Pirogova Irina Yurievna
Gastroenterologist-nutritionist, doctor of integrative medicine
Not so long ago, sugar was used as a spice. But today sugars have become almost a staple food product. We consume almost 20 times more of them than our not so distant ancestors did.
Why this happened is not so difficult to guess.
Popular recommendations in recent decades to eat a low-fat diet have led to an increase in sugar consumption. After all, a holy place is never empty.
And the drama of the situation also lies in the fact that the entire food industry today is structured in such a way that it uses a lot of sugars in its work. Therefore, it is not surprising that large industrial corporations spend billions of dollars to provide their products with a scientific basis, for example, with the help of assurances that sugar is safe and problems with excess weight are associated only with insufficient physical activity in modern people.
Fortunately, today there are many groups of researchers, independent of the money of food corporations, who expose the harm of sugars and convey the results of their research to the general public, for example, using Internet resources such as SugarScience.org.
To understand the dangers of sugar in more detail, you first need to understand
Feel tired after eating
Think about how you feel after eating something sweet. If you reach for coffee after dessert and start to fall asleep at your desk, this may be due to fluctuations in your blood sugar levels.
According to nutritionist Amadna Dale, RD, people whose bodies process sugar normally feel energetic and full after eating sweet foods. Those who are especially sensitive to sugar, on the contrary, feel irritability, drowsiness and loss of energy.
Is it possible to eat fruit?
When people learn that fruits containing large amounts of fructose are not something absolutely healthy, and, moreover, can contribute to excess weight gain, they immediately ask the question - is it really impossible to eat fruits?
Of course, it's not all bad. The benefits of fruits do exist, and they consist in the presence of a large amount of nutrients in them, for example, vitamins, as well as the presence of antioxidants and fiber.
Therefore, you should not strive to completely exclude fruits from your diet. You just have to be aware. Fruit is a dessert, just like any other sweet. So, you can’t end your meal with dessert and fruit. Either fruit or dessert. However, for those who are losing weight, both fruit and dessert are contraindicated after lunch. But people with normal weight should choose one thing.
However, if you are already overweight, you should be extremely careful when including fruit in your diet. When eating fruit, remember that you are eating fructose and that the safe daily amount is strictly limited.
You've become very emotional lately
Unstable mood can be caused by fluctuations in blood sugar levels. In addition, there are studies that show a link between the consumption of sugary and carbohydrate foods and drinks and depression.
While there can be many reasons for poor mental health, what we eat has a significant impact on our physical and mental well-being. The easiest way to find out if your increased emotionality is related to sugar is to cut back on your sugar intake for a while and see how you feel.
Why do you want sweets?
The answer to this question has two components.
Firstly, sugar acts on the brain like a real drug - morphine or heroin. This chemical compound causes the same changes in the production of opioid peptides as these hard drugs. And this is why giving up sugar is so difficult. After all, at its core, this is nothing more than drug addiction treatment.
Secondly, eliminating sugar from the diet or at least reducing its consumption is fraught with a constant feeling of hunger. This is explained by the fact that 95% of people in modern Western society use carbohydrates rather than fats as their primary source of energy, and therefore the initial stages of giving up sweets and switching to fat metabolism can be associated with certain difficulties.
Sugar is still sugar by any name.
The sad thing is that most people find it very difficult to determine how much sugar they consume. After all, there are different types of sugar, which, by the way, is indicated on product packaging. It can be:
- dextrose
- maltose
- galactose
- maltodextrin.
The names are different. But the essence is the same. It's all sugar.
The modern food industry uses sugars to produce 74% of its products. Moreover, in more than half of the cases, sugar is hidden under different names. Therefore, it is not always easy to understand where it is and where it is not.
Obviously, sugar is present in sweet baked goods or ice cream. But not all of its sources are so noticeable. Hidden sources of sugars that act on the sly are a huge danger. After all, few people think about the fact that all industrially produced pickled cucumbers and ketchups, dumplings and sausages abound in sugars.
But that's not all.
The worst thing is that sugar, and specifically fructose (the most evil of all sugars, as will be discussed below) is found in those products that are considered healthy. These are fruits (dried and fresh), honey, juices.
Most people believe that if a product has no sugar and its glycemic index is low, then it is healthy.
Nice nice theory. Only she is not faithful. Fructose does not have a high glycemic index. But this does not prevent her from dealing a crushing blow to her health.
From hunger you feel severe weakness, dizziness, irritability
Low blood sugar can cause a condition called hypoglycemia. Symptoms of this syndrome: increased aggressiveness, irritability, sweating, dizziness, nausea, hunger, general weakness. After sweet food or drinks, a person quickly feels better, but not for long.
If you feel similar symptoms that go away after a snack, you should contact your doctor.
You experience strong cravings for sweets
If you constantly crave sweets or feel that you are not full, although you eat quite a lot of unsweetened food, the reason may also be due to surges in blood glucose. Regular cravings for sugar occur due to a decrease in sugar levels in the body. Addiction can manifest itself in the need to necessarily end each meal with dessert or snack on something sweet during the day.
Avoiding sugar in foods
Refined sugar is addictive, improves taste, and manufacturers make the most of these properties of an inexpensive product, adding it not only to confectionery, but also to bread, pickled vegetables, sausages, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc. If you completely abandon it, the range of products purchased in the supermarket will be significantly reduced. But by eliminating sausage, mayonnaise, shelf-stable sauces, candies, cookies and other sugar-containing products from your diet, you will maintain your health and reduce the risk of developing diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. Without them, it’s easy to create a varied, delicious everyday or holiday menu. To ensure that the body receives enough energy, use foods rich in proteins and carbohydrates: cereals, meat and fish, vegetables, fruits.
