Observer On Sunday

New You – Nutrition

5 June 2011

Nutritionist Helki Weber from Any Time Fitness has advised
Denize to eat natural foods without additives, to check food labels and to try
and cut down on sugar. As well as being empty calories, sugar has been
implicated with various health issues.

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate and one of sugar’s major
drawbacks is that it raises the insulin levels which inhibit the release of
growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system and makes you more
prone to infections. An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s
blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to
keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the
storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re making way
for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been
linked to cardiovascular disease. Complex carbohydrates on the other hand tend
to be absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels

Sugar Has Many Disguises

Careful reading of labels is necessary to know how much
added sugar you are getting. Sometimes there will be small amounts of many
types of sugars or sugar is listed as apparently more “healthy” ingredients,
such as honey, rice syrup, or even “organic dehydrated cane juice”. These are still
a form of sugar. Sometimes fruit juice concentrates will be used, which sound
wholesome, but usually the juices chosen, such as white grape, apple, and pear
juices, are among the least nutritious of the juices. By the time they are
“concentrated”, very little remains but the sugar.

Here is a list of some of the possible code words for “sugar” which may appear
on a label. Hint: the words “syrup”, “sweetener”, and anything ending in “ose”
can usually be assumed to be “sugar”.

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Agave nectar

Agave nectar has been touted as being better than other
forms of sugar. Agave nectar, also called agave syrup, is sweet syrup made from
the filtered juice of a succulent plant native to Mexico. Agave nectar is
usually made from filtering the agave juice and then heating it to concentrate
the syrup and break down the complex sugars into simple ones. Agave nectars can contain as much as four
grams of sugar per tablespoon, which is exactly the same as table sugar, corn syrup,
or molasses. Since they are almost completely carbohydrate, the calories are
also equivalent. The claim is that it raises blood sugar less than other
sugars. Since most of the sugar in agave nectar is fructose (up to 90%), this
is probably true, as fructose is less glycemic ( glycemic index is a measure of
the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels )than glucose. However,
fructose has other problematic issues. Fructose was once thought to be great
for diabetics because of its lesser impact on blood glucose. However, it is now
recognized that too much fructose is a bad thing, causing an increase in triglycerides
and promoting insulin resistance, among other things

Sugar by any other name

Barley Malt Syrup

Corn sweetener

Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids

Dehydrated Cane Juice

Dextrin

Dextrose

Fructose

Fruit juice concentrate

Glucose

High-fructose corn syrup

Honey