What is sugar? How much sugar is good for me? original sources & history of sugar with others infomation of sugar

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY  OF SUGAR  ;

   

           Sugar and Artificial Sugar Facts

History of Sugar

It is believed that cane sugar was discovered before the birth of Christ. As early as 500 B.C., India was said to have a “reed which gives honey without bees.” This reed would later become known as sugar cane.

The invasion of Arabs into India nearly 1,000 years later in 642 A.D. led to the spread of sugar cane to the rest of the world. The Arabs discovered sugar cane and learned how it was processed by the Indians. They brought the cane with them as they conquered much of Europe, introducing it to lands such as North Africa and Spain.

For many years, however, the rest of Europe was stuck with honey, because sugar did not make it to the west until the crusades. The first record of sugar in England occurs in the year 1099.

Types of Sugar

Sugar was brought to the Americas by Christopher Columbus. At the time, sugar was processed by boiling the cane juice and then harvesting the crystals left behind after the water evaporated. These crystals contained protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

While they were calorie dense, they provided essential nutrients. It was not until a few centuries later that the process of refining sugars, and stripping out many of these nutrients, was perfected and sugar became a profitable industry.

Raw Sugar is Already Refined

It is interesting to note that raw sugar is already refined. Only sugars from evaporated cane juice can be classified as truly “raw”  or unrefined sugars (of the cane variety – sugars can come from other sources as well, such as beets and fruit). Once the cane juice crystals are harvested, they are washed, boiled, centrifuged, filtered, and dried.

The purpose of this is to remove all of the original plant materials (stalk, fiber, etc.) to produce the pure sugar. This process removes most of the fiber and nutrients that existed in the original crystals. The sugar then becomes refined, and is now a food high in calories with little nutritional value.

Refined Sugar

Several centuries ago, refined sugars were expensive to produce, and were also taxed at a higher rate. Therefore, only the affluent could afford them. Refined goods became a symbol of status. People who had access to these foods were called “refined” people. Interestingly, this affluent sector of the population also had a disproportionate rate of disease and illness as compared to the lower classes that only had access to unrefined, natural foods.

There appear to be references to the evils of sugar as early as the 1800s when rations in the military were compared to standard civilian meals and it was determined that refined foods had a potentially negative impact on health.

Natural Sugars

What sugars are considered natural? A few natural sweeteners include: barley malt, evaporated cane juice before it is refined (refined sugar is derived from cane juice, but is extremely processed with many of the natural enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and fiber removed), fruit juice (fructose), rice syrup, honey, and sugar alcohols.

All-natural maple syrup is not only flavorful, but rich with iron and other micronutrients. Sugar alcohols have a “sweet” taste but are processed by the body as alcohol. This means that they are typically burned for energy and have a minimal impact on insulin and blood sugar, according to the latest studies. They are not known to be toxic like non-sugar alcohols.

I also recommend a product called Sucanat® that contains sugar cane molasses.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

There is some confusion about what high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) actually is. You will find that the majority of processed foods contain this as a main ingredient. It is difficult to find bread in the supermarket that isn’t made with HFCS, and most sodas, treats, and non-natural juices contain this as well.

HFCS is much sweeter than table sugar, which is one reason for its popularity in the food industry. HFCS can be misleading to consumers who are aware of natural sugars and the glycemic index. Knowing that fructose is a natural fruit sugar and low on the glycemic index, they may assume the HFCS falls under the same category.

HFCS is actually hydrolyzed cornstarch, which means that cornstarch is mixed with enzymes and broken down. A chemical in the cornstarch converts some of the sugar in glucose form to fructose. The end result only contains 14% fructose – the rest is dextrose and other sugars and carbohydrates (so it is hardly “high” fructose, it is only “higher” in fructose than other corn products). HFCS has a glycemic index of 89, which is only slightly less than that of table sugar (92). In contrast, milk sugar (lactose) is 65 and natural fructose is 32, or almost 1/3 that of HFCS.

