www.uangsurga.com We know about sugar and weight gain, but what about its role in tiredness and ageing?
What do you eat in a typical day? Toast with jam and a cup of coffee for breakfast, tea and two digestives mid-morning, a sandwich and fruit juice at lunch, a mid-afternoon Kit-Kat, pasta and a fruit yoghurt for dinner? It sounds innocent enough but in fact, like most British women, in just one day you've eaten the equivalent of around 38 tablespoons of sugar.
While we all know that eating excess sugar causes tooth decay and piles on the pounds, a growing number of nutritionists and scientists now believe that the excess refined sugar in our everyday diets is causing us to lose sleep and even speeding up the ageing process. And worryingly it seems that the more sugar we eat, the more we want.
What happens when we eat sugar?
‘Our bodies need fuel for energy from carbohydrates,' says Professor Aubrey Sheiham, professor of dental public health at University College London, who has studied the effects of sugar on the body. Sugar - whether it's in chocolate, cakes, biscuits, fruit juices (which, if they're not 100% juice can contain as much sugar as a can of Coke) honey or maple syrup - is just one form known as a simple carbohydrate. But the body also gets fuel from complex carbohydrates, which come from natural plant foods such as fruit, vegetables, brown rice, wholemeal pasta and bread.
The difference, says Aubrey is in the way our bodies react to the two types. ‘If you eat an apple or a slice of wholemeal bread your energy levels go up slowly and come back down slowly,' says Aubrey. That's because your pancreas gradually releases small amounts of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas to help regulate the bodies' fuel supply from glucose, and to take it out of the blood and into the cells for use as energy. ‘But when you eat a chocolate bar, your pancreas has to quickly release large amounts of insulin to process the sugar in your system. In time this leads to a rapid fall in blood sugar, yet more sugar cravings, irritability, exhaustion and crankiness as the fuel in your system quickly depletes, a process known as ‘reactive hypoglycaemia,' says Aubrey. ‘In fact, there is no evidence that our bodies have any physiological need for excess sugar.'
What sugar is doing to...
...your weight
For years, we've been told that it's mainly fat which makes us fat. But a recent study at Cambridge University's Medical Research Council found that each day, overweight people ate nearly three times as much sugar as their thinner counterparts. When self-confessed sugar junkie Connie Bennett, author of Sugar Shock! (Berkley, £10.33) gave up sugar ten years ago, her mood and energy levels improved dramatically. But there was another side effect - she lost weight. ‘I used to eat lots of boiled sweets and wine gums - up to 20 a day - along with liquorice and "low-fat" biscuits,' says Connie. ‘But they were low in calories so I never imagined they were making me fat. Within a month of cutting out all sugar, I'd lost seven pounds and dropped a dress size, without really trying'.
...your skin
In her new book The Beauty Diet (McGraw Hill £12.99) nutritionist Lisa Drayer points to a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, in which researchers studied the diets of 453 adults living in different countries and found that those who consumed more fish, olive oil and legumes were less prone to wrinkles than those who ate more meat, butter, high fat dairy and sugar. In particular, processed meat, soft drinks and pastries were associated with more skin wrinkling, while beans, green leafy vegetables, asparagus, nuts, olives, apples and pears were associated with less skin ageing. ‘When you eat lots of sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white rice, bread and pasta, levels of blood sugar in the body remain high,' says Lisa.
As a result, sugar molecules permanently bond to proteins, including the collagen in the skin - a process known as glycation. This produces chemical compounds called Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) that bind with skin proteins to create a chemical reaction in the skin, making its surface more stiff and inflexible, leading to premature ageing. ‘When this occurs the strands of protein that support your skin no longer move freely, making tissues stiff and inflexible. This makes skin tougher, saggier and more wrinkled.'
