Why is granulated sugar harmful? The harm of sugar, the bitter truth about sugar. Sugar flushes calcium from the body

What does the word “sugar” mean? This is the most popular product, which no housewife can do without in the kitchen. Sugar is not an independent product; it is added to various products: jams, baked goods and other food products. Sugar looks like a white crystalline powder or in the form of small pieces - refined sugar, which children love to chew.

Almost every day-to-day food we eat contains sugar. This sweet product came to us more than 150 years ago. In those days it was a very expensive product and for the poor, ordinary people was a rare treat. Sugar was not sold in stores, as it is now, but in pharmacies. It was weighed on pharmacy scales and sold by the gram.

Back then, sugar was obtained from a plant – sugar cane. Its stems contain a large amount of juice, which tastes very sweet. Much later, people learned to obtain sugar from another plant - a special type of beet. And now in Russia it is customary to eat sugar, which is made from beets.

This sweet product itself is very energetic, as it contains pure sucrose, which, when entering the human body, is divided into two components: glucose and fructose. They are absorbed in the body in a matter of minutes. One hundred grams of the product contains more than 400 calories.

How much sugar should you eat?

From statistical data we can conclude that every Russian consumes about 100 or more grams of sugar per day. This amounts to almost a kilogram per week, and a huge figure per year. But in the United States, the average resident eats 90 grams more sugar than a Russian. Slightly less sugar is consumed in Asia and other European countries. But, according to doctors, people can easily do without this product, since the body does not feel an urgent need to get sweets. And the daily norm is only 30 grams of sugar per day.

Harm of sugar to the human body

MirSovetov will again resort to statistical data. Sugar is very harmful to the human body, especially when consumed in excess.

Let's look at the main ailments caused by excessive consumption of sweets:

1. Suffering the immune system, weaken the body's protective functions.
2. Violation, deficiency of vital minerals and vitamins.
3. A sharp increase in adrenaline can cause an excited state in children.
4. Increased cholesterol levels.
5. Sugar is an excellent food for cancer cells. Could be the reason reproductive organs, gastrointestinal tract.
6. Increases glucose levels and may cause severe hypoglycemia.
7. Calls.
8. The human body ages prematurely.
9. The risk of leading to...
10. Destroys tooth enamel.
11. Leads to excess weight.
12. Leads to asthma and sclerosis.
13. Calls.
14. May cause .
15. Affects glucose levels in women taking birth control pills.
16. Reduces vitamin E levels.
17. Affects the level of insulin in the blood.
18. Lowers blood pressure.
19. Causes apathy in children.
20. Promotes the development of allergic reactions.
21. Leads to .
22. Causes skin diseases in children.
23. Affects the normal functioning of the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and intestines.
24. Helps retain excess fluid in the body.
25. Causes a sharp .
26. Promotes the development of depression and causeless aggression.
27. Affects sexual functions in men.
28. During pregnancy, it can even provoke premature birth or delay in fetal development, the birth of a child with low body weight.
29. May provoke an attack.
30. Leads to increased blood pressure in overweight people.
31. Causes dehydration in newborns.

As you can see, the results of eating sweets in excess of the norm are disappointing. In addition to the above, taking this product causes rashes to appear on the face at any age. People with a sweet tooth have a metabolic disorder and new ones are added to the collection of ailments, since the human immune system cannot cope with the load.

“Sweet poison” acts on the body very slowly, without causing concern in humans. If you didn’t know, MirSovetov will tell you about the main thing: when a person has eaten a sweet product, his body, in order to absorb sugar, spends its reserves - the level of calcium is depleted, which is gradually washed out of the bone tissue.

Do you remember the feeling when the crystals creak on your teeth? This exposure to sweets negatively affects the oral cavity. Sticking to the enamel, the crystals continue to do their “work,” which leads to further tooth destruction. In addition, acidity in the oral cavity increases, and this is a direct path to the proliferation of bacteria.

Sugar and fats.

When a person eats a lot of sweets, glycogen is deposited in his liver, it significantly exceeds the norm and then the body begins to store sweets, forming fat reserves. “Sugar” fats are easy to recognize - they accumulate on the stomach and thighs.

Aging.

Eating too much sweets can cause your skin to become dehydrated and wrinkles to appear. ahead of schedule. This occurs because excess sugar is deposited and collagen reserves are depleted. Any sweets are a killer of the human body.

Loss of vitamins.

Sugar is not even large quantities can harm the body and destroy vitamins. This primarily concerns B vitamins, which are involved in digestion processes. In order to absorb the amount of sugar that enters the body, it must work hard: extract vitamins from its reserves (muscles and organs). Consequently, the more often excess sweetness enters the body, the more it will be depleted. This can lead to fatigue, decreased vision, skin problems and even cause a heart attack.

