Is sugar ruining your health?

I recently watched a documentary called ‘That Sugar Film’, which I highly recommend you watch along with your family. It is basically the Super Size Me for sugar. I must say, I knew how bad sugar was for your teeth, but the effects it has on our bodies are mindboggling.

So are all sugars bad?

Let’s clear up some common misconceptions- not all sugars are bad for you. In fact there are several types of sugars: Glucose, Lactose, Sucrose and Fructose among many. In reality your brain needs glucose to function. It’s the sucrose and fructose that are particularly harmful. Sucrose (i.e cane sugar) gets broken down into glucose and fructose. Not only can fructose rot teeth but it also spikes up your blood insulin levels leading to the accumulation of fat cells in your blood stream, which can then settle on your arteries, vital organs and around your tummy- leading to several health problems along with the old pot-belly.

Hidden Sugars

We are facing a sugar epidemic in our country- refined sugar is found in almost every food item in our supermarket shelves (even organic/natural products) and the dangerous thing is that we think we are eating healthy, yet there is a hidden enemy in our food- Fructose!

You’ll find loads of sugar in breakfast cereals, low-fat yoghurt, breakfast spreads, museli bars, crackers, pasta sauces, marinades, you name it.. In-fact the average Australian family consumes approximately 4-6kg of sugar a week!

Sugar is so addictive it is like a drug. It stimulates the pleasure centres in the brain, which helps to make us feel good and so we keep craving it. However in large quantities it has many detrimental effects on our mood, alertness, focus, energy, appetite and health.

Is it time to make some changes?

Please take a look in your pantry and review how much processed sugar is in everything your family eats. Approximately 4g of sugar= 1 tea-spoon. You should be ideally consuming no more than 6-8 tea-spoons of sugar a day (and most of that should be in the form of natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables. Food manufacturers tend to substitute sugar for fat in many low-fat products, so pay particular attention to that. The best snacks are fresh fruit, nuts and dairy products (like cheese and plain yoghurt). It’s fine to have a sweet dessert every once in a while but let that be the exception rather than the rule.

Wishing you best of health and plenty of smiles..

Dr. Angelos Sourial