Why a lot of sugar is a problemYou need to be really strong right now: The body needs sugar, but not artificially produced table sugar. He can do without. The desire for sugar can even make him really sick. Why many of us are so keen on sweets?
By Tanja Fieber
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Reasons for sugar consumption
There are several reasons for this. First, breast milk is already quite sweet; second, sugar is a popular educational tool to reward children, to make them compliant or to save family peace.
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As a result, we are accustomed to sugar from an early age, although physiologically the body does not need household sugar at all. The sugar component glucose, which the body needs for muscles and brain, can be easily obtained from fruits, vegetables, rice, bread, potatoes and meat.
Actually we do not need it at all
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Household sugars are empty calories
For the body, artificially produced industrial sugar means empty calories. That's why a high-sugar diet is also bad for your health: You consume too many calories and increase your risk of developing lifestyle diseases such as obesity, high blood prere and diabetes.
In Germany, one in five people is now considered to be morbidly obese. This is no longer an individual problem, but also a social one.
Wrong diet is a social problem
Diabetes and secondary diseases cost 25 billion euros a year. If you include incapacity to work as a result of the illness, the wrong diet costs the health insurance companies in Germany – and therefore also the patients covered by the health insurance – much more.
Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) expects the number of diabetics to more than double by 2020. So the problem is not getting smaller, it is rapidly getting bigger.
Recommendations of the World Health Organization
For this reason, the WHO ied new recommendations on sugar consumption in March 2015. Children and adults should get less than ten percent of their daily energy intake from sugar.
Those who manage to reduce their sugar consumption to less than five percent daily, i.e. 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of sugar, support their health in the long term.
What chocolate triggers in the body
But it's not that easy to reduce sugar when you're used to it. What is the reason? Chocolate example: when we eat chocolate, our muscles and brain get an extra boost of energy. In addition, the brain's ability to absorb the protein tryptophan is promoted. It is converted in the brain into the hormone serotonin, which ensures a good mood.
Happiness as a spread
Plus, sugar can trigger addiction-like behaviors. Falk Kiefer from the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim was able to show this in tests with overweight people. These patients reacted differently to pictures of fruits and vegetables than to pictures of ice cream and crepes.
Labeling and advertising ban
Since sugar can be addictive, it should actually be labeled like cigarettes and alcohol. Wolfgang Siegfried, head of the Insula obesity clinic in Bischofswiesen, argues that the sugar content should be shown on packaging with sugar pyramids and that advertising should be dispensed with for sweets.
The nutrition protocol
What to do to escape sugar addiction? First find out how much sugar you actually consume every day! The easiest way to do this is with a nutrition protocol. Free templates are available on the Internet and in nutrition apps.
The best way to find sugar bombs is to look at the ingredients on packaging and nutrition tables. Observe why you eat what and when, because eating also has a psychological component ("eating motive").