Effect on the heart.

Excess white sugar in the body leads to heart disease, and a lack of thiamine can even lead to cardiac arrest.

Energy.

Many people believe that if they eat a lot of sugar, they will have a lot of strength and energy. Although sugar is an energy carrier, it causes a deficiency of thiamine, and it turns out that energy is not produced. A person feels a short-term surge of strength, and then wilts and his activity decreases.

Due to the consumption of sweets above the norm, a person may experience an attack of hypoglycemia - he begins to feel fatigue, nausea, and even twitching of his fingers.

The most dangerous thing.

Sugar can reduce the functioning of the immune system by almost twenty times! This is a direct path to the development of diabetes mellitus - an unpleasant and incurable disease. And it is expressed in the body’s inability to absorb sugar. If there is an excess of sweets, the immune system suffers significant disruptions, even causing death.

What to do

The recipe is simple - to restore health, you need to eliminate sugar from your daily diet. You shouldn't do this 100 percent. It is necessary to exclude the use of refined products, do not eat a lot of sweets, cakes and condensed milk. Try to drink tea without sugar, try replacing it with a spoonful of honey (but do not put honey in hot tea!). Avoid eating sweets and chocolate.

Know your limits and love yourself!

When we hear the word “sugar,” many people immediately think of the sweet white powder that we add to coffee. However, table sugar, or sucrose, is only one type of sugar used in food.

Sugars are low molecular weight carbohydrates, organic substances with a similar structure. There are many types of sugars: glucose, fructose, galactose and others. At least in small quantities Various sugars are present in most foods.

Another name for low molecular weight sugars is carbohydrates. This group also includes:

• starch (an oligosaccharide found in potatoes, rice and other foods);
• dietary fiber (in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits and berries);
• materials like chitin, which makes up the shells of crustaceans, or cellulose, which contains the bark of trees.

Ultimately, complex carbohydrates are broken down into simple carbohydrates in the body, and the only difference between them is the complexity and speed of absorption. For example, sucrose, a disaccharide consisting of fructose and glucose, is digested faster than dietary fiber, a mixture of polysaccharides and lignin.

So if you eat foods high in fiber, they will take longer to digest, your blood glucose levels will slowly rise, and you will feel fuller longer.

This is what distinguishes slow sugars, for example, buckwheat, from fast carbohydrates (chocolate). Essentially, they break down into the same monosaccharides, but the low rate of absorption (in addition to fiber and vitamins) makes buckwheat more beneficial.

Why do we love sugar so much?

Sugar molecules contact receptors on your tongue that tell your brain that you're eating something really tasty.

Sugar is perceived by our body as a good food because it is quickly absorbed and provides enough calories. In times of famine, this is of decisive importance for survival, so the sweet taste is recognized by the body as something pleasant.

In addition, fruits naturally contain a lot of sugar, which are also full of vitamins, minerals and energy.

However, not all people love sugar equally. Some eat it in small doses - it is enough for them to eat one candy with tea to be satiated. For others, a whole box of sweet donuts isn't enough.

The love for sweets depends on many factors:

• depending on age (children love sweets more and try to avoid bitter foods);
• from eating habits learned in childhood;
• from genetic characteristics.

Is sugar to blame for weight gain?

It seems that with sugar everything is simple: the more sugar you eat, the more fat you get. In reality, everything is much more complicated. There are recent studies that show that sugar is not the root of all ills.

Study 1. Effect of carbohydrates, sugar and insulin on weight

In the study Calorie for Calorie, Dietary Fat Restriction Results in More Body Fat Loss than Carbohydrate Restriction in People with Obesity. In 2015, Dr. Kevin Hall tried two diets, low fat and low carb, to see which worked best.

During the study, 19 participants spent two weeks on each diet. The interval between diets was 2–4 weeks of normal nutrition.

Study 2. Sugar while dieting

Another study Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss. showed that as long as the calorie intake is met, sugar intake does not make much of a difference. The study involved 44 women over 40 years of age.

For six weeks, all participants followed a low-calorie diet: they consumed approximately 1,350 kcal per day, 11% of total calories in the form of fat, 19% in the form of protein and 71% in the form of carbohydrates.

Moreover, half of the subjects consumed large amounts of sucrose (43% of total energy), and the other half only 4%.

As a result, women from both groups experienced weight loss, a decrease in blood pressure, in the body and fat in the plasma. Small differences between groups were found only in cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels.

This study also proves that as long as you eat enough calories, the amount of sugar does not affect your weight gain or body fat percentage.