Artificial & Low Calorie Sweeteners

We’ve determined that simply avoiding a sugar because it is a sugar has no real scientific foundation. One problem with sugars, however, is that many products add an extremely high amount of sugar to sweetener the products. This, in turn, causes the product to be higher in calories. Because consuming more calories means you must expend more calories to reduce or manage your weight, this can be of concern.

There are 6 major reduced calorie sweeteners on the market today.

Acesulfame-K (ace-K)

This was introduced in 1967. It is 200 times sweeter than table sugar (sucrose). According to studies, this sweetener is not absorbed in the body but passes through unchanged. How many studies? Around 90 studies have been conducted on this sweetener, with no documented health risks.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), however, reports that the product can break down to acetoacetamide. This chemical has been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. Administration of 1% and 5% acetoacetamide in the diet for three months caused benign thyroid tumors in rats.

Aspartame

This was introduced in 1965. It is a low-calorie sweetener that is also 200 times sweeter than sucrose. Aspartame is made from two amino acids (the building blocks of protein): L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid. More than 200 studies have been performed and the only documented health risks are to people who suffer from phenylketonuria (PKU), who cannot metabolize the L-phenylalanine. This is why there is a PKU warning on any product that contains aspartame.

While there are no conclusive, formal, documented cases of adverse health affects, many people report headaches after consuming products that contain aspartame.

There is a large body of literature documenting adverse health issues arising from aspartame use (source).

Other adverse affects that consumers have reported (but have not been independently verified) include seizures, dizziness, tremors, migraines, memory loss, slurring of speech, confusion, fatigue, depression, nausea, and worse. Because children lack a “barrier” of protection that prevents the wrong nutrients from entering the brain (which adults have), some doctors have recently suggested that aspartame should not be given to children.

Saccharin

Saccharin was discovered 100 years ago. It is a low calorie sweetener. It is one of the most studied ingredients in the food supply. More than 30 human studies have been conducted with saccharin, and no adverse health effects have been reported. In 1997, a study using rodents reported a rise in bladder tumors, although this may be related to an increase in sodium and other products that were contained in the experimental diet. The CSPI reports several studies that may indicate a rise in tumor activity that correlates to saccharin intake.

Stevia

This is a plant that originated in the rainforests of Paraguay. It is up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, does not impact blood sugar and has zero calories. The leaves have been used for over 1,500 years by the Guarini Indians of Paraguay.

It was discovered and introducd to Europe by M. S. Bertoni in 1899. While Stevia has since become a very popular sweetener because it is “natural,” the FDA has yet to approve it as a food source – it remains classified as a dietary supplement.

Sucralose

(Splenda) is a non-caloric sweetener made from sugar. It was discovered in 1976. A sugar molecule is modified to replace a hydroxyl (water) group with a chloride (chlorine) group. This creates a product on average 600 times sweeter than table sugar, which theoretically will pass through the body without being metabolized. Over 100 studies have been conducted using sucralose in order to approve it as a food additive.

Monk Fruit

Also known as lo han guo or Buddha fruit, it is similar to stevia, but also is loaded with antioxidants. Adds no calories while adding a sweet taste. It is the basis of the new sweetener called Nectresse.

Are these sweeteners really worth it? While there are many anecdotal reports of negative side effects, none of these have been confirmed through scientific investigation. In contrast, there is no anecdotal evidence whatsoever linking consumption of natural sugars such as fructose, honey, lactose, etc. with cancers, tumors, headaches, or other problems other than diabetes. Many diabetics use the glycemic index to control their food intake, and virtually many natural (unrefined) sugars fall within acceptable ranges for consumption based on those guidelines.

Does Sugar-Free Have any Effect?

Do sugar free foods really help to control calories? I know many people who will avoid sugar like the plague, then purchase a box of sugar-free brownies and eat the entire box. What are they trying to achieve? Sugar-free may imply “reduced calorie” but when you over consume reduced calorie foods, you still create a problem! Do sugar-free brownies fit into a lifestyle, or are these a quick fix?

