Which sugar is best for you?

When it comes to choosing the best type of sugar for your health, the answer is not so simple. While all sugars are essentially the same in caloric value and carbohydrate content, some differences in their nutrient profile can make one type of sugar a better choice. For example, some sugars such as honey and maple syrup contain antioxidants and other beneficial compounds, while others like white granulated sugar lack any significant nutritional value. The key is to consume any type of sugar in moderation and balance it with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Ultimately, the best sugar for you will depend on your individual health needs and preferences.

It is widely known that a high amount of sugar in one’s diet will result in destructive health issues across the universe. The few health risks that result in high sugar intake are insulin resistance, high blood pressure, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetes, good cholesterol inflammation, infertility, heart disease, etc.

The mentioned disease and many more will demand high medical bills to be treated if they can be treated, so thinking about it, reducing one’s sugar intake will save them a lot of money.

These stated sentences do not imply which sugar is good for health because sugars are bad for health. But the type of sugars found in a cup of fresh apple juice and the kind of sugar present in a can of soda is definitely not the same.

Difference between natural sugars and artificial sugars

Natural sugars are those sugars found in fresh, unprocessed foods, such as the sugars in fruits like the lactose present in a glass of already skimmed milk, the fructose present in fresh berries or bananas.

Unprocessed foods with natural sugars have a high content of important minerals and vitamins and low content of sodium and calories. For example, when you consume a fresh glass of skimmed milk filled with lactose sugar, its high protein content provides you with energy, and you will feel strong and full for longer than when you have a bottle of soda filled with unhealthy sugar.

When you eat fruits such as berries, peaches, apples, pineapple, etc., the fiber content will reduce the rate your body will digest them, and you won’t get as many sugar spikes as you will often get after having a muffin or some doughnuts.

Artificial sugars are the sugars added to any food substance either added by a food manufacturer, added by a chef, or added by you before it is prepared or during preparation before it is eaten. So, for example, the kind of sugars present in a can of soda, pastries like doughnuts and muffins, commercially sold fruit juice are artificial or added sugars and are the kind of sugars you need to cut down on.

Eating a bowl of mangoes or strawberries will not affect you in any way. Still, the type of harmful sugar is corn syrup, which has high fructose present in bread, ketchup, mustard, some honey, and any syrup or agave most people add to their coffee smoothie, tea.

Consumable substances like these mentioned above don’t contain important mineral nutrients like fibers and proteins. The human body will digest them very quickly, which will inevitably result in a fast increase in the glucose sugar content in our blood.

The continuous intake of these sugars will create higher blood glucose and increase health issues like heart disease/failure, obesity, and diabetes type 2.

What happens when we take in a high amount of sugar

Very famously consumed foods such as snacks, fast foods, some pastries, sweets and candies, sodas, some chocolates contain a very high amount of added and artificial sugars, which are the main culprits in increased obesity development and weight gain in many countries.

They contain love nutritive values and high calories, which may lead to the risk of getting type 2 diabetes caused from insulin resistance in the body. Artificial sugars can cause damages in the body like an increase in triglyceride level, a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that will eventually add to cardiovascular disease.

Therefore, you should reduce added sugar by not more than 10 percent of the needed daily calories for men. In contrast, women should reduce their added sugar content to about 5 to 6 tablespoons of sugar per day or 100 calories altogether.

Men can have about 9 teaspoons of sugar or 150 calories altogether. So during breakfast, when you add up to 2 tablespoons of sugar to your early morning coffee, then you have some cereal plus a granola bar which has added artificial sugar, using a commercially made salad dressing on your bread or veggies, by lunch or dinner, you would have used up your limit of artificial sugars even before the day is over.

Signs of added sugars or artificial sugars in processed foods

Most people seem to think that added sugars are only present in foods that are obviously extra sweet, such as cookies, muffins, candies, chocolate, doughnuts, and sodas.

