sugar

You know, the idea behind weightloss for so many people is removing a particular food group from their diet

And that food group that has suffered a lot is carbs.

You know, the advent of the keto-diet, Atkins diet, and other “ low carb diets” can make you question the health benefits of carbs in our body and even label carbs as “bad”.

Lets do that same explanation on how carbs affect weightloss and why you get to lose weight easily when you take off carbs

So, what are Carbs?

Basically, carbs are one of the three macronutrients that form a major part of our diet. Other macronutrients are protein and fats. All these macronutrients provide the body with energy usually measured in calories.

There are basically 3 types of carbs found in food and they are:
1. Refined Carbs: these type of carbs have been processed, and during the processing, some vital nutrients especially fibre has been removed, leaving just sugars. It is very easy for these types of carbs to spike your blood sugar and lead to other complications Examples include some breakfast cereals, white flour, pastries, snacks, sodas.

2. Dietary Fibres: also a type of carbs which aids easy digestion and help reduce blood glucose spikes. Examples include leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli, ugwu,tete etc.

3. Starch: also found in plants and slowly release energy to the body throughout the day. Examples include potatoes, yam, plantain, whole wheat or white bread, brown or white rice.

These foods also contain varying amounts of dietary fiber which could provide extra health benefits.

Can Carbs make you Fat?
Whatever food consumed in excess would definitely lead to fat gain over a long period of fat. Whether it is from carb, protein or fat source. Each of these macronutrients contain calories.

Why do I lose weight when I cut Carbs?

1. You shed water weight
so many times when people put off so much weight over a short period of time, what happens is that they just lost water weight.
Now that sounds weird, but let me explain.

The body stores arbs in the liver as glycogen, and each gram of glycogen is stored with 3g of carbs. So, when you continue to cut out carbs, what you are doing is cutting out the glycogen store with water, not necessarily fat. Ever noticed that the weight comes back when you add carbs back?

That is because the process is a reversible one.

2. You’re on a Calorie deficit diet
Cutting out carbs means cutting out a source of calorie to the body, that will obviously lead to weight loss. Ideally if 500kcal is removed daily from the diet, it will lead to 0.5-1kg loss in weight, so you’re on a calorie deficit, you must lose weight.

The bad thing here is that this might in turn lead to muscle mass loss.

What’s the best approach to Weight-loss?
Sustainability over a long period is very important when trying to shed some pounds or when adopting a “diet”.
The best approach is to adopt a lifestyle that suits you. Calorie deficits, exercise regimes, and lifestyle modifications all go hand in hand to help lead a healthy lifestyle.

The weight loss approach should not be ‘all or nothing’, strict, rigid, or a quick fix. It should be what you can live with over a very long period of time.

Summary
Losing weight isn’t a do or die affair, you don’t need to take out any food group to achieve that, we could always work together and attain your desired/ideal body weight.

Sources:
https://paleoleap.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-water-weight/
https://www.menshealth.com/health/a26361054/water-weight/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7332312/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320603#ways-to-lose-water-weight
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/why-we-need-to-eat-carbs/#:~:text=In%20the%20absence%20of%20carbohydrates,%2C%20you’ll%20gain%20weight.

When you hear the word “addiction”, I’m sure your mind goes straight to drugs, alcohol or some practices. But sugar addiction is real and some people might not just be aware of what it is and the fact that they’re victims.

In this write up, we would help explain what sugar addiction is, why you always crave sugar and some tips to help overcome the feeling.

Quitting sounds logical as that is the remedy for other types of addictions, but for sugar, it’s not as simple as that.

Firstly, what is addiction?

There are two categories of addiction, which are:

1. A substance addiction such as drugs, alcohol or tobacco

2. A non-substance behavioural addiction such as gambling.

So, the definition could be controversial if you view it with just one lens.

Some reports have suggested that sugar addiction is a thing and some people can be addicted to it as heroin and cocaine. Some people who might be addictive to other foods with “addictive agents” like fat and salt could also show same result as someone with drug addiction. Even with all these speculations, no actual study has been carried out on human subjects concerning drug addiction.

Sugar addiction – is it the same as being addicted to drugs?

Since we somewhat have agreed that sugar addiction is a thing, we need to check if it’s the same thing with substance addiction and probably has the same symptoms.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), it diagnoses a Substance Use Disorder (substances such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs) based on 11 symptoms. These can be grouped into four categories:

• Impaired control: symptoms relating to failed attempt to stop drug use after noticing a strong desire and craving to use such drug.

• Social issues: symptoms relating to a disruption of person’s work, home and social life.

• Risky use: symptoms relating to continuous use of drug/substance even after being aware of the consequences.

• Drug physiological effects: symptoms of tolerance (when the body requires more of the substance to have same effect) and withdrawal ( the body shows withdrawal symptoms when the drug is no longer in the body).