There is another study Effect of eucaloric high- and low-sucrose diets with identical macronutrient profile on insulin resistance and vascular risk: a randomized controlled trial., which proves that sucrose does not affect weight gain. In it, two diets were identical in terms of calories and macronutrients, but in one sugar made up 25% of total calories, and in the other - 10%. As a result, participants from both groups did not change in weight, glycemic profile, or vascular health.

Based on research data, a certain conclusion can be drawn.

Sugar does not promote fat storage unless you exceed your daily calorie intake and reduce your protein intake.

However, sugar can still cause obesity, but not directly, but indirectly.

How sugar makes us fat

The negative effect of sugar on weight is explained by the fact that sweet foods are very high in calories. By consuming more sugary foods, you risk greatly exceeding your calorie allowance, which leads to weight gain.

At the same time, as we said above, our body loves sweet foods and is capable of consuming them in large quantities. Such food is quickly and easily digested, stimulates the pleasure center in the brain and makes you feel...

It is this aspect, and not sugar itself, that makes sweets such a dangerous product for health.

Does sugar increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes?

In type 2 diabetes, the body develops insulin resistance and poor glucose control. The hormone insulin can no longer do its job of transporting glucose into the body's cells, so blood glucose levels rise.

This disease is also related to how much fat we accumulate in the liver or around other organs such as the heart or kidneys. And since excessive consumption of fast carbohydrates increases the accumulation of fat in the body, sugar actually increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.

However, the biggest influence on the occurrence of diabetes is the total percentage of body fat and the amount of physical activity.

So a recent meta-analysis Importance of weight management in type 2 diabetes: review with meta-analysis of clinical studies. showed that 60–90% of all types of diabetes are associated with excess weight, and not at all with the amount of sugar consumed. And the main goal of diabetes treatment is weight loss, not the amount of sugar.

This is due to the fact that fat in the body is not just energy reserves for the future, but biologically active tissue that produces hormones. If we have too much fat, it can disrupt metabolic balance, including how the body regulates blood sugar.

In most studies, scientists consider the main causes of diabetes to be:

• increase in body fat percentage;
• insufficient physical activity;
• genetic predisposition.

Controlling your sugar intake is only a small part of preventing type 2 diabetes. It is more important to control the amount of fat in the body and physical activity.

Does sugar affect the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases?

As with type 2 diabetes, sugar indirectly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The high caloric content of sugar increases the possibility of weight gain, and fat, as a biologically active tissue, increases the risk of heart disease.

In addition, as the study above showed, a diet high in sucrose increases cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels, which also negatively affects vascular health.

However, the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases is influenced by many different factors: the presence bad habits, lifestyle, ecology, stress level, physical activity, amount of sleep, consumption of vegetables and fruits.

The amount of sugar you consume certainly affects your heart and vascular health, but considering all the other factors listed above, it's only a small piece of the puzzle.

How much sugar can you eat without harming your health?

In the manual Guide to Sugar Intake for Adults and Children. on sugar consumption, the World Health Organization calls for reducing refined sugar consumption to 10% of total calories. That is, if you consume 2,000 kcal per day, then 200 of them can be obtained from sugar. This is approximately 50 g or ten teaspoons.

However, WHO notes that by reducing your sugar intake to 5% (25g or five teaspoons) per day, you will reduce your risk of developing obesity and.

It should be noted here that the figures refer only to refined sugar, so you can eat sweet fruits without fear of breaking the rules.

conclusions

It cannot be said that sugar is useful substance because this is not the case. It does not contain vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, water or dietary fiber. Eating a lot of sugar won't make you stronger or healthier - it has no protein or unsaturated fatty acids.

But you shouldn’t demonize it by blaming all your health problems on sugar.

Health, like illness, is built from many factors, and sugar itself cannot be the cause of obesity and the development of dangerous diseases.

Maintain your calorie intake, eat enough protein, fruits and vegetables - and a few spoons of sugar or a sweet donut will not harm your health and figure.

Sugar consists of glucose and fructose. Without these white grains, it is sometimes difficult to even imagine delicious coffee or tea. In this article we will tell you whether the body needs sugar, whether it is beneficial and how much it should be consumed per day.

The effect of sugar on the human body is controversial

The effect of sugar on the human body

Glucose and fructose entering the body are used as energy sources. Glucose also helps neutralize various toxins, which is why it is often injected into the blood during poisoning. It also stimulates the production of the “joy hormone” – serotonin. That is, sugar gives a feeling of emotional uplift, allowing a person to feel happy. But this is only one, bright side of the effect of sugar on the body.

