The sweet stuff is massively criticized. We overeat it – sometimes without realizing it. It makes us fat first, then sick. That is why more and more people are trying to reduce their sugar consumption. Read everything about the current state of affairs here. Sugar is a political issue.
Is Sugar That Bad?
Sugar makes you fat. Sugar is to blame for diabetes. Sugar damages the liver. Sugar is addicting – so the indictment. Scientists, sugar lobbyists, and consumer advocates are arguing about the points. Much is open.
More And More People Are Overweight
But the fact is: we are getting bigger and bigger. Over half of the adults are overweight, almost a quarter are even obese, in children and adolescents, it is around 15 percent. The researchers recorded the most significant increase in morbid obesity in the group of young adults (25 to 34 years old) – the computer and TV generation. It’s also a fact: sugar is part of the problem.
Bad For Your Metabolism
With a good four calories per gram, sugar only has a medium calorie content (alcohol has 7, fat even 9). However, its effect on metabolism is quite devastating. Table sugar is made up of fructose and glucose. With its high glycemic index, glucose ensures the release of a hormone that (controls the insulin response and) promotes fat accumulation. Fructose has a lower flex and does not cause the blood sugar level to rise dramatically, but it puts a strain on the liver. That makes the white crystal doubly unfavorable for us.
Sugar Content: Soft Drinks Are Particularly Harmful
Sweet drinks play a unique role in this. Experts unanimously advise against them. Soft drinks, juices, even smoothies, and spritzers contain too much sugar. Lemonades & Co. are one of the primary sources of fructose, responsible for liver damage and galloping progressive fructose intolerance.
Study Shows: Drinks Make The Difference
Some studies show that soft drinks make you fat and have an unfavorable effect on fat distribution. The participants were divided into four groups. They consumed either a liter of cola, low-fat milk, diet cola, or water a day for six months. Liver fat increased by 120 percent in the Cola group, muscle fat by almost 200 percent, and visceral abdominal fat by 25 percent. In the milk group, the parameters even improved. There was no change in the other two groups.
Recommendation: A Maximum Of 25 Grams Of Sugar A Day
Avoiding sweetened drinks is the most critical measure to reduce your sugar consumption. It would be desirable not to exceed a limit of 25 grams of added sugar per day. That is the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Added” means everything that the manufacturers or we add to the food.
So every spoonful of sugar or honey that we stir into the tea and everything we eat in processed foods, in the cafeteria, or the restaurant. Explicitly excluded is sugar, which is naturally contained in food – i.e., in fruits, vegetables, or milk and dairy products such as natural yogurt and quark. The latter contains lactose, which we don’t have to include in our sugar balance.
Do Without Smoothies?
Smoothies are a borderline case. It contains fruits in a pureed and very easily consumable form. In this way, we may get too much fruit. Example: Eating an apple means biting and chewing. Just thinking about it, we produce juices that help us digest the fruit. Specific satiety already sets in when eating. An apple as a mousse or smoothie, on the other hand, can be swallowed in a few seconds – without chewing work, without stimulation of satiety.
Experts Recommend: Significantly Reducing Sugar Consumption
Admittedly: 25 grams per day is tiny – namely six teaspoons. That is achieved and exceeded quickly, as our three sugar logs on the next page show. Not more than 50 grams a day would be fine! Because: We consume about twice as much on average. Our favorites are:
- Chocolate (10 kilograms per person per year).
- Pieces of cake.
- Franzbrötchen and biscuits (7 kilograms).
- Sweets.
- Gummy bears.
- Sugar confectionery (5.5 kilograms).
Sugar-Free Challenges
Sugar-Free Forever? Countless sugar-free challenges and advice are currently circulating on the Internet and in the book market. Buzzwords like “secret killer,” “white, deadly,” “sugared,” “sugar detox,” or “sugar mafia” are commonplace. On numerous blogs, the authors, or rather the authors, describe how they won the fight against sugar, give tips and provide their followers with sugar-free recipes.
No Sugar At All Is Not A Solution Either
Life, which has been forced to sweeten, is often portrayed as a panacea. Initially, there is often talk of withdrawal symptoms, but then: The pounds decrease, the intestine calms down, the skin becomes more beautiful, blood values are regulated, the energy level increases, and, and, and. Of course, it is suitable for each of us to eat less sugar. Gut and weight will undoubtedly benefit from this in the long term.
But nobody should believe that everything will be fine without sugar. We, therefore, recommend that you pursue realistic goals. If you want to ban sugar from your life completely, you have to invest a lot of time and energy. The project becomes the dominant topic – at every celebration, with every invitation, in everyday life. Better: Reduce your sugar intake as best you can, but don’t scourge yourself if you sin! Learn more about food and hidden sugar traps without getting dogmatic and dogmatic.
Syrup, Stevia, Sweetener: No Better
Unfortunately, there is no carte blanche. We need to re-educate our tastes.
- Sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, or stevia have advantages over sugar: no calories, no tooth damage, and their glycemic index goes to zero. But whether they help you lose weight has not been proven. Although they are well researched, they remain highly processed. Experts argue about their effect on metabolism. Are they fooling our satiety regulation? Do they make us hungry in the end? It doesn’t matter: Sweetener-sweetened candies or cola drinks are NOT part of a healthy diet either way.
- Sugar substitutes such as sorbitol, mannitol, or erythritol (known as Bircolin) consist of sugar alcohols and have fewer calories than table sugar. They are considered harmless but can have a laxative effect in larger quantities. If you only consume the expensive substitute products in small quantities, you can just as quickly take sugar.
- Natural sweets such as honey or vegan alternatives such as agave syrup and maple syrup are particularly harmful to teeth. Although they are more natural, they only contain traces of vitamins and minerals.
Conclusion:
Whatever your preference – no sweetener is “healthy” according to the motto: the more, the better. On the contrary: we should consume as little of Everyone as possible.