 

So, Are These Symptoms the same in Sugar Addiction? 

You might need to ask yourself if you’ve notice same symptoms as mentioned above before.

For example:

• Do I have cravings and a strong desire to eat sugary foods? Yes!

• Have I repeatedly attempted to cut back or “quit” sugar? Yes!

• Do I feel so “out of control” with food that I’m not in the mood to attend social events? Yes!

How is this Diagnosed? 

– For a substance use disorder diagnosis, the symptoms need to cause “significant impairment or distress” meaning that the distress should impair daily functioning of the individual.

This significant distress might most likely be linked to eating patterns and might even be more of an overall eating disorder.

– Secondly, a key part of diagnosis shows that the symptoms produce physiological effects. Drug taking can cause people to develop withdrawal and tolerance symptoms. No studies shows that sugar taking can lead to tolerance and withdrawal.

So am I addicted to sugar if I crave it all the time?

Reasons why you might be craving sugar every time might include:

1) Restriction

Recent articles supports that the root cause of overeating a particular food or feeling out of control around food is restriction and not addiction. This knowledge comes with evidence thaty if you restrict yourself from a particular food, you even want it more and would tend to consume more of it if given the chance. Restrictive food rules which recommends elimination of foods leads to the exacerbation of disordered eating.

For the animal studies that claims that sugar is addictive, these studies failed to emphasise that these animals were actually deprived of sugar for a long time, so they’ll obviously binge on it when re-introduced.

2) Food is pleasurable (which is not a bad thing!) and needed for survival

Food is for survival and the major basic fuel we need to stay alive. Sugar is needed for the functioning of our body, so how would one suggest that you can be addicted to it?

Now, when we mean sugar, I hope you’re aware that we are not talking about refined or processed sugar from pastries or soda drinks but from foods (carbs).

What’s the conclusion? 

Sugar can be found in starchy foods such as potatoes, breads, yam, rice, beans and pastas as well as in fruit, vegetables and dairy products. Things we usually eat in conjunction with many other things!

Now this doesn’t in any sort downplay the fact that some people might feel helpless or out of control when around some foods, but this cant be termed as addiction.

If you feel this is you, you can seek help from a registered dietitian or try intuitive eating. There are online articles on intuitive eating and so many dietitians around who could help you build a healthy relationship with food

That’s the actual thing that’s needed! A healthy relationship with food will go a long way in helping you appreciate food and its functions in the body, and also help you not to be “out-of-control’ around any particular food .

SOURCES:

– https://nudenutritionrd.com/am-i-addicted-to-sugar/

– https://jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(96)00161-7/pdf

– https://www.mentalhelp.net/addiction/vs-behavioral-addictions/

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5174153/pdf/394_2016_Article_1229.pdf

– https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm

Fructose is a type of sugar known as a monosaccharide (single sugar), which is the building block of carbohydrates. All carbohydrates provide four calories per one gram, including fructose.

Fructose is commonly referred to as ‘fruit sugar’ because it primarily occurs naturally in fruits and other plants as sugar cane and vegetables. You can also get fructose from honey, sugar beets and sugar cane.
fructose is 1.2-1.8 times sweeter than the regular table sugar (sucrose). It is actually the sweetest naturally occurring carbohydrate.

During its breaking down process in the body, insulin is not required, and it tends to have a low impact on blood glucose.
It’s process of digestion differs from other types of carbohydrates.

Fructose and glucose are both single sugars and have been found to have the same chemical formula but different structures, making fructose sweeter than glucose.
Fructose occurs in plants and fruits but not alone, it always occurs with other types of sugars.

Where does fructose come from?

“Fruit sugar” as it is sometimes referred to, is a naturally occurring sugar found primarily in fruits (such as apples, dates, figs, pears and prunes), and also can be found occurring in vegetables (such as artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms, onions and red peppers), honey, sugar beets and sugar cane. “Pure fructose is produced commercially from corn or sucrose into a crystalline form for use as an ingredient in packaged foods and beverages”.
Although fructose is in high fructose corn syrup (a 55:45 mixture of the monosaccharides fructose and glucose), crystalline fructose should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup.

Is fructose a natural or added sugar?
Fructose can either be a natural sugar or an added sugar, it all lies solely on the source. It is considered a natural sugar when we consume it directly from whole plant foods or fruits, then, it is considered an added sugar when we consume from packaged foods, beverages which high fructose corn syrup has been added to during manufacturing.
While there is really no recommendation for fructose consumption, current dietary guidance recommends limiting the consumption of added sugars to less than 10% of total calories—in other words, i.e < 50 grams of added sugars if you consume 2,000 calories per day.

