Useful properties of sugar for the human body, contraindications to use. Recommendations on how to exclude it from your diet without harm to your health. A selection of natural and synthetic analogues. Sugar is a product without which the body can function quite calmly, the problem is that a person is taught to it from childhood, which is why it is very difficult to give up this food habit later. At the same time, sugar can be completely excluded from the diet without harm to health, because mono- and disaccharides, of which it, in fact, consists, are found in almost all vegetables, fruits and berries.
The benefits of sugar for the human body
Sugar does not contain a large amount of useful substances, it contains only a few micro- and macroelements: iron (0.3 mg), calcium (3 mg), sodium (1 mg), potassium (3 mg). Ash (0.1 g) and water (0.1) g are present here, but the concentration of all this is so low that it does not affect the body in any significant way.
The composition of this product is based on mono- and disaccharides, which are light carbohydrates. Their content here accounts for 99.8 g, of which almost 80% is glucose, and the rest is fructose. Once in the body, they quickly break down and penetrate into tissues, cells and internal organs of a person. After that, this product turns into a source of energy, which is actively used by the liver, pancreas, and intestines.
To accurately answer the question of whether sugar can be eliminated forever, it must be said that it nourishes the brain, improves memory and concentration. Along with this, mood rises, the likelihood of depression decreases. That is why when a person feels depressed, he usually needs something sweet.
The benefit of sugar lies in the fact that it provides a person with the necessary calories for an active lifestyle. On average, 1 g of them contains 4 kcal, which is especially important for athletes, in whom they are burned very quickly. Thus, it is possible to prevent underweight and the development of anorexia.
The functions of sugar include protecting the body from toxins accumulating in the liver. This avoids contamination by bacteria, viruses, infections and fungi. It is for this reason that it is recommended to use it in case of poisoning, for this, for example, glucose is injected intravenously. It is needed for the production of glucuronic and sulfuric acids that form cresol, phenol and other necessary organic compounds.
Important! More useful is cane, brown sugar, which is not refined during the production process. But in the CIS countries, a beet analogue is mainly sold, because it costs several times cheaper.
Contraindications and harm of sugar
This product has developed a negative attitude among dentists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, otolaryngologists and other medical specialists. It is especially harmful in childhood and old age, as well as for pregnant women. Strict contraindications to its use are diabetes mellitus, obesity and chronic hypertension. Sugar can damage your health in this way:
- Premature aging … Sugar slows down the production of collagen and elastin, which causes tissues to lose their elasticity and wrinkles appear on the body. It also draws moisture from the skin, which as a result begins to sag.
- Slow down metabolism … This is one of the main reasons for the appearance of excess weight, and then obesity itself, if nothing is done in time. This, in turn, leads to an increase in blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
- Increasing the likelihood of developing oncology … Studies have shown that this product makes cancer cells more aggressive, accelerating their spread throughout the body and increasing the likelihood of tumor growth. Moreover, they become less susceptible to chemotherapy, making the disease less responsive to treatment.
- Provoking cardiovascular disease … Sugar can cause thrombophlebitis, atherosclerosis, and even cause a heart attack. This is facilitated by the active deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels, a decrease in the lumen in them and, accordingly, a slowdown in blood circulation.
- Deterioration of the condition of the teeth … Sugar creates a fertile ground for the development of caries, as it destroys enamel. It does not harm directly, but combines with bacteria that live in the oral cavity, resulting in the formation of acid that is harmful to the teeth. That is why lovers of sweets most often have problems in terms of dentistry.
- Acidification of the body … Because of this product, the acid-base balance is disturbed, as a result of which ideal conditions are created for the activation of pathogenic microflora. By regularly attacking the body, bacteria weaken the immune system, leaving it open to infection with tuberculosis, SARS and other diseases transmitted by airborne droplets. Together with this, there is a high probability of growth of neoplasms in various organs.
- The appearance of cellulite … This is due to impaired blood circulation, thinning of the walls of blood vessels, drawing moisture from tissues and slowing down the production of collagen with elastin in them. As a result, an "orange peel" is often formed on the skin, which, after giving up sweets, usually goes away rather quickly on its own.