Adding one teaspoon of natural sugar to a bowl of oatmeal will add four grams of sugar or 16 calories and barely impact the rate at which that food is digested and released to the bloodstream (remember, your liver won’t know if the glucose molecule it is processing came from the oatmeal or the teaspoon of sugar). Remember the glycemic load? This would have a low load!

Adding one teaspoon of an artificial sweetener won’t add any calories – but will introduce a new realm of possible side effects. On the other hand, if you avoid healthy food choices such as fruit due to the sugar content, you also miss out on thousands of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that don’t exist in any tablet or pill on the market – and have documented health benefits rather than risks! Oranges can reduce the risk of stroke. Bananas promote heart health by providing a tremendous amount of natural potassium. 

How Sugar is Metabolised

All carbohydrates are technically sugar. Before your body will use the carbohydrate in table sugar, a baked potato, or a green bean, it must break this carbohydrate down to glucose, the form of sugar that your body can “burn” for energy. Glucose is also stored as glycogen in the muscle cells. So, since all carbohydrates eventually end up as a sugar, the mere fact that they begin as sugars is irrelevant. So what is relevant? The rate at which the sugar enters the bloodstream, which is exactly what the glycemic index measures.

Does Sugar Get Stored as Fat?

Another concern some people express is the “ease” at which sugars are converted to fat. I read one “system” for getting into shape that did not offer scientific evidence, but claimed that in working with extremely lean body builders, the author figured out that sugars cause fat to be stored quickly and easily. Other books simply state that sugar is quickly and easily converted to fat. Again, we have to understand our biological systems to analyze those statements.

How does a sugar get stored as a fat? The liver processes the glucose molecule and turns it into a triglyceride, or fat molecule. This, again, complicates matters: whether or not you eat table sugar or a green bean, guess what? By the time your liver “sees” it, it has been broken down to a glucose molecule. There is no practical way that your liver somehow “knows” that the glucose molecule came from a green bean instead of a grain of table sugar, except that your entire body benefits from additional nutrients when you consume the green bean.

The only real way the sugar may be more readily stored as fat is if it impacts blood sugar or creates some environment that would promote the conversion of glucose to triglycerides. Theoretically, a huge surge in blood sugar due to a rapidly ingested carbohydrate would cause the liver to convert most of that sugar to fat, regardless of whether or not you required it for energy.

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index demonstrates that refined sugars are indeed dangerous – they have some of the highest indexes on the list. Many manufacturers use a “complex carbohydrate” called maltodextrin to sweeten shakes. They can state “no sugar” or “low sugar” on the nutrition label because maltodextrin is a complex carbohydrate, but it will impact blood sugar more than table sugar (table sugar is sucrose, which, by the way, is not a simple sugar – it is two molecules, glucose and fructose, bonded together).

How do natural sugars fare?

Fructose, the type of sugar commonly found in fruit; lactose, the sugar found in milk; and honey, the sugar produced from nectar by bees, all fare very well. In fact, if you are simply concerned about blood sugar, these three sugars will affect it less than brown rice, whole wheat bread, and baked potatoes!

Is Sugar Bad?

Sugar has received a bad reputation lately – not just refined sugars, but all sugars. Many people go out of their way to avoid sugar in the diet, without understanding how sugar affects health. Artificial sweeteners are a common substitute for sugars, but are these synthetic chemicals truly safe?

For many people, sugar-free and fat-free food is an artificial “crutch” – comforted in the knowledge that their food contains no sugar or fat, they over consume this “safe” food. In the end, sugar may not turn out to be the enemy that many people claim it is.

There are a few reasons why sugar has a bad reputation. For one, refined sugars provide easy food for oral bacteria, and can promote cavities and the accumulation of plaque.

There is also a prevalent belief that all simple carbohydrates are bad. In reality, the digestive system is very complex and there is more to consider than just the number of molecules chained together in a food – one must consider enzymes, where the food is processed in the body, and what changes take place to the food before the body utilizes it.

