What’s the story on sugar?

When you think about sugar, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Most likely, you are thinking of colorful, sweet desserts like cake, cookies, candy, or ice cream, covered with creamy frosting or colorful sprinkles. You would be right; those foods contain sugar, which gives those desserts the sweet, delicious flavor. But other foods contain sugar like milk, bread, and most importantly, fruit. Some foods contain natural sugar like milk or fruit. Other types of foods contain sugar because they are added to these foods for flavor. One simple example is when someone adds sugar to their coffee or tea. But “added sugars” are added to foods while they are being processed and are typically in foods that are less nutritious. Most of the added sugars come from sucrose (table sugar) or high-fructose corn syrup (Summerfield, 2016). Fortunately, you don’t need to be concerned about the natural sugar in foods; on the other hand, added sugar could be a problem in the foods you eat if you eat them in large quantities.

Let me put it this way if, on the first day of school, your teacher gave you an entire year’s homework and then asked for you to get it done as fast as possible – that would be very stressful. And, you might think, that is pretty unfair. So now, compare that situation to your body. Your body needs only a certain amount of sugar a day; children from 2-18 years old should have less than 25 grams American Heart Association, or six teaspoons, of added sugar a day (American Heart Association, n.d.). If you ate 5 or 6 plain, glazed donuts, which is about 188 grams of sugar, a week’s worth of sugar (Cronometer: Track nutrition & count calories, 2011), your body might say, “Hey, why are you forcing a week’s worth of sugar on me?” Sounds pretty unfair, right? It is the same principle as a teacher expecting you to do a year’s worth of homework in a short time. Your body would react to the extra sugar as you would do too much homework, it would have difficulty handling the workload.

When your body processes sugar, it uses it for energy. The body needs carbohydrates for energy, and sugar is the simplest form of carbohydrate. Actually, sugar usually refers to a group of simple carbohydrates, including monosaccharides like fructose and glucose and disaccharides like sucrose and lactose (Wang, 2018). Glucose can provide energy to your body and is the main source of energy for the brain (Wang, 2018). Also, other body functions need the energy from carbohydrates to work – your heart pumps blood, your lungs use oxygen for breathing, and your body needs the energy to play video games, run, sit, watch television, eat, and sleep. All of these activities require energy, which comes from carbohydrates and sugar. To put it another way, all of the movement you are aware of or not aware of in your body is fueled by carbohydrates. 

Going back to the analogy of the homework, what if you ate way too much sugar all at once. You might feel a little sick in your stomach for a little while. But do you know what your body does with the extra sugar? It stores the excess carbohydrates or sugar in the same way you might keep your extra homework, in a locker or a file folder on your computer or iPad. Your body stores the excess energy in your cells. But if it gets to be too much, the cells expand, and boy, you could start to feel it. Because sweets and candy are small and easy to carry around, it can be easy to overeat them and eat extra calories. If eating like this goes on for years, it could cause weight gain and health problems (Wang, 2018).

So what is the answer? It is simple. Since those desserts are pretty tasty, and we don’t want to give them up altogether, it is important to learn as much as you can about sugar. Like mentioned before, there is natural sugar and added sugar in foods and drinks. Natural sugar is found in fruits and milk, and added sugar is found in processed foods like bread, cookies, cakes, cereal, and many more foods. The key is to know what you are eating and how much. You can do this by searching online in an app or looking at the Nutrition Facts Labels on foods. Then, take a quick look at the amount of “Total Sugar” and “Added Sugars” in your foods or drinks. Remember, the recommended daily limit is 25 grams of added sugar. It is perfectly fine to eat cookies, cakes, or other foods with sugar; however, fun foods should be eaten in moderation or in small quantities (Rollins et al., 2014).

Another important point to know is that soft drinks, sports drinks, and juice have a lot of added sugar. Many of these sugar-sweetened beverages use high-fructose-corn syrup (Summerfield, 2016). So, a better option for your health and your body is to drink water. Or, you could try to add a little fruit in your water to add some flavor. But, eating fruit is your best option to get that sweet taste, and fruit contains antioxidants, vitamin C, and fiber, and a piece of fruit has a lot less sugar than sugar-sweetened beverages (Wang, 2018).

Finally, your body and your health are important. You need foods like carbohydrates, which contain sugar, to have the energy necessary to participate in school or sports or just hang out with friends or do all the things you care about. So just keep in mind that you need fruit and milk and foods with sugar, but not so much that your body says, “Hey, that is way more sugar than I need right now!” Remember, your body is essential, so feed it just what it needs to keep moving and staying healthy, and not much more. One final reminder, reducing added sugar intake will promote healthy eating habits and health for a lifetime (Wang, 2018).

Resource for healthy dessert:  1 minute sugar free ice cream – only 2 ingredients

 References

• (2021). Adobe Stock. https://adobestock.com

• American Heart Association. (n.d.). www.heart.org. https://heart.org

• Cronometer: Track nutrition & count calories. (2011). Cronometer.com. https://cronometer.com

• Rollins, B. Y., Loken, E., Savage, J. S., & Birch, L. L. (2014). Effects of restriction on children’s intake differ by child temperament, food reinforcement, and parent’s chronic use of restriction. Appetite, 73, 31–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.10.005

• Summerfield, L. (2016). Nutrition, exercise, and behavior : an integrated approach to weight management. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

• (2020). Upsplash.com. https://Upsplash.com

• Wang, G.-J. (2018). Impact of sugar on the body  brain  and behavior. Frontiers in Bioscience, 23(12), 2255–2266. https://doi.org/10.2741/4704

• YouTube, (2021). 1 minute sugar free ice cream, 2 ingredients Healthy dessert. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va4dvaYPK-w