Placing Our Mental View of Sugar in the Right Perspective

How many times have you uttered the words "please pass the sugar" to the one sitting next to you as you make your morning coffee? Or perhaps heard someone ask you "how much sugar do you need for your coffee?" Countless times, I bet. For in our day-to-day life, we think of sugar as that white stuff that puts the sweet taste in our coffee. And if challenged to define what sugar really is, we probably would go further by describing it as the sweet ingredient that we read on the labels of many food products, such as cookies, candies, and canned fruits. Our definition of sugar, in this case, will surely not be opposed by anyone. But if our understanding of sugar is confined within that definition, then it certainly is wanting as it misses out on the other more important facts.

Sugar is certainly much more than the tiny, white grains that we stir into our coffee to make it sweet. It may come in the form of dextrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, sorbitol, and sorghum - refined, highly concentrated substances that show up as ingredients indicated on the labels of different food products. Sugar may also mean the natural sweet elements present in milk, fruits, and even in some vegetables.

Sugar, in whatever form it may appear, or from whichever source it may come, is used by our body in much the same way. In fact, the more appropriate definition for sugar is that it belongs to the class of nutrients which we know as carbohydrates. And we also know that carbohydrates are our body's principal source of fuel that provides us with the energy we need to perform our daily physical activities. All carbohydrates are converted by the body into glucose, which is accumulated in muscles and the liver, and circulates in the body as blood sugar. Therefore, if your regular diet consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains - foods that are rich in complex carbohydrates - then adding sugar to your diet is not necessary.

There are other misconceptions about sugar far beyond the "tooth decay" account. All these need to be straightened out. One is that sugar, though a carbohydrate, does not make children hyperactive. Another is that it is not the primary reason for any unwanted weight gained - fat is actually the greater culprit. Neither is sugar a cause for an increased risk of heart disease or cancer as some people fear. As a matter of fact, our bodies may even benefit from the additional calories that are supplied by sugary food if we are living a physically-active life. The problem arises once we start replacing our regular diet of foods that contain the important nutrients with those that are basically sugar-based. An increase in the risk of diabetes is very likely if your diet is high in sugar but is low in fiber-rich whole grains. Also, the elderly and sedentary - people who have low calorie requirements - must not have an overconsumption of sugar.

Sugar is not a dietary villain. We only need to have a better understanding of what sugar really is, what it exactly does to our body, and how we can best benefit from it by way of consuming it the right way. [Read the Original Article]