Sugar And Its Effects

Amanda Beckner

Sugar, whether it enters the body in the form of fructose, corn syrup, honey, or refined will react the exact same way in the body.  One exception is when fructose is eaten in its natural state such as what is in a whole apple or banana; the body's blood sugar will not drop as low as with other sugar.

Sugar effects lean people differently than heavy people.  Sugar can actually improve an athletes performance, but with heavy people where the body is not effective at burning fat, it tends to constantly burn glucose (sugar stays in the blood and does not pass to the cells to use as energy) or glycogen (sugar stores in the muscles or liver) as fuel.

Sugar is empty calories with very little if any nutritional value to the body; it robs the body of essential vitamins and minerals.  Sugar is responsible for hyperactivity, depression, fatigue and obesity.  With the exception of complex carbohydrates, which break down very slowly and enter the blood, sugar causes the blood glucose level to raise and drop drastically; this drop causes sleepiness, emotional withdrawals (blue moods), cravings for more sugar and constipation.

Every time you eat sugar the pancreas squirts out some insulin to help remove the sugar from the blood and into the cells to be used as energy.  The heavier the body the less sensitive the cells are to insulin and won't open up and let the sugar in, so it is directed to the fat cells that are always open and welcome to visitors.  The pancreas is a small gland and does wear out from overuse which causes diabetes.  Hypoglycemia is a symptom of the body's inability to handle sugar and is the next step to diabetes.

Sugar needs to be limited in all people; some studies show it actually increases the body's risk of certain cancers.  Complex carbohydrates (whole grains, beans, brown rice and pastas, potatoes), eaten in moderate amounts at one time, whole raw or lightly steamed vegetables and whole fresh fruits are the best form of sugar for the body.  These foods break down very slowly and enter the blood stream like a trickle and seldom affect the blood glucose levels.

The best advice if you want to be healthy is limit or eliminate "sugar" from your diet.

Americans consume over 125 pounds of sugar per person each year.  No wonder we keep our hospitals and dentists in business.  Sugar offers us 4 "empty" calories per gram and has little or no nutritive value.  Always check your labels for these types of "sugar" listed below and remember when manufacturers list "sugar", they are referring to sucrose only.

COMMON SUGARS

Sucrose is common table sugar - refined, raw, turbinado, brown, cane molasses and powdered.

Lactose or "milk" sugar which occurs naturally in milk products.

Fructose or levulose - in its natural state is the "sugar" found in fresh fruit and honey; it is also made commercially from corn sugar.

Corn syrup is produced by the action of enzymes or aids in cornstarch.  High fructose corn syrup is derived from corn.

Dextrose or glucose - is also known as "blood" sugar.  All carbohydrates in the body break down into glucose.

Maltose - is manufactured from starch.

Total inert sugar -  is a mixture of glucose and fructose sold only in liquid form.

Sorbitol, mannitol, malitol and xylitol are actually "sweet" alcohols or polyols.  They occur naturally in fruit but are commercially produced from such sources as dextrose.

Agave nectar - a sweetener commercially produced in Mexico from several species of agave including Agave tequilana or blue agave, and Salmiana, green, grey, thorny and rainbow varieties.  Agave syrup is sweeter than honey, though less viscous.  Viscosity is a measure of resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by stress -  its thickness.  For example water is thin; having a lower viscosity, while vegetable oil is thick having a higher viscosity.

Stevia - is derived from the root of a plant and has no adverse effects to the body.  It also has no calories but the best part it is harmless and if you use the leaf instead of the root it can actually bump your immune system.  The root is very sweet and comes in a powder or clear liquid, where the leaf comes in liquid only and is not as sweet.  Either form can effectively be used as a sweetener.

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