Not doubting whether it is possible to exclude sugar from the diet allows the rapid emergence of dependence on it in the body. In its strength, it can be compared with the craving for drugs and alcohol, which is why the rejection of sweets can cause no less strong "withdrawal". It is also undesirable to use it because this product causes a feeling of false hunger. It is proven that it quickly satisfies it, after which a person may want to eat even more. All this usually ends with overeating and fat deposition.
Harm is caused not only by pure sugar, but also by dishes prepared on its basis. It is dangerous to eat various jams, preserves, marmalades, halva, chocolate, sweets, cookies and other pastries. This especially should not be done in the evening, after 15:00, since it is at this time that carbohydrates are poorly processed into energy, eventually turning into fat and settling under the skin. Important! To reduce the negative effects of sugar on teeth, it is recommended to rinse your mouth more often or use toothpaste when eating sweets.
What happens if you exclude sugar from the diet?
After excluding this product from your diet, first of all, the level of glucose in the blood is normalized. This will reduce the likelihood of developing both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. As a result, headaches, weakness, apathy, nausea and itching will also disappear.
Avoiding sweets will help reduce the risk of deviations from the digestive tract, minimize the tendency to dermatological diseases, and protect against the growth of neoplasms. It will allow you to keep your teeth intact, prevent caries from progressing and destroying them. In addition to this, the body will become more resistant to negative external factors.
In the first days after giving up sugar, you will most likely develop strong cravings for sweets and other unhealthy foods. After about a week, there will be a desire to take healthy food, mainly rich in proteins - chicken, cottage cheese, cheese. On average, in a month there will be a need for raw vegetables, fruits, berries and herbs. Ultimately, people who give up sugar will record a decrease in body weight, improved sleep, and an influx of vital energy.
Subsequently, a slowdown in hair loss, normalization of metabolism, strengthening of nails, a healthy blush on the cheeks can be noted. At the same time, the appetite is stabilized, the acid-base balance is normalized, the real taste of other products will appear.
How to properly eliminate sugar from your diet?
The main rule here is not to forbid yourself anything in the first few days or even weeks. If you want to eat something sweet, then you need to do it, but in limited quantities. Here it is important to find a middle ground and stick to it until the cravings for sweets are eliminated.
On average, a complete rejection of it should take at least 2-3 months, if you do it faster, you can disrupt the process of digestion of carbohydrates, increase glucose levels and worsen your well-being. Here are some important guidelines to keep in mind during this time:
- Do not hurry … In the early days, reduce the amount of foods rich in glucose and fructose by 10-20%, depending on the original number. To begin with, it is quite enough to remove sugary drinks from the menu, next week you can forget about sweets and chocolate, and after another 10-20 days, switch from baked goods containing this ingredient to the one intended for diabetics.
- Study product labels … If you decide to eliminate sugar completely, then you should abandon almost any preservation - cucumbers, tomatoes, vegetable salads, caviar, lecho, because all this contains this ingredient. Accordingly, in this case, you will have to wean yourself from cakes, pastries, buns, cookies, yoghurts, desserts, juices, etc. Be careful when shopping, because manufacturers often inform about the content of sugar and its analogs by labels on the packaging: agave syrup, coconut or cane sugar, evaporated cane or apple juice, dextrose, lactose. Pay special attention to ready-made breakfast cereals and bars.
- Avoid sweeteners whenever possible … This applies only to those who decided to give up all sweets in general, except for natural products. Therefore, aspartame, sucralose and other artificial analogues are not suitable here due to their ability to increase appetite.
- Eat healthy foods … Increase the amount of raw vegetables, fruits, berries and herbs in your diet. Especially useful will be beets, carrots, cabbage, bananas, currants - everything that quickly satisfies hunger and gives energy, but does not harm health. Smoothies and juices based on them are quite relevant here. Close attention should be paid to green or any herbal tea, but black and even more so coffee should be discarded. Ideally, you need to drink as much mineral or ordinary pure water as possible.
