Do not worry, but something is hidden in your food. In the cereal you ate for breakfast, in ketchup, sprinkled on french fries ... The addictive substance is hidden in many foods that you never knew existed. Much more hateful than fat or cholesterol, sugar has become the # 1 public enemy these days when it comes to health. In this article, you will find out how many calories are in sugar, its benefits and harms.
Hidden "enemy"
In fact, we can only listen to scientists and doctors who recommend consuming less fat and less cholesterol. People turned to “healthy” low-fat foods that were actually stuffed with sugar. In a recent report, the Food Advisory Committee named sugar one of the main causes of health problems and recommended that sugar be 10 percent or less of our daily calorie intake.
How many calories are in sugar
100 grams of sugar contains 389 calories. This is approximately 23 teaspoons.
World Health Protection recommends that no more than half of your daily calories come from foods with various sugars. How many calories are in a teaspoon of sugar? About 14. That is, you need to use about 6 tsp. or 100 calories for women and 9 tsp. or 150 calories for men.
But we consume much more sugar, exceeding the norm: the average person eats from 13 to 20 teaspoons of sugar added to food per day (about 230 calories for women and 335 for men).
The beneficial properties of sugar
In its natural state, sugar is a relatively harmless, even necessary carbohydrate, the level of which must be controlled by our body. For those who are losing weight, it is important to note that the number of calories in a spoonful of sugar (how much you eat, you already know) is equivalent to one glass of kefir. It is found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products as a compound known as fructose or lactose.
Sugar Harm
A problem arises when sugar is added to products during processing to add flavor, texture or color. This is more common than you can imagine. You do not have to have one candy to be surrounded by added sugar. Eating too many of these empty calories has many health effects, the most obvious of which is significant weight gain.
The added sugar raises your insulin level, messes up your metabolism and causes these calories to go into subcutaneous fat.
Sugar lowers blood pressure
In addition to how many calories are in 1 tablespoon of sugar, and the harm of these calories to your figure, there may be other problems with an overdose of glucose.
Recent studies show that eating dietary sugar, regardless of weight gain, can also increase blood pressure. And this is important: high blood pressure increases the load on the heart and arteries, and can also lead to damage over time of the entire circulatory system. Ultimately, this can lead to cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, kidney damage, arterial disease, and other serious coronary diseases. Moreover, people who follow a diet where at least 25 percent of the calories come from eaten sugar are twice as likely to die from heart disease than dieters, who eat less than 10 percent of their food.
Sugar causes a jump in cholesterol
People who consume a lot of sugar are more prone to bad cholesterol, as well as higher blood triglycerides. Bad cholesterol and blood triglycerides clog arteries and blood vessels, leading to heart disease. It doesn’t matter how many calories in a spoonful of sugar, it’s about the heart, the organ through which we live.
Increased risk of heart attack
People with higher blood sugar have a significantly increased risk of heart attacks, unlike patients with a lower sugar intake. One study found that sugar and sugared drinks increase the risk of coronary heart disease. “With every additional soda or sweet drink you consume, you can increase your risk of heart disease by 25 percent,” says Darria Long Gillespie, an emergency doctor assigned to board at Emory University Hospital. “See how many calories in a teaspoon of sugar are a shock to the body!”
Sugar eats your brain
You may have heard that sweets can eat tooth enamel, but even worse is that sugar can eat your brain. Studies show that eating too much sweet can damage the cognitive function of the brain and reduce the intake of proteins needed for good memory and quick response.
In one specific study, laboratory rats fed with sweets were slower and showed less synaptic brain activity than in the control group. "High sugar consumption is associated with addiction, like a drug - these are conditions associated not only with a decrease in cognitive function, but possibly even with changes in the structure of the brain," says Long Gillespie.
The calories in a teaspoon of sugar, no matter how much people argue about its benefits and harms, are enough to drive a small rat crazy.
High probability of Alzheimer's
Sugar-rich diets reduce the production of a chemical compound known as the brain's neurotrophic factor, which helps the mind form new memories and not forget old ones. Levels of this substance are especially low in people with diabetes and prediabetics, this is also associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Sugar causes depression
And not the answer to the question, how many calories in sugar. In one study, adults who drank more than four glasses of soda per day were 30% more likely to be depressed than people who drank unsweetened water, coffee, or tea. And how many calories in sugar they do not get - it does not matter.
In order to function properly, the brain needs a constant supply of substances such as glucose and insulin. When glucose (the scientific name for sugar) enters the bloodstream, insulin opens the doors of the cells to run the sugar inside. However, when your brain experiences continuous injections of sugar spikes (from your breakfast cereal to your iced coffee after dinner), insulin becomes more protected from it and therefore less effective. This ultimately leads to depression and anxiety. Therefore, do not be mistaken in the myth that sweets increase your mood. The pressure rises and there is a sharp jump in glucose, which makes you feel more excited (read - happy). But this is a short-term feeling.
All the good should be in moderation
But if you approach the matter wisely, do not overdo it with sweets and monitor your diet, sugar will only be in favor. How many calories in 2 tablespoons of sugar added to tea? Not much to cause health problems — only thirty. If you miss a cup of sweet coffee or tea at breakfast, nothing bad will happen. The main thing is to know the measure. Read product packaging, see how many calories in sugars that are contained there, count them and do not go beyond. Then you will not know health problems.