What is the Enemy?

Sugar is certainly not your enemy. Refined and processed sugars are! Consume a protein and a whole, unprocessed carbohydrate with every meal, and add healthy fats to your diet. If these meals happen to contain some natural honey or cane juice, don’t sweat it!

Eat 4 – 5 servings of fruit and or vegetables each day – there are far too many healthy compounds in these foods to pass them up out of fear of the natural sugar contained within. Make your own choice about artificial sweeteners, but keep in mind that you can easily control your portion sizes and use natural sweeteners instead. Are the potential risks worth the small benefit you may or may not be receiving from artificial sweeteners?

Written by Jeremy Likness

   Sugar

 Is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They arecarbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose andgalactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.

Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants, but are present in sufficient concentrations for efficient extraction only insugarcane and sugar beet.^{[citation needed]} Sugarcane refers to any of several species of giant grass in the genusSaccharum that have been cultivated in tropical climates in South Asia and Southeast Asia since ancient times. A great expansion in its production took place in the 18th century with the establishment of sugar plantations in the West Indies and Americas. This was the first time that sugar became available to the common people, who had previously had to rely on honey to sweeten foods. Sugar beet, a cultivated variety of Beta vulgaris, is grown as a root crop in cooler climates and became a major source of sugar in the 19th century when methods for extracting the sugar became available. Sugar production and trade have changed the course of human history in many ways. It influenced the formation of colonies, the perpetuation of slavery, the transition to indentured labour, the migration of peoples,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient times and Middle Ages

Sugar cane plantation

Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent^[8] since ancient times. It was not plentiful or cheap in early times and honey was more often used for sweetening in most parts of the world. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness. Sugarcane was a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.^[9] Different species seem to have originated from different locations withSaccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule and S. officinarum coming from New Guinea.^[9][10] One of the earliest historical references to

sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th century BC that state that the use of sugarcane originated in India.^[11]

Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store and to transport.^[12] Crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, around the 5th century AD.^[12] In the local Indian language, these crystals were called khanda (Devanagari:खण्ड,Khaṇḍa), which is the source of the word candy.^[13]

     Modern history

In August 1492, Christopher Columbus stopped at La Gomera in the Canary Islands, for wine and water, intending to stay only four days. He became romantically involved with the governor of the island, Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ossorio, and stayed a month. When he finally sailed, she gave him cuttings of sugarcane, which became the first to reach the New World.

The Portuguese took sugar to Brazil. By 1540, there were 800 cane sugar mills in Santa Catarina Island and there were another 2,000 on the north coast of Brazil, Demarara, and Surinam. The first sugar harvest happened in Hispaniola in 1501; and, many sugar mills had been constructed in Cuba and Jamaica by the 1520s.

Sugar was a luxury in Europe prior to the 18th century, when it became more widely available. It then became popular and by the 19th century, sugar came to be considered a necessity. This evolution of taste and demand for sugar as an essential food ingredient unleashed major economic and social changes.^[21] It drove, in part, colonization of tropical islands and nations where labor-intensive sugarcane plantations and sugar manufacturing could thrive. The demand for cheap labor to perform the hard work involved in its cultivation and processing increased the demand for the slave trade from Africa (in particular West Africa). After slavery was abolished, there was high demand for indentured laborers from South Asia (in particular India).^[22][23][24] Millions of slave and indentured laborers were brought into the Caribbean and the Americas, Indian Ocean colonies, southeast Asia, Pacific Islands, and East Africa and Natal. The modern ethnic mix of many nations that have been settled in the last two centuries has been influenced by the demand for sugar.^[

Sugar also led to some industrialization of former colonies. For example, Lieutenant J. Paterson, of the Bengal establishment, persuaded the British Government that sugar cane could be cultivated in British India with many advantages and at less expense than in the West Indies. As a result, sugar factories were established in Bihar in eastern India.