The negative effects of this sweet product are much greater. In case of excessive use in humans:

· metabolic disorders occur;

· the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases increases;

· significantly weakens the immune system;

· skin ages and fades prematurely;

Skin rashes occur;

· calcium is washed out;

· increased risk of developing osteoporosis;

· diseases of teeth and gums occur;

· fat reserves are deposited;

· lack of B vitamins begins;

· there is a feeling of false hunger, leading to overeating and obesity;

· the amount of cholesterol in the blood increases;

· insulin production is suppressed;

There is a risk of developing diabetes mellitus;

arise allergic reactions;

· a feeling of addiction appears, forcing you to consume more sweets.

This is why sugar is harmful to the body. Scientists compare addiction to it with drug addiction - the impact of this product on nervous system. And the more sugar in the blood, the worse the immune system begins to work.

Due to the enormous negative impact of refined sugar on the body, experts recommend excluding this product from the diet. However, you won’t be able to completely remove it from your menu, because sugar is found in many foods (for example, it can be found in mayonnaise, bread, pastries, yoghurts, etc.).

About 160 years ago, sugar was first brought to Europe, however, at that time this pleasure cost a lot of money, sugar was sold exclusively in pharmacies and was literally “worth its weight in gold.” Commoners could not afford to buy sugar, perhaps that’s why healthy people there was more then...

Today, sugar is not a delicacy available to a select few, but an everyday food product, and, moreover, a very harmful one. Even excluding the fact that pure form Sugar is not consumed, because most often it is an additive to various dishes; this product causes damage to our body, which is difficult to overestimate. Initially, the raw material for production was sugar cane, since its stems contain a huge amount of sweet juices. Later, sugar beets also stood on a par with sugar cane; today, about 40% of sugar is obtained from it (sugar cane is used to obtain the remaining 60%). Sugar contains sucrose in its pure form, penetrating into the body, it is divided, and we receive a shock dose of fructose and glucose. These two elements are absorbed in a matter of minutes, so on the one hand, sugar is an excellent source of energy. That's probably all that can be said positive about sugar. It is known for certain that this product is just a highly purified, easily digestible carbohydrate, especially when it comes to refined sugar. Sugar does not carry any biological value, nothing but calories -100 g/380 kcal - impressive, isn’t it?

Harm of sugar to the human body

If a person wants to bring all the processes of his body back to normal, he should first of all think about the correct nutritional system, which will almost completely eliminate the consumption of sugar. The motivation for giving up sugar for some people, especially women, is the fact that an abundance of calories greatly changes their figure for the worse. However, the harm of sugar to the body also lies in the fact that this product:

• Helps reduce the body's protective functions (almost 20 times);
• Causes various fungal diseases;
• Initiates the process of kidney destruction;
• Provokes the development of oncology;
• Destroys the cardiovascular system;
• Promotes sudden surges in glucose/insulin levels;
• Causes diabetes;
• Contributes to the onset of the process of obesity;
• In women who are pregnant, it causes toxicosis;
• Promotes feelings of false hunger;
• Slows down the digestion process;
• The body's absorption of nutrients/minerals/proteins stops;
• The body begins to suffer from chromium deficiency;
• Helps reduce the body's absorption of calcium/magnesium;
• Helps the body stop receiving B vitamins;
• Promotes the development of peptic ulcers;
• Provokes the occurrence and development of arthritis;
• Leads to the fact that a person begins to experience sudden and unreasonable changes in mood;
• In children, it causes an increase in adrenaline levels;
• Causes a person to become overly excitable;
• Promotes irritation and anxiety;
• Promotes stress and tension;
• Promotes depletion of energy reserves;
• Reduces concentration levels;
• Reduces the quality of vision;
• Causes the development of caries;
• Leads to the onset of the early aging process and the appearance of wrinkles;
• Sharply worsens the condition of teeth, skin and hair;
• Promotes disruption of DNA structure.

This list of harmful effects of sugar can be continued for a long time, and all of them have been confirmed in the process of medical research.

And at the same time, we consume sugar not because it is really necessary for our body, since, as already noted, sugar does not contain any minerals or vitamins, but to please our own desires to eat tasty food. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that this substance is part of most products that are on store shelves. Thus, a person, one way or another, whether he wants it or not, consumes sugar. According to statistics, about 150 g of sugar enters the body of our compatriots every day. So, in seven days we consume about one (!) kilogram of a harmful product. While the World Health Organization has withdrawn daily norm sugar, and this is only about seven teaspoons (30 g). And even if you strictly adhere to this norm, your body still receives significant damage.

