The craze for sugar reduction has taken off in recent years, with both celebrities and passers-by keen to join the ranks of the sugar-reduced lifestyle. Why is sugar reduction so popular?

Studies have shown that diets high in sugar increase blood sugar, free radicals and compounds that increase inflammation. Over time, too much sugar can increase your risk of obesity, diabetes, and may even increase your risk of chronic diseases like certain cancers and heart disease. So what are the specific dangers of consuming too much sugar?

What are the dangers of too much sugar intake?

Teeth
Too much and too frequent sugar intake can easily lead to tooth decay. This is because the sugar left in the mouth is most likely to be broken down and fermented by bacteria, producing acids that erode tooth enamel and can easily lead to dental caries.

Brain
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a rat experiment, revealing for the first time that a long-term high-fructose diet will make the brain slow, learning and memory capacity decline.

Heart
The more sugary drinks you drink, the higher your blood triglyceride levels will be. Drinking just one less sugary drink per week can improve heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease in the future.

Skin
Sugar attaches itself to the collagen in the skin, making the collagen fibers more fragile and prone to breakage. The three-dimensional firmness of human skin is due to the strong network of collagen fibers pulling on each other. After this traction is low, the skin collapses, elasticity decreases, and wrinkles appear. In addition, high blood sugar and insulin will affect the normal function of the skin metabolism, resulting in the secretion of more oil on the face, more prone to acne.

Bones
Young women, children and other people love to eat sweets, and excessive sugar intake will affect the body’s absorption of calcium from food, thus affecting bone health.

Obesity
A pooled analysis of the results of randomized controlled trials in adults showed an association between lower free sugars intake and weight loss. In comparison, increasing free sugar intake was associated with weight gain.

Pancreas Islets
Eating sugar does not directly lead to diabetes, but a diet high in sugar, which can be associated with a short-term increase in blood glucose, increases the burden on the pancreatic islets; a diet high in sugar, in turn, can lead to obesity, which greatly increases the risk of developing diabetes.

Misconceptions about sugar-reduced diets

Since there are so many hazards of excessive sugar intake, sugar diets are naturally becoming more and more popular, but is the sugar diet you understand really a scientific sugar diet?

Myth 1: Reduced Sugar Diet means eating less food
Our diet is generally based on rice, supplemented by meat, vegetables and soup, etc. If we simply interpret sugar reduction as not eating staple foods, our bodies will be seriously lacking in energy, leading to malnutrition. One of the misconceptions about reducing sugar is that only see the word “reduce”, the result is not only to control the intake of sugar, but also to increase the meat, fish and other proteins are also reduced, the original purpose of reducing sugar is not to lose weight, but a way to maintain a healthy diet.

Myth 2: Sugar reduction means cutting out starch
Sugar reduction diet is actually a more relaxed low carbon diet, the proportion of sugar (carbohydrates) accounted for roughly 26-45% of the total calories, whole grains and cereals, fruits, fresh milk and other foods containing sugar to control within this range is good, should be abstained from sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, snacks, and other refined sugar, rather than starch-containing food is not eaten.

Myth 3: milk lactose is very high can not drink
Milk contains lactose, but lactose digestion is not fast, so the stimulation of blood sugar is not great, plus milk contains a variety of vitamins and minerals that the human body needs to maintain health is quite important, so it is still recommended to include milk in the daily diet. Similarly, unsweetened coffee lattes and black tea lattes are also available.

Myth 4: Find a sugar-reducing recipe online and eat it accordingly
Diabetics, kidney patients or people with chronic diseases, dietary prescriptions must consult a dietitian and a doctor; people with a high level of physical activity, professional sports players diets also need special design; children, teenagers can not just blindly reduce sugar according to online recipes, for the growth and development of the population, a balanced diet, nutritional supplementation is the key.

Myth 5: Low-carbon diet for pregnant women/nursing period to prevent weight gain
Fetal and infant development, the maternal body needs nutrients, such as vitamin B1, B2, magnesium, iron, zinc than the average adult woman, so it is not recommended that pregnant women or lactating women to take any special diet, balanced diet is currently the most extensive source of nutrients in the diet. In addition, some animal experiments have pointed out that taking a very low-carbohydrate diet will have an impact on the development of fetal organs, such as the brain, heart, liver, etc., in terms of functionality and physiology.

Scientific sugar diet in the end how to do

1, reduce sugar should be reduced “added sugar”
All groups of people should reduce the intake of “added sugar” (or free sugar), but not including the sugar in natural fruits and natural carbohydrates in staple foods.

2. Understanding “added sugars”
“Added sugars” are sugars that are artificially added to food and have a sweet flavor, including monosaccharides and disaccharides. Common ones are sucrose, fructose and glucose. Daily life of white sugar, white sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar are sucrose.

3, sugar is harmful
Dietary sugar is the most important risk factor for dental caries, excessive intake will cause dietary imbalance, increase overweight, obesity and diabetes and other chronic diseases risk.

4, control “added sugar” intake
Dietary guidelines for Chinese residents recommend that the daily intake of added sugar per adult not more than 50g, the best control in the 25g below, sugar intake control in the total energy intake of less than 10%.

5, children and teenagers do not drink or drink less sugary drinks
Sugar-sweetened beverages are the main source of “added sugar” for children and adolescents, and it is recommended that they do not drink or drink less sugar-sweetened beverages.

6. Infants and young children do not need “added sugar” in their food.
It is recommended that infants and young children drink mainly plain water and avoid artificial added sugar when making complementary foods.

7. Reduce the consumption of high sugar packaged food
It is recommended to reduce the frequency of cookies, ice cream, chocolate, candies, pastries, preserves, jams and other packaged foods with added sugar during processing.

8. Add less sugar during cooking
Put less sugar in the cooking process at home, and try to use chili, garlic, vinegar and pepper to enhance the flavor of food instead of sugar, so as to reduce the attention of taste buds to sweetness.

9. Eat out and order smartly
When eating out, choose dishes with more sugar such as sweet and sour pork, shredded pork with fish flavor, braised pork, sweet and sour groundnuts, and sweet soup.

10, with plain water instead of drinks
The best way for the human body to replenish water is to drink plain water. In mild climates, adult men should drink at least 1700mL (about 8.5 cups) of water per day, and women should drink at least 1500mL (about 7.5 cups) of water.