During the Napoleonic Wars, sugar beet production increased in continental Europe because of the difficulty of importing sugar when shipping was subject to blockade. By 1880, the sugar beet was the main source of sugar in Europe. It was cultivated in Lincolnshire and other parts of England, although the United Kingdom continued to import the main part of its sugar from its colonies.

Until the late nineteenth century, sugar was purchased in loaves, which had to be cut using implements called Sugar nips. In later years, granulated sugar was more usually sold in bags.

Sugar cubes were produced in the nineteenth century. The first inventor of a process to make sugar in cube form was Moravian Jakub Kryštof Rad, director of a sugar company in Dačice. He began sugar cube production after being granted a five-year patent for the invention on January 23, 1843. Henry Tate of Tate & Lyle was another early manufacturer of sugar cubes at his refineries in Liverpool and London. Tate purchased a patent for sugar cube manufacture from German Eugen Langen, who in 1872 had invented a different method of processing of sugar cubes.

 

 Chemistry

Sucrose: a disaccharide of glucose (left) and fructose(right), important molecules in the body.

Sugar, granulated
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	1,619 kJ (387 kcal)
Carbohydrates	99.98 g
Sugars	99.91 g
Dietary fiber	0 g
Fat	0 g
Protein	0 g
Vitamins
Riboflavin (B2)	(2%) 0.019 mg
Trace metals
Calcium	(0%) 1 mg
Iron	(0%) 0.01 mg
Potassium	(0%) 2 mg
Other constituents
Water	0.03 g
·                                 Units ·                                 μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams ·                                 IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated usingUS recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Sugars, brown
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	1,576 kJ (377 kcal)
Carbohydrates	97.33 g
Sugars	96.21 g
Dietary fiber	0 g
Fat	0 g
Protein	0 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1)	(1%) 0.008 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(1%) 0.007 mg
Niacin (B3)	(1%) 0.082 mg
Vitamin B6	(2%) 0.026 mg
Folate (B9)	(0%) 1 μg
Trace metals
Calcium	(9%) 85 mg
Iron	(15%) 1.91 mg
Magnesium	(8%) 29 mg
Phosphorus	(3%) 22 mg
Potassium	(3%) 133 mg
Sodium	(3%) 39 mg
Zinc	(2%) 0.18 mg
Other constituents
Water	1.77 g
·                                 Units ·                                 μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams ·                                 IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated usingUS recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Main article: Carbohydrate

Scientifically, sugar loosely refers to a number of carbohydrates, such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, oroligosaccharides. Monosaccharides are also called "simple sugars," the most important being glucose. Almost all sugars have the formula C
nH
2nO
n (n is between 3 and 7). Glucose has the molecular formula C
6H
12O
6. The names of typical sugars end with ose, as in "glucose", "dextrose", and "fructose". Sometimes such words may also refer to any types ofcarbohydrates soluble in water. The acyclic mono- and disaccharides contain either aldehyde groups or ketone groups. These carbon-oxygen double bonds (C=O) are the reactive centers. All saccharides with more than one ring in their structure result from two or more monosaccharides joined by glycosidic bonds with the resultant loss of a molecule of water (H
2O) per bond.

Monosaccharides in a closed-chain form can form glycosidic bonds with other monosaccharides, creating disaccharides (such as sucrose) and polysaccharides (such as starch). Enzymes must hydrolyze or otherwise break these glycosidic bonds before such compounds become metabolized. After digestion and absorption the principal monosaccharides present in the blood and internal tissues include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Many pentoses and hexoses can form ring structures. In these closed-chain forms, the aldehyde or ketone group remains non-free, so many of the reactions typical of these groups cannot occur. Glucose in solution exists mostly in the ring form at equilibrium, with less than 0.1% of the molecules in the open-chain form.

and East Africa and Natal. The modern ethnic mix of many nations that have been settled in the last two centuries has been influenced by the demand for sugar.^[2

   Natural polymers of sugars

Biopolymers of sugars are common in nature. Through photosynthesis, plants produce glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P), a phosphated 3-carbon sugar that is used by the cell to make monosaccharides such as glucose (C
6H
12O
6) or (as in cane and beet) sucrose (C
12H
22O

