Oh Sugar!
I remember a friend telling me years ago that she couldn’t walk past a sweet shop without becoming shaky and breaking into a cold, clammy sweat. The only cure was to enter the shop and buy a bar of chocolate which she would gobble immediately.
My friend Sandy was displaying symptoms typical of a sugar addict – a condition that may not have been recognised twenty or thirty years ago, but which is certainly gaining more attention in today’s world of ever-increasing convenience and sugary foods.
Sugar is essential to the proper function of the body. Glucose in particular is important to the brain, as it provides the only source of fuel to its one hundred billion nerve cells. But it is the ready availability of refined sugar and its use as a mood-booster to give an instant ‘lift’ that is prompting some health experts to consider sugar addiction. One senior Dutch health official has even described sugar as “the most dangerous drug of the times” and has called for health warnings to be carried on sweets and soft drinks packaging.
Research has shown that sugar can affect the same ‘feel good’ brain hormones as street drugs like cocaine, and that sugar withdrawal may create the same symptoms as withdrawal from nicotine, morphine and alcohol.
Eating sugar prompts the body to release the 26
‘happy hormone’ serotonin into the blood stream. However, this pleasant sugar rush triggers an increase in insulin as the body strives to bring blood glucose levels back to normal, which has the knock-on effect of causing a ‘sugar crash’ and makes many crave yet more sugar, leading to binge eating.
This cycle of ‘surge’ followed by ‘crash’ is even more pronounced when the sugar comes from foods rich in simple sugars, like chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks. They are absorbed much more quickly into the blood stream, causing a faster and more frequent cycle. Eating more complex sugars or carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread, cereal and pasta, or simple carbohydrates like fruit, vegetables and dairy products which also contain fibre and protein, slows down the process.
According to the NHS, added-sugars shouldn’t make up more than 10% of the energy we get from food and drink each day, which is about 70g for men and 50g for women. By cutting down the amount of sugar we consume each day, we can reduce the risk of becoming addicts like my friend Sandy. Always remember to check food labels, and bear in mind that food products containing more than 15% sugar are considered high in sugar and low if they have less than 5g per 100g.
To advertise in thewire t. 07720 429 613 e.
the.wire@btinternet.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100