How is fructose digested?
Fructose has raised so much dust and debates among nutrition scientists because of the unique way the body handles it. It is somewhat digested in a different manner from other sugars, leading scientists to question its role in health. A 2016 review concluded that while fructose does not appear to have a unique impact on health, “fructose-containing sugars can lead to weight gain, increase in cardiometabolic risk factors and disease only if it provides the excess calories.”
No matter the source of the fructose, be it directly from plants or beverages, fructose when consumed is handled by the liver. The liver converts it to energy sources for bodily processes and doesn’t require insulin for this process. Unlike glucose which is released into the tissues by the help of insulin.
Some people have trouble absorbing fructose when eating it in large amounts and some are unable to absorb fructose at all. About one in 20,000–30,000 people are born with HFI each year. Because individuals with HFI (hereditary fructose intolerance) cannot metabolize fructose, foods and beverages containing fructose, sucrose or the sugar alcohol sorbitol must be avoided totally.

Are there health implications of fructose?
The rise in concern of added fructose to carbonated drinks and its direct link with obesity has led to a huge questioning on the impacts of fructose.
Although fructose might not really have adverse impact on blood sugar, it would have very detrimental effects on weight, LDL levels, triglyceride levels if taken in excess as added sugar from beverages and packaged foods.
According to recent research, fructose intake has been linked to uric acid levels, higher risks of gout development in men.
Due to the increase in use of fructose as sweetener, overconsumption is inevitable, thereby leading to detrimental health effects.

Why is fructose added to foods and beverages?
One major reason for adding sugar to packaged foods and beverages is its sweet taste. To sell, you have to make the product appealing to the taste buds yes?
The sweetness of fructose also has a fading ability, meaning that it doesn’t last for a long period after consumption.
Well, this doesn’t stop the fact that it still contains calories like other carbohydrates.
Other reason why fructose is added to beverages includes:
– Its hygroscopic nature which helps it absolve water, thereby improving texture.
– Fructose is also a good humectant; it can help retain moisture which could help improve and extend shelf life.

SUMMARY
Fructose is a naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and plants. It can be beneficial to health if consumed from natural sources than when it is an added sugar. Overconsumption of beverages and carbonated drinks would have very adverse effects on the health than give benefits. Its better to stick to natural sources of fructose.

SOIURCES: https://foodinsight.org/what-is-fructose/
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/molecule-of-the-week/archive/f/fructose.html
https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-7-82

OVERVIEW
Allulose is just like the new kid on the block.
Ever looked for healthy alternatives to sugar? Maybe you should give this a try.
Allulose is purported to have similar taste with refined white sugar, but contains minimal amount of calories and carbs when compared to sugar. It also claims to possess some health benefits.
Lets see with this write up the claims of allulose and how safe it is for consumption.

WHAT IS ALLULOSE
Allulose is a monosaccharide as glucose and fructose called D-psicose. It is in contrast to table sugar which has a combination of glucose and fructose.
In fact, fructose has the same chemical structure as allulose but they are arranged differently. This arrangement makes it possible for the body to metabolize allulose in a different manner from fructose.
It’s very rare and can only be found in some foods like figs, raisins, and wheat.
Nutritionally, allulose contains approximately 0.2 kcal/g, which should be about 5% of the calories of sugar. Allulose is absorbed in the small intestine without going through any type of metabolism. So, it goes out through the urine unchanged.
This phenomenon makes it possible for allulose to resist fermentation by the gut bacteria thereby avoiding bloating, and other gas related digestive problems.
There are some health benefits tied to using allulose and they include:

1. IT MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR DIABETICS: due ti its chemical structure, the body tends to metabolise allulose differently thereby leading to an insignificant raise in blood sugar.
According to a recent study, about 7.5g of allulose didn’t impact glucose levels in individuals used for the test.

2. CONTAINS LITTLE AMOUNT OF CALORIES: allulose is a very low calorie containing substance and can be used as sweetener by weight watchers. Allulose contains about 1/10th of sugars calories.

3. IT MAY PROTECT AGAINST FATTY LIVER DISEASE: since allulose is not stored in the body and converted to fat in the liver as fructose, its ability makes it possible for the liver to stay healthy.
Diabetes and insulin insensitivity has been linked to fatty liver diseases recently, with the use of allulose as substitute, the incidence of these might be reduced.
Research also suggests that allulose enhances fat oxidation.
Also, allulose could be used in baking and making of ice-cream as it has similar properties and feels like refined white sugar.

IS ALLULOSE SAFE?
The Food and Drug Administration has added allulose to the list of foods generally recognised as safe (GRAS). It is very rare in markets and not accepted in Europe yet.,
You can get it online but at a very expensive price.

SOURCES:

What is Allulose?

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/allulose#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5
https://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/0119p32.shtml#:~:text=Allulose%2C%20a%20monosaccharide%2C%20is%20present,%2C%20beets%2C%20or%20other%20sources.

There seems to be a lot of debate out there about artificial sweetners.