Do you feel pain in your joints?
Another negative side effect of consuming more sugar throughout the day is unreasonable body aches and pains that are caused by inflammation in the body. According to nutritionist Lauren Minchen, regular spikes in blood glucose levels can lead to overall inflammation, which contributes to aging, poor digestion and joint pain. If you feel like you're falling apart, it might be time to rethink your diet.
Treatment
Help before diagnosis
To reduce discomfort, first of all you need to change your diet: limit the amount of sweets, white bread, fatty foods as much as possible, increase the content of protein foods, fresh vegetables and fruits. It is important to maintain an adequate drinking regime. To get rid of the obsessive aftertaste, you can eat citrus fruits and drink water with lemon juice.
Doctors recommend maintaining oral hygiene: brush your teeth thoroughly 2 times a day, and use dental floss or a toothpick after eating. To effectively clean the interdental spaces, use a mouthwash or irrigator. A sweet taste that occurs against the background of abdominal pain, heartburn, nausea or vomiting is an indication to consult a specialist.
Conservative therapy
Treatment tactics depend on the cause of the cloying-sweet sensation. Drug therapy is combined with local effects - rinsing the mouth with antiseptic solutions or herbal decoctions, medicinal pastes on the area of the dental canals. The treatment regimen for diseases accompanied by a sweet taste in the mouth often includes:
- Insulin
. Hormone replacement therapy is indicated to normalize glucose concentrations in type 1 diabetes. An intensified treatment regimen with a combination of short- and long-acting insulins is selected. For type 2 diabetes mellitus, oral hypoglycemic drugs are taken. - Enzymes
. Enzyme agents are effective for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. They improve digestive function and promote the breakdown of fats and carbohydrates. The drugs are prescribed in long courses; preference is given to drugs containing bile acids. - Antisecretory agents
. Medicines reduce the production of hydrochloric acid, thus eliminating the causes of the formation of a sweetish taste. The most commonly used are proton pump inhibitors, which have minimal side effects and a prolonged effect. - Antibiotics
. Purulent lesions of the oral cavity are treated with antibacterial drugs, which are used both systemically in the form of tablets and locally in the form of ointments and applications to the mucous membrane. To prevent candida infection, antifungal agents are recommended.
Became distracted and lethargic
Confusion, drowsiness, constant fatigue, lack of motivation and energy can also be symptoms of the harmful effects of sugar on the body. You should be especially wary if these conditions intensify after heavy carbohydrate or sweet foods. This is how your body signals that it burns and stores glucose more slowly than you consume it. Plus, when you eat too much sugar, your body has to produce extra insulin and cortisol, which leads to fatigue.
Fructose and excess weight
Fructose is now considered the main culprit in the spread of obesity in children and adults. Moreover, fructose contributes to excess weight gain in several ways.
- Fructose leads to leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone in adipose tissue that blocks the feeling of hunger. Against the background of significant consumption of fructose, the human body becomes immune to leptin. That is, he wants to eat all the time and usually eats, which leads to weight gain.
- The second way in which excess weight gains occurs and which is associated with fructose is the development of insulin resistance, which first results in fatty liver, and then in general obesity.
- The third mechanism is due to the fact that fructose causes a reduction in the body's energy production. There is less energy, both in the liver and in the muscles. And it is precisely this that is associated with the lack of physical activity that is observed in most people these days.
People move little and reluctantly not because they are lazy, because they watch TV or play on the computer. Not at all. People (including children) move less and less because they lack energy. And every movement is given to them with great difficulty.
Physical inactivity, in turn, leads to the fact that body weight increases and movement becomes more and more difficult.
However, lack of energy affects weight gain not only due to physical inactivity. We must remember why energy becomes scarce. And it becomes scarce because fructose prevents the oxidation of fats. And if fats are not oxidized, they accumulate and energy is not produced. Fat deposits grow and do not burn.
How much fructose can you eat?
If you already suffer from insulin and leptin resistance, you should not eat more than 25 grams of fructose per day. Better yet, no more than 15.
Understanding that you have resistance to these two hormones is quite simple. Anyone who is overweight, has high blood pressure, diabetes or a pre-diabetic condition has it.
However, according to some experts, insulin and leptin resistance occurs in 4 out of 5 adults living in Western society. So, limiting your fructose intake to 25 grams per day will be good for almost everyone.
Can't sleep at night
There can be many reasons for insomnia or frequent awakenings in the middle of the night: stress, excess caffeine, abuse of electronic devices, lack of routine. Sugar is also one of the disrupters of your night's peace. Eating large amounts of sugary foods during the day or before bed can prevent the body from entering the deep phase of sleep, which means it can rest and recover.
A 2016 study confirmed the link between increased carbohydrate and sugar intake with short, restless sleep and difficulty falling asleep.
Benefits of giving up sweets
The benefits of not consuming refined sugar and products containing it have been confirmed by research by doctors in Europe, Russia, and the USA:
- effective prevention of diabetes mellitus;
- it makes it easier to control body weight - sweet foods fill you up for a short time, hunger occurs 30-40 minutes after eating a cake, and if you choose lean meat with a portion of vegetable salad, which has 3-4 times fewer calories, your appetite will appear in 2-3 hours;
- the risk of developing hypertension is reduced, blood vessels remain elastic longer, which facilitates the functioning of the heart and the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the brain;
- people who do not abuse sweets remain physically active longer and maintain clarity of thinking;
- in adolescence, the number of skin rashes decreases, and in adulthood, the complexion improves, and later wrinkles appear.
