The Bitter SWEET Story

Good food is something which is very essential to live a healthy life.But,the recent food controversies have left us in doubt about what is good and what is not.I recently came across a video about how sugar is bad for us and wanted to write a post about it.

Have you ever thought of sugar as being dangerous?No.....Me neither!!"Refined Sugar" contains "Fructose", which when consumed in large quantities is not good at all.The Glucose present in sugar is a source of energy for all the cells and is found naturally in fruits and vegetables among various other sources."Fructose" is also found in fruits but only in small quantities and therefore does not harm us in any way.

 The Processing of  Sugar:

Sugar is brown in colour.Sulphur Dioxide is added to cane juice before it gets evaporated to bleach the juice so that it produces white sugar. At later stages, phosphoric acid, calcium hydroxide or carbon dioxide is added to absorb impurities. This juice is then filtered through a bed of carbon and then crystallized in a vacuum many times.

Finally, the crystals are left to dry on their own to get paper white crystals of sugar.This process removes all the essential nutrients from the sugar found in it's natural source .

Processing of Sugar

Effect of sugar on health :

• Sugar contains no essential nutrients .
• Fructose is metabolised by the liver and excess of this leads to VLDL (Very Low density Lipoprotein) i.e bad cholesterol.
• Fructose can cause Insulin resistance,which can progress to Type II diabetes.
• The insulin from the pancreas surpasses "Gherlin" an appetite hormone secreted by the stomach.Since fructose creates insulin resistance,we feel hungry and eat more.
• Fructose elevates blood sugar and blood pressure.
• Leads to obesity.

Exercising everyday and including fibre in our diet regularly will help the fructose to get converted into energy since exercise speeds up metabolism and fibre slows the digestive process which is good for us.


Healthier alternatives:

Jaggery:
The best alternative to refined sugar would be jaggery.Jaggery is completely unrefined sugar made from sugarcane juice and has a lot of health benefits.

Jaggery Vs Sugar

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods in this video.Do watch it for more information.

Sources:

http://authoritynutrition.com/10-disturbing-reasons-why-sugar-is-bad/

http://wellnessmama.com/15/harmful-effects-of-sugars/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9987825/Sweet-poison-why-sugar-is-ruining-our-health.html

http://www.sugarhistory.net/sugar-facts/benefits-of-brown-sugar/

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/myth-or-fact-brown-sugar-is-better-than-white-sugar.html#b

http://authoritynutrition.com/6-healthy-sugars-that-can-kill-you/

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/jaggery-and-sugar.html

https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/other/benefits-of-jaggery.html

http://www.thehealthsite.com/fitness/7-health-benefits-of-jaggery-or-gur/

http://ayurveda.md/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=42&Itemid=1

http://www.boldsky.com/health/nutrition/2013/health-benefits-jaggery-032791.html

http://www.sweetsurprise.com