Harm of sugar for men

In addition to the general harm that sugar consumption has on both the female and male body, sugar causes individual harm to men. Sugar is especially harmful for males who consciously give up an active lifestyle. In this case, consuming sugar in excessive quantities increases the number of harmful lipids in the blood. Excessive levels of lipids inevitably lead to the development of atherosclerosis, which will result in vascular damage. For men, this is fraught with a decrease in potency, since erectile dysfunction is a consequence of incompetent arteries. And, in addition, men are more likely than women to suffer from myocardial infarction, strokes and thrombosis.

Books about the dangers of sugar

Today, when it came into fashion healthy image life and many healthy eating methods have been developed, a fairly large number of printed publications have appeared about the dangers of sugar. Some of them are really worthy of attention:

1. “We are all one step away from diabetes. Stop the destructive sugar cravings and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes", author: Reginald Allouche. The book describes the reasons why we unwittingly become hostage to sugar. At the same time, the author talks about two pandemics: prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. The author urges his readers to be more attentive to this problem, since at the stage of prediabetes, the situation can be changed, but at the stage of type 2 diabetes, the nature of the processes is irreversible. The book also offers a test, after passing which the reader will be able to understand what stage he is at, which means he will have a chance to take timely measures to take the path of healing;
2. « Healthy eating sugarless", author: Rodionova Irina Anatolyevna. In this publication, the author describes in detail the dangers of consuming sugar and offers us many delicious and delicious recipes. healthy dishes, which can not only replace sweet pleasures, but will also help remove sugar from the body;
3. “Sugar trap. Win back your health from insidious candy manufacturers and overcome unhealthy cravings for junk food in just 10 days,” author: M. Hyman. Here the author tells us how we, without noticing it, fall under the influence of sugar. But its effect is akin to the effect of narcotic substances, which destroys us from the inside. Also presented here are ways to avoid falling for the “sweet” hook;
4. "Sugarless. A scientifically based and proven program for getting rid of sweets in your diet", by Jacob Teitelbaum and Krystle Fiedler. The publication presents a program that can teach us to live without sweets and at the same time not feel constant dissatisfaction from eating. At the same time, readers have no reason not to trust the authors of this publication, since this qualified doctors With many years of experience practices under your belt;
5. “Sugar is a sweet temptation. Important health information about sugar and practical advice on its use”, author F. Binder. The title of the book speaks for itself; it presents a program that consists of seven steps, after going through which we will learn how to use this product correctly;
6. « Sugar", author: M. Kanovskaya. The purpose of this book is to dispel our erroneous judgments that we eat sweets because our body “requires” it.

Having carefully read at least one of the above books, we will come to the understanding that life without sugar is real, and all our reasoning that sweets are healthy in small doses is nothing more than an excuse for our own weakness.

How to replace sugar without harm to health

The harm of sugar to health is a scientifically proven fact, and it’s no secret that in order to remain young, slim, beautiful and at the same time feel great, you should give up sugar. However, it is almost impossible to stop drinking sweet tea, stop eating cakes, ice cream, and so on overnight. To make this task easier for yourself, you can replace sugar:

• Various sweet berries;
• Honey;
• Dried fruits and fruits.

These food products will not only replace your usual sugar, but will saturate your body useful elements: minerals, vitamins, fiber.

But what about lovers of baked goods and multi-ingredient dishes? Solving such a problem is not so difficult, it is enough to give preference to:

• Vanilla extracts;
• Brown sugar;
• Essences.

However, it should be borne in mind that the above substances are strictly prohibited for use by those suffering diabetes mellitus. But a healthy gourmet will never distinguish between a cupcake baked with essence and a cupcake baked with the addition of the usual sugar! Tea drinkers also have a fairly large selection of substances that are considered a complete replacement for sugar in terms of taste:

• Fructose;
• Stevia;
• Saccharin.

Naturally, drinking cookies, cakes and other sweets with tea is strictly prohibited; replace them with dried fruits or a muesli bar, fortunately, there is a large assortment of them in stores and pharmacies.

However, even if you can boast of enormous willpower and are able to completely stop eating sugar in one minute, you cannot do this. Such an extreme measure will cause enormous damage to the body and well-being; apathy, fatigue, and irritability are guaranteed. In addition, the body will lose a large amount of glucose. That is why, even despite the proven harm of sugar for humans, it should not be eliminated, but replaced! Even insulin diabetics should adhere to this principle. The best “ersatz” sugar is fructose, however, its consumption should be reduced to the norm - 40 g/day.

So, drawing a conclusion, we can absolutely say that sugar in its pure form in large quantities is evil. You need to get used to this yourself and teach your children from childhood so that they grow up healthy and in the future they don’t have to fight with themselves and give up sweets. Moreover, to find a worthy alternative sugar is allowed!