Some research says its good for weightloss and as a good substitute for table sugars, while some say it would increase the risk of  cancer and also increase blood sugar level.

Well, lets dive into this troubled waters and see what we can pull out of it shall we?

 

What Are Artificial Sweeteners?

Artificial sweeteners, or sugar substitutes, are chemicals added to some foods and beverages to make them taste sweet.

They tend to provide a taste that seems 1,000 times sweeter than regular sugar.

Although some sweeteners contain calories, the amount needed to sweeten products is so small that you end up consuming almost no calories.

They are mostly used in beverages and drinks since they provide zero calories.

 

How Do Artificial Sweeteners Work?

The surface of your tongue is covered by many taste buds. Each taste bud contains several taste receptors that detect different flavors ( sweet, sour, salty).

Each time you eat, the different food molecules contact your taste receptors.

When the food molecule meets with the receptor, it (receptor) sends a signal to your brain, allowing you to identify the taste

For example, the sugar molecule fits perfectly into the taste receptor for sweetness, like a missing pixzle piece  allowing your brain to identify the sweet taste.

The molecules of artificial sweeteners are similar enough to sugar molecules that they fit on the sweetness receptor.

However, they are generally too different from sugar for your body to break them down into calories. This is why they have a sweet taste without the added calories.

Only a minority of artificial sweeteners have a structure that your body can break down into calories. Because only very small amounts of artificial sweeteners are needed to make foods taste sweet, you consume virtually no calories.

Reason why they won’t provide calories (energy) is because your body cannot break them down.

What Are the Names of Artificial Sweeteners?

The following artificial sweeteners are allowed for use in the US and/or the European Union:

Aspartame: 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Aspartame is known under the brand names Nutrasweet, Equal or Sugar Twin.

Acesulfame potassium: 200 times sweeter than table sugar. Acesulfame potassium is suited for cooking and baking and known under brand names Sunnet or Sweet One.

Advantame: 20,000 times sweeter than table sugar, suited for cooking and baking.

Aspartame-acesulfame salt: 350 times sweeter than table sugar, and known under the brand name Twinsweet.

Cyclamate: 50 times sweeter than table sugar. Cyclamate is suited for cooking and baking. However, it’s been banned in the US since 1970.

Neotame: 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar. Neotame is suited for cooking and baking and known under the brand name Newtame.

Neohesperidin: 340 times sweeter than table sugar. It is suited for cooking, baking and mixing with acidic foods. It is not approved for use in the US.

Saccharin: 700 times sweeter than table sugar. It’s known under the brand names Sweet’N Low, Sweet Twin or Necta Sweet.

Sucralose: 600 times sweeter table sugar. Sucralose is suited for cooking, baking and mixing with acidic foods. It’s known under the brand name Splenda.

There’s also a new guy om the block called ‘allulose’ made from grains.

Effects on Appetite

Some people believe artificial sweeteners might actually increase appetite and promote weight gain .

Because they taste sweet but lack the calories found in other sweet-tasting foods, they’re thought to confuse the brain into still feeling hungry after consumption.

Additionally, some scientists think you’d need to eat more of an artificially sweetened food, compared to the sugar-sweetened version, in order to feel full; well, who knows?

Although these theories are plausible, there’s mo back up claim whatsoever to them.

Effect on weight

Well, we have seen that artificial sweetners do not contain calories at all, so obvioulsy they wont increase your risk of gaining extra pounds.

But once they increase your sugar cravings, its better you stick to water than that can of soda.

 

Effects on diabetes

Artificial sweetners would reduce your intake of refined sugar, thereby making it easy for your insulin levels to work. It doesnt have any adverse effects on your glucose yes, but it is better you seek advice from your dietitan or doctor before using them.

Effect on gut health

The health of your gut totally determines if you would be vulnerable to certain illness.

Once your gut is not happy with you, you are at risk of poor blood sugar control,  weakened immune system, and disrupted sleep.

Some studies suggest that selected sweetners could disrupt the health of your gut by affecting the balance of gut bacteria.

Artificial sweetners and cancer

Apart from cyclamate which was banned in 1970 in America, no other other study has linked artificial sweetners with cancer.

 

Artificial sweetners and Dental health

Unlike sugars, artificial sweetners do not react with bacteria in your mourh to form acids. So, they dont affect your dental health negatively.

1. Some sweetners could cause headaches, seizures or depression in some individuals while leaving out others.

 

Safety and side effects

Artificial sweetners are safe to use but should not be consumed by individuals with phenylketonuria or those allergic to sulfonamides.

 

Take home Message for all

The use of artificial sweetners pose no threats to the health if used as alternatives to sugars.

Some risks attatched to it might be severe or different in individuals, so its best  to seek advice before selecting a sweetner.

Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/artificial-sweeteners-good-or-bad#section12