- Eat regularly … You need to eat at least 4-6 times a day, in small portions. You cannot take a break for more than 4-5 hours, except at night. At the same time, it is desirable that breakfast should be at 8-9 am, and dinner - at a maximum of 18: 00-19: 00. After it, at least 3 hours should pass before bedtime, this will prevent undigested food from accumulating in the stomach and converting it into fat. It is not recommended to have snacks during the day using fast food, flour products and convenience foods.
- Focus on spices … When quitting sugar, which is highly addictive in humans, you need to switch to cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, oregano, and a number of other spices. They will satisfy the taste needs of the body and will not allow him to demand junk food. All this can be added both to the first courses and to salads or any side dishes.
Note! When refusing sweets, you need to drink more water, at least 1, 2 liters. For an adult, especially an athlete, this rate rises to 2 liters. The liquid will prevent the tissues from losing a lot of moisture and will prevent the deterioration of the skin on this basis.
How to replace sugar?
There are both natural and artificial analogs, they can be produced in the form of tablets or powder. Usually, these substitutes are much sweeter than their harmful "competitor", so their consumption is relatively small. It is these products that endocrinologists prescribe to their patients with diabetes mellitus. Moreover, they can be added to all the same dishes - jams, marmalades, jams, yoghurts, pastries, desserts. Let's take a closer look at all types of sugar analogs:
Natural sweets
Their most prominent representative is honey, which can be very different - linden, buckwheat, chestnut, fireweed, angelica or paddy. This option is convenient when you need to add it to tea or other drinks, but impractical in the case of baked goods and canning. In addition, nutritionists believe that this product is harmful to health, for example, with diabetes or gastritis.
If you just want something sweet, then you can eat dried fruits or any fruits and berriesrich in fructose - grapes, bananas, oranges, pears and blueberries.
Natural analogues
It can be dried Jerusalem artichoke powder, which perfectly reveals its taste and shows benefits in tea, cereals, dairy products, baked goods. It has the lowest glycemic index, with the exception of stevia, which means that even diabetics can use it without fear for their health.
An excellent option would be maltose syrup, which is a thick brown liquid with a sweet taste and aroma, similar to honey. It is obtained by processing barley malt, corn and other raw materials with starch content using enzymes. It is this product that is most often used as an alternative to sugar in the food industry. It will be very useful when making jams and baby food, as well as in baked goods, yoghurts, and winemaking.
A good substitute for sugar can be stevia, which is usually sold as a white powder of fine crystals. Sometimes it is produced in the form of refined sugar or tablets, packed in cardboard boxes or plastic jars. Such a product does not harm tooth enamel, stomach or any other organs. It does not interfere with the body's insulin tolerance, does not raise blood glucose levels, and also suppresses cravings for sweets.
And finally, you should remember about xylitol and sorbitol, which are somewhat cheaper than similar sweeteners.
Artificial sweeteners
It is these sugar substitutes that are most often bought by people suffering from diabetes mellitus or wanting to lose weight. True, unlike natural counterparts, they still raise blood glucose levels to one degree or another. In this regard, even they should be used very carefully and in limited quantities.
Here we can highlight saccharin, actively sold in pharmacies. It is 300 times sweeter than beet and cane sugar, and therefore costs many times more.
To replace it, you can also use and aspartame, first synthesized in 1965. This artificial food additive is perfectly soluble in water, but since it collapses when heated, it does not make much sense to use it for heat treatment.
Attention should also be paid to sucralose, which makes dishes sweet, but at the same time is slowly excreted from the body and does not guarantee the absence of a sharp jump in blood glucose, in particular, in diabetics.
The safest and at the same time popular synthetic analogue of sugar can be called fructose, for the absorption and processing of which insulin is practically not required. How to eliminate sugar from the diet - watch the video:
If you still doubt whether it is necessary to exclude sugar from the diet, it is worth recalling once again that in its natural form it is found in many vegetables, fruits, berries, etc. But even if this seems insufficient, then it can always be replaced with natural analogs proposed in the article.