...your sleep
Do you feel utterly exhausted at night and nod off quite easily, only to wake in the wee hours with a start? The sugar in your diet could be to blame, says Charlotte Watts, nutritionist on BBC Three's Freaky Eaters and founder of www.positivelyslim.com. If you consume lots of refined sugar and white carbohydrates, your energy levels develop a yo-yo pattern where you crash a few hours after eating and you crave more sugar. ‘When you go to sleep after eating a dinner of say white, refined pasta and a sweet pudding,' says Charlotte, ‘you get a sudden burst of comfort and fullness, but come the middle of the night, you awake because your blood sugar has quickly dropped and is craving another fix.' With the exception of meringue, if you halved the amount of sugar in every single recipe you made, it would still work
On the other hand, if you eat a diet low in refined sugar with plenty of wholemeal foods, fruits, vegetables, lean meats and nuts your body's fuel system is sustained throughout both the day and the night. The result? A better night's sleep. ‘You could also try a pre-bed snack of celery sticks with peanut butter,' suggests Charlotte. ‘Celery is a traditional sleep aid and peanut butter contains tryptophan which helps the body create serotonin, a natural feel good chemical in the body that helps promote calm and sleep.'
How to cut down on sugar (without being miserable!)
Take it slow It's best not to go cold turkey, advises nutritionist Patrick Holford, author of 'How to Quit Without Feeling S**t' (Piatkus, £16.99). ‘Set yourself reasonable targets based on halving your sugar intake each week until you have none. For example if you take two sugars in your tea, cut back to one for the first week and then half a teaspoon in the second and none in the third.'
Go halves Love baking? ‘With the exception of meringue, if you halved the amount of sugar in every single recipe you made, it would still work,' says dietician and food expert Michael Van Straten, author of new book 'Superfoods, Superjuices, Superhealth' (Mitchell Beazley, £16.99).
Swap smart There's no need to feel deprived. Swap mid-morning biscuits for a handful of almonds, suggests Charlotte Watts, as these are rich in nutrients such as magnesium and essential fatty acids that can help reduce cravings, along with a piece of fruit for natural sweetness. Dried mango and Brazil nuts are also a great combination of sweetness and essential nutrients.
Become a label detective Sugar is sugar - right? Not exactly, says Professor Aubrey Sheiham. ‘Sugar can be disguised on labels as things such as fructose, glucose, maltose or galatose. Basically anything ending in ‘ose‘ is just another name for sugar.' Other forms of sugar to look out for (and steer clear of) on labels include high fructose corn syrup, glucose syrup, brown rice syrup, dextrin, maldodextrin, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, fruit juice concentrate, molasses, polydextrose, raisin juice/syrup and microrystalline cellulose.
Harness your sweet tooth The secret is to try and cut back on foods that provide a sugary taste, in any form - that way, over time you retrain your palate not to crave sweetness. Remember, any strong, concentrated sweet taste can spike insulin - not just actual sugar - thus keeping blood sugar in flux, which is what makes us tired, moody and prone to cravings.
If you use artificial sweeteners, try and have them only occasionally and opt for natural varieties such as Stevia (a slow-releasing, Japanese sweetener made from herbs, from supermarkets) or Agave nectar (from the Agave cactus, from health food stores), as chemical versions such as saccharin have been linked, in trials on rodents, to increased cancer risk. Sweet-tasting fruits such as apples, berries, bananas and melons are great options as sweet craving fixers as the sugar and carbohydrate in them are slow-releasing.
Spice it up Certain spices, such as nutmeg, cloves, coriander, ginger and cayenne pepper can help regulate blood sugar. But the best of them is cinnamon. ‘Half a teaspoon a day of cinnamon, say sprinkled on porridge or yoghurt in the morning can really keep cravings at bay,' says nutritionist Charlotte Watts. ‘It contains a compound called mcg, which mimics the action of insulin and can also trick your body into thinking you've eaten something sweet when you haven't.'
Supplement help If you find yourself turning to sweets because of low mood, you may benefit from chromium supplements, says nutritionist Patrick Holford. ‘Chromium is a mineral which helps insulin to work and reduces sugar cravings,' he says. Studies have shown that within eight weeks of taking it, cravings are reduced by half and mood is improved. Patrick suggests taking 600mg a day.