But added artificial sugars are present in many foods we have no idea about but consume daily, such as ketchup, store-bought salad dressing, granola, dried fruits, some cereal, baby food, flavored yogurt, and flavored yogurt oatmeal, and many more foods.

Added sugar is present in sold foods in stores all around and some organic foods as well. Although now, when you look at the nutritional facts label on product packt, the amount of added sugar present is stated on the product, so you know.

How to know sugar is added to a food product

Sugar appears on many products and might be able to go unnoticed sometimes because they go by many names, and not everybody will recognize sugar in a food product; sugar has over 60 names.

Here are a few that may be present in a food product that shows there is added sugar in the product; lactose, Corn sweetener, brown sugar, rice syrup, maltose, malt syrup, trehalose, glucose, honey, fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maple syrup, fructose sweetener, turbinado sugar, invert sugar, barley malt, raw sugar sucrose, molasses pancake syrup, corn syrup.

Another way to recognize sugar is when a word ends with “ose,” and syrup indicates sugar and malt.

Can you have too many natural sugars?

The sugars found in fruits and dairy products are part of the very healthy diet humans need. But some people trying to lose weight and celebrities wanting to stay in shape may decide to eliminate all sugars, including those found in fruits, the natural ones; it is not advisable because fruits and dairy are essential.

As fruits and dairy are part of a balanced diet and can take all components of a balanced diet is too much quantity, so can natural sugars. However, you can have as many fruits as you want and still be safe on the natural sugar level side by choosing fresh homemade foods over store-bought or processed foods.

You can decide to have some slice of fresh fruits on a grilled cheese sandwich instead of some jam or jelly, which are processed products and have added sugars.

An adult needs at least 2 fruits, 2.5 value vegetables, diary (twice a day of low fat and the other no fat ), low-fat yogurt, 1.5 ounces of natural unsweetened cheese in their diet. Regarding the above stated, the diary is not necessarily required for a healthy diet but is needed in minute quantity.

People who take milk or soy milk ensure they are not sweetened to keep artificial sugars low leveled. However, please do not attempt to eliminate milk from your diet; it is a great source of calcium, a mineral that keeps bones, skeletons, and teeth strong. Orange juice and cereal also have high calcium content.

When you reduce sugar, your taste buds will eventually adapt to the new food choices, and natural fresh foods and fruits will begin to taste better. You will begin to notice that your favorite soda or cookies will become too sweet to you; this way, you would easily reduce and maybe eliminate surgery foods.

Before changing dietary choices, consider your lifestyle, your job, and the physical activity you do because no individual is the same. If you seek to add weight, having more fruits will be a way to add some healthy weight. You can decide to talk to a dietician in matters relating to your weight or sugar intake.

What about taking sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners?

Some people use artificial sweeteners in packets or regular granulated sugars in their tea or coffee. Some added sweeteners are usually seen as harmless, but food scientists have still not agreed with people that they are safe.

As for sugar substitutes, people generally classify them as natural sugar like monk fruit extracts; stevia other added sugar like neotame, saccharine, acesulfame, and sucralose. On the other hand, it is found that artificial sweeteners stimulate one’s appetite and increase sugar cravings when people take artificial sweeteners to reduce their calorie intake or lose weight.

And deciding to stop taking soda or beverages and having other diets in replacement will not give you the health or weight outcome you desire. Some scientific observations revealed that taking in too much soda in your diet is linked with 67% greater risks of diabetes type 2 and 36% of higher risks of metabolic syndrome in the human body.

Conclusions – Which Sugar Is Good For Health

However, some findings and observations on stevia stated that taking some amount of this artificial sweetener protects the body against certain cancers. It may also improve certain biochemical parameters such as fasting of blood sugar lever in people who suffer from kidney disease.

Using sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners does not really aid beneficial health outcomes. However, some people may benefit from them by improving fasting blood sugar levels, while others lose the desired weight.