic butter more attractive than a dry one, fried chips than baked potatoes.
Of course, there is also the other side of the coin, which is the so-called addictive eating theory. Let’s remember that although it is quite an interesting issue, it is not accidentally called a theory. Eating a meal is closely related to the stimulation of the reward system in our brain and the secretion of hormones such as, among others, dopamine, which is responsible for the feeling of pleasure. According to the theory mentioned above, our reward system can react too weakly to a meal or too strongly.
In the first case, when the response is too weak, we will eat such quantities of food that we end up giving ourselves enough pleasurable sensations. In the second, when the reward system is overactive, we may lose control due to too much desire to eat and feel pleasure.
Be an informed consumer, don’t be fooled
Poles have undergone a nutritional revolution in recent years and have become much more aware of what they eat. Unfortunately, we have to remember that producers are not asleep either, and are increasingly resorting to despicable tricks. On product labels, the ‘bad’ sugar is hidden under the name ‘glucose-fructose syrup’, and this is not the only camouflage.
Often on the shelves of healthy food we can also find products with cane sugar or honey, and these, despite some good properties, are not at all better than white sugar. Sugar is sugar – too much of it is harmful.
Even by carefully checking labels we can be fooled. Therefore, it is worth monitoring whether well-known products are recommended by nutritionists. We encourage you to use the Fitatu application. Fitatu has the most accurate health assessment of food products created by nutritionists. More information about Fitatu can be found at: https://www.fitatu.com
Sources:
http://www.medicall.com.pl/czytelnia/dobre-i-zle-weglowodany…