How much do you know about what is sugar?

Today, let get familiar with sugar and more knowledge about sugar that you don't know.

What is Sugar?

Sugar is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in foods such as grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits.

The chemical name of sugar is sucrose, it’s a simple carbohydrate we know and we all love it. It produces naturally in all plants, including fruits, vegetables, and even nuts.

Sugar is sucrose it contains two nutrients; fructose ring with glucose ring both join and form sucrose. Glucose is the fuel for all body cells.

There are numerous types of sugar, mostly we think of table sugar-white crystal used in homes and for cooking, purposes know as sucrose.

Types of sugar

• Fructose: found in fruits and honey
• Galactose: found in milk and dairy products
• Glucose: found in honey, fruits, and vegetables
• Lactose: found in milk and known as milk sugar, it is formed by combining glucose and galactose
• Maltose: found in barley
• Sucrose: is common sugar and is form by combining glucose and fructose and found in plants
• Xylose: found in wood or straw

Nutrients found in sugar:

The nutrient found in sugar are carbohydrates which are found in almost every food. Monosaccharides and disaccharides are the two forms of sugar.

Sugar isn’t high in vitamins; it’s really just high in calories. The only very small amount of vitamins is found in sugar and even minerals. Sugar is a source of carbohydrates and energy. It contains calories 4 calories per gram or 16 calories in a level teaspoon.

Let's talk about brown sugar!

Brown sugar:

It’s a sucrose sugar product with distinct brown color due to the presence of molasses.

Brown sugar isn’t healthier than white sugar.

1 tbsp of brown sugar contains 15 calories.

If we compare white sugar with brown sugar, then brown sugar is slightly lower in carbs and calories and slightly higher in nutrients.

Both are composed of sucrose, which may raise blood sugar levels.

Both are considered as added sugar which is linked with decreased insulin sensitivity and has a higher risk of many chronic conditions.

Sugar Role in health as diseases:

Too much consumption of sugar is unhealthy its neither new nor surprising but the new evidence shows how and why too much consumption of it can disrupt metabolism from heart disease to cancer.

If we talk about heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure has claimed much of the public attention. It has no doubt that sugar has a central character in damaging the cardiovascular system. It is evident that two out of three heart attack patients who come to the hospital have either diabetes or prediabetes.

It can damage the heart directly or indirectly and overconsumption of it can lead to weight gain and obesity- both of which are known causes of high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome- common factors in cardiovascular disease.

In addition, excess sugar intake converted into fat and raises levels of artery-clogging cholesterol, the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes.

People with diabetes, a condition in which the body cannot metabolize sugar properly, causing the sugar to build up to dangerous levels.

It also disrupts the working of heart muscles directly leading to the condition known as diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Weakening the heart muscle progress and eventually loss the pumping ability.

The roots of sugar addiction:

We start to love sugar when begins early in life. From candy doled out as rewards, birthday cakes, and girl scout cookies, ice cream, etc. it has a powerful presence in childhood.

Because of this the over last 30 years, the obesity rate in children and teens became double.

It’s because of lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyles, and increased overall calorie consumption there is no doubt that too much sugar is a key player.

Conclusion:

I advise all of you that if you like to eat sugar please prefer natural sugar. Eat fruits and you can make lots of sweet dishes using fruits or other natural sugar products. I hope you are learning something from this information. 

Feel free to ask anything in the comment section or you can contact me by filling up the contact form in the contact us section.