11). Monosaccharides may be further converted into structural polysaccharides such as cellulose and pectinforcell wall construction or into energy reserves in the form of storage polysaccharides such as starch or inulin. Starch, consisting of two different polymers of glucose, is a readily degradable form of chemical energy stored by cells, and can be converted to other types of energy. Another polymer of glucose is cellulose, which is a linear chain composed of several hundred or thousand glucose units. It is used by plants as a structural component in their cell walls. Humans can digest cellulose only to a very limited extent, though ruminants can do so with the help of symbiotic bacteria in their gut.

   DNA and RNA are built up of the monosaccharides deoxyribose and ribose, respectively. Deoxyribose has the formula C
5H
10O
4 and ribose the formula C
5H
10O
5.^[34]

Flammability

Sugars are organic substances that burn easily upon exposure to an open flame. Because of this, the handling of sugars presents a risk for dust explosion. The 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion, which resulted in 14 deaths, 40 injured, and more than half of the facility's destruction, was caused by the ignition of sugar dust.

Magnification of grains of refined sucrose, the most common free sugar

Types of sugar

Monosaccharides

Glucose, fructose and galactose are all simple sugars, monosaccharides, with the general formula C₆H₁₂O₆. They have five hydroxyl groups (−OH) and a carbonyl group (C=O) and are cyclic when dissolved in water. They each exist as several isomers with dextro- and laevo-rotatory forms that cause polarized light to diverge to the right or the left.

Glucose, dextrose or grape sugar occurs naturally in fruits and plant juices and is the primary product of photosynthesis. Most ingested carbohydrates are converted into glucose during digestion and it is the form of sugar that is transported around the bodies of animals in the bloodstream. It can be manufactured from starch by the addition of enzymes or in the presence of acids. Glucose syrup is a liquid form of glucose that is widely used in the manufacture of foodstuffs. It can be manufactured from starch byenzymatic hydrolysis.^[

Fructose or fruit sugar occurs naturally in fruits, some root vegetables, cane sugar and honey and is the sweetest of the sugars. It is one of the components of sucrose or table sugar. It is used as a high-fructose syrup, which is manufactured from hydrolyzed corn starch that has been processed to yield corn syrup, with enzymes then added to convert part of the glucose into fructose.^]

In general, galactose does not occur in the free state but is a constituent with glucose of the disaccharide lactose or milk sugar. It is less sweet than glucose. It is a component of the antigens found on the surface of red blood cells that determine blood groups.

   

      MORE INFORMATION OF SUGAR :
             

      What is sugar?

All sugars are carbohydrates found naturally in most foods. Their main nutritional value is in providing energy. However, sugar is also added to lots of foods such as sweets, chocolate, cakes and some fizzy and juice drinks.

           

What is a Safe Amount of Sugar to Eat Per Day?

Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. Some people can eat some sugar without harm, while others should avoid it as much as possible.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are (7):

·                  Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons).

·                  Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

How much sugar?

            Added sugars shouldn’t make up more than 10% of the energy (calorie intake) you get from food and drink each day.

       This is about 70g for men and 50g for women, but it varies depending on:

·                 your size

·                 your age 

·                 how active you are

Fruit juice and honey can also count as added sugars, as they're sometimes added to foods to make them sweeter. 

Fruit juice is still a healthy choice (one 150ml serving counts towards your 5 A DAY). However, the sugars can damage your teeth, so it’s best to drink it with a meal and no more than one serving a day. This is because sugars are released during the juicing process. Sugars in whole pieces of fruit are less likely to cause tooth decay because they are contained within the food.

You shouldn’t cut down on fruit as it’s an important part of a healthy, balanced diet.

           As part of a healthy balanced diet, you should eat foods and drinks high in sugars in small amounts.

Sugary foods and drinks can cause tooth decay, especially if you have them between meals.

