Hi, I am Eric Sodicoff, M.D. Primary Care
Internal Medicine doctor and Obesity Medicine Specialist at PMA Medical Specialists.
I frequently query my patients about how much sugar they consume throughout the
day. Happily, I have discovered many people are making some efforts to cut out
sweets. But let’s back up a second and discuss why too much sugar is a problem.
First, what is sugar anyway?
Common table sugar, scientifically known as
sucrose is a disaccharide. That means it is composed of two basic sugar units.
In the case of sucrose, those are glucose and fructose. Blood sugar is only
glucose; it’s what diabetics are checking when they prick their fingers. It
isn’t very sweet. White rice for example is almost pure glucose, and most
people don’t consider it sweet at all. Glucose circulates throughout the body
24/7. Cells throughout the body can use it as fuel. Red cells use it as their
only source of