Is sugar that bad?

The sugar we eat is either from its natural source like the fructose and the glucose from our everyday fruits (orange, apple, pineapple, banana), honey, lactose in our milk, cheese; sucrose and maltose in our sugar canes and beets and added sugars present in our sweetened beverages.

Why do we need sugar?

           Sugar serves as a source of energy to the 

      body.  It serves also as a source of glucose for body 

      metabolisms

Good and bad sugar?

Added sugar is the type of sugar we get from our sweetened beverages, table sugar and other food products. This type of sugar is easily absorbed by the body hereby increasing the level of blood sugar at a rate higher than those from our raw fruits foods. This is because our fruits are made up of fibres and other nutritive constituents that slow down sugar absorption. We are advised to eat more of fruit sugars and less of added sugars to avert the risk of sugar related health issues like high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular problems etc.

Health effects?

      Excess consumption of sugar can expose one to the risk of having dental caries which is caused by sugar loving bacteria, and yeast infections too. These microorganisms are being favoured to grow in environments with high sugar concentrations which our body eventually provides.

      When there is excess sugar in the body, the hormones insulin stipulates the body to store up the glucose in fat cells; this increases the chances of diabetes, obesities and cardiovascular diseases.

      Low levels of sugar in the body can lead to Hypoglycemia a medical emergency that involves an abnormally diminished content of glucose in the blood.

What amount?

v  Recommended Daily Sugar Intake for Men: 36 grams or 9 teaspoons (9 cubes) 

v  Recommended Daily Sugar Intake for Women: 20 grams or 5 teaspoons  (5 cubes)

v  Recommended Daily Sugar Intake for Children: 12 grams or 3 teaspoons  (3 Cubes)

Do you know that?

o   a bottle of soft drink  contains about 9-10 teaspoons of sugar

o   a bottle of tonic drink contains about 6 teaspoons of sugar

o   a can of malt contains much more sugar than that of a coke.

Let’s try and take as few as possible especially not in between meals.