Many foods that contain added sugars also contain lots of calories, but often have few other nutrients. Eating these foods often can contribute to you becoming overweight. Being overweight can increase your risk of health conditions such as:

·                 heart disease 

·                 type 2 diabetes 
          
     

In the ingredients list, sugar added to food may be called:

·                 glucose

·                 sucrose 

·                 maltose

·                 corn syrup

·                 honey

·                 hydrolysed starch 

·                 invert sugar

·                 fructose

      

              The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidelines suggesting that cutting the amount of sugar we eat from the current recommended limit of 10% of daily energy intake to 5% would be beneficial.

                 That's about 25g (around six teaspoons) for an adult of normal weight every day.

              To put this in context a typical can of fizzy drink contains about nine teaspoons of sugar.

                  The limits would apply to all sugars added to food, as well as sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates.

                 Where is added sugar commonly found?

It is not just food we often consider as "junk food" that could be high in added sugar. Some examples include:

·                                 Sweetened fruit juices

·                                 Bottles of flavoured water

·                                 Low-fat foods, for example low-fat yogurt

·                                 Salad dressing

·                                 Tomato ketchup

·                                 Fizzy carbonated drinks

·                                 Tinned soups

·                                 Sports drinks

·                                 Cakes, desserts, chocolate

Source: Action on Sugar

   

        

         

Check food labels

Read the nutritional information on food labels to see how much sugar the food contains. Remember that sugar has many different names. The nearer the beginning of the ingredient list the sugar is, the more sugar the product contains.

Look for the "Carbohydrates (of which sugars)" figure in the nutrition label to see how much sugar the product contains for every 100g:

·                 more than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g is high

·                 5g of total sugars or less per 100g is low

If the amount of sugars per 100g is between these figures, that’s a medium level of sugars.

Read more information about food labels.

Cutting down on sugar

These tips may help you cut down on sugar:

·                 instead of sugary, fizzy drinks and juice drinks, go for water or unsweetened fruit juice (remember to dilute these for children, to further reduce the sugar)

·                 if you take sugar in hot drinks or add it to cereal, gradually reduce the amount until you can cut it out altogether 

·                 check nutrition labels to help you pick the foods with less added sugar, or go for the low-sugar version 

·                 choose tins of fruit in juice rather than syrup 

·                 choose wholegrain breakfast cereals, but not those coated with sugar or honey

   

   

  

   

How to Minimize Sugars in The Diet

Avoid these foods, in order of importance:

1.             Soft drinks: Sugar-sweetened beverages are awful, you should avoid these like the plague.

2.            Fruit juices: This may surprise you, but fruit juices actually contain the same amount of sugar as soft drinks!

3.            Candies and sweets: You should drastically limit your consumption of sweets.

4.            Baked goods: Cookies, cakes, etc. These tend to be very high in sugar and refined carbohydrates.

5.            Fruits canned in syrup: Choose fresh fruits instead.

6.            Low-Fat or Diet Foods: Foods that have had the fat removed from them are often very high in sugar.

7.             Dried fruits: Avoid dried fruits as much as possible.

    Over the past 30 years, Americans have steadily consumed more and more added sugars in their diets, which has contributed to the obesity epidemic. Reducing the amount of added sugars we eat cuts calories and can help you improve your heart health and control your weight.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calorie allowance. For most American women, this is no more than 100 calories per day and no more than 150 calories per day for men (or about 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 teaspoons per day for men).

        Names for added sugars on labels include:

• Brown sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Fruit juice concentrates
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Malt sugar
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sugar
• Sugar molecules ending in “ose” (dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose)
• Syrup

Furthermore, some products include terms related to sugars. Here are some common terms and their meanings:

• Sugar-Free – less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving
• Reduced Sugar or Less Sugar – at least 25 percent less sugars per serving compared to a standard serving size of the traditional variety
• No Added Sugars or Without Added Sugars – no sugars or sugar-containing ingredient such as juice or dry fruit is added during processing
• Low Sugar – not defined or allowed as a claim on food labels

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     The U.S. Department of Agriculture has identified some common foods with added sugars. The table below lists a few examples and the number of calories from added sugars they contain. Note the calories here are only fromadded sugars in the food, not the total amount of calories in the food.

