The United States is among the worlds largest sugar producers. And since the mid- 1980’s sugar has been on the raise due to contributing factors like added sugar particularly in pre-package foods and soft drinks.
Sugar: So what is sugar? It’s consider a simple carbohydrate which means the body uses and burns it off fast. Simple carbohydrates are also explained as monosaccharides & disaccharides. Monosaccharides are glucose, galactose and fructose. Glucose is the most important carbohydrates because it fuel the body, it’s also what you’ll hear when talking about Blood Sugar. Fructose is a monosaccharides that taste sweet, sweeter than glucose. Fructose is naturally found in fruit and vegetable and makes up more then half the sugar in honey. Galactose is most often consumed as part of the disaccharide family by way of lactose which is the sugar found in milk and galactose is the sugar molecule found in it.
Next is Disaccharide which are two monosaccharides linked together, hence “di” which means two. Disaccharide in the diet are maltose, sucrose and lactose. Maltose is two glucose molecule linked together and is formed when starch is broken down. Sucrose, which is more commonly know as table sugar or white sugar ( process) and made by linking a molecule from glucose and a molecule from fructose. This combination is found in sugar cane, sugar beets, honey & maple syrup. Lactose which is a sugar found in milk and formed from units of galactose linked together.
Added Sugar: Added sugar are sugars added in durning processing or packaging. What is the added sugar? sugar, syrup, honey and sugar from concentrated fruit & vegetable juices. Products with added sugar? Candy bars, cakes, soda, energy drinks, sport drinks, ready to eat cereal, dairy dessert and syrup topping.
Hidden Names/ Added Sugar Names
• Agave Nector
• Brown Rice Syrup
• Brown Sugar
• Coconut Sugar
• Corn Syrup
• Malosses
• Dextrose
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
Damage on the Body:
• Increase Dental Care
• May increase Risk of Asthma
• Risk of Obesity
• Promotes Inflammation
• May Impact Immunity
• Disrupt the Gut Microbiome
• Leads to Insulin Resistance causing elevated Blood Sugar & Increasing Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