Food	Calories from added sugars per serving
Carbonated soda, 12 oz. can	132.5
Canned peaches in heavy syrup, 1 cup	115.4
Jelly beans, 10 large	78.4
Non-fat fruit yogurt, 6 oz. container	77.5
Milk chocolate, 1 bar (1.55 oz)	77.4
Cake doughnut (1)	74.2
Sweetened condensed milk, 1 fl oz	73.8
Fruit punch drink, 12 oz can	62.1
Angel food cake, 1 piece	60.4
Chocolate puff cereal, 1 cup	56.4
Vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup	48.0
Pancake syrup, 1 tbsp	26.5
Chocolate chip cookies (1)	13.6
Cinnamon raisin bagel (4'' diameter)	12.8

    Are Fruits Good or Bad for You?

Keep in mind that fruits also contain fructose, although an ameliorating factor is that whole fruits also contain vitamins and other antioxidants that reduce the hazardous effects of fructose.

Juices, on the other hand, are nearly as detrimental as soda, because a glass of juice is loaded with fructose, and a lot of the antioxidants are lost.

It is important to remember that fructose alone isn't evil, as fruits are certainly beneficial. But when you consume high levels of fructose, it will absolutely devastate your biochemistry and physiology. Remember the AVERAGE fructose dose is 70 grams per day, exceeding the recommend limit by 300 percent.

So please BE CAREFUL with your fruit consumption. You simply MUST understand that because HFCS is so darn cheap, it is added to virtually every processed food. Even if you consumed no soda or fruit, it is very easy to exceed 25 grams of hidden fructose in your diet.

If you are a raw food advocate, have a pristine diet, and exercise very well, then you could be the exception that could exceed this limit and stay healthy.

Dr. Johnson has a handy chart shown below, which you can use to estimate how much fructose you're getting in your diet. Remember, you are also likely getting additional fructose if you consume any packaged foods at all, since it is hidden in nearly all of them.

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose Limes 1 medium 0 Lemons 1 medium 0.6 Cranberries 1 cup 0.7 Passion fruit 1 medium 0.9 Prune 1 medium 1.2 Apricot 1 medium 1.3 Guava 2 medium 2.2 Date (Deglet Noor style) 1 medium 2.6 Cantaloupe 1/8 of med. melon 2.8 Raspberries 1 cup 3.0 Clementine 1 medium 3.4 Kiwifruit 1 medium 3.4 Blackberries 1 cup 3.5 Star fruit 1 medium 3.6 Cherries, sweet 10 3.8 Strawberries 1 cup 3.8 Cherries, sour 1 cup 4.0 Pineapple 1 slice (3.5" x .75") 4.0 Grapefruit, pink or red 1/2 medium 4.3

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose Boysenberries 1 cup 4.6 Tangerine/mandarin orange 1 medium 4.8 Nectarine 1 medium 5.4 Peach 1 medium 5.9 Orange (navel) 1 medium 6.1 Papaya 1/2 medium 6.3 Honeydew 1/8 of med. melon 6.7 Banana 1 medium 7.1 Blueberries 1 cup 7.4 Date (Medjool) 1 medium 7.7 Apple (composite) 1 medium 9.5 Persimmon 1 medium 10.6 Watermelon 1/16 med. melon 11.3 Pear 1 medium 11.8 Raisins 1/4 cup 12.3

Is Honey Bad For You, or Good?

Honey bees swarm around their environment to collect Nectar, which are sugar-rich liquids from plants.

Producing honey from the Nectar takes place in the bee hive. It is a group activity consisting of repeated consumption, digestion and regurgitation (expulsion from the digestive tract).

A few cycles of this ends with what we know as honey, but the composition and nutritional properties depend on the sources of the Nectar, i.e. which flowers are in the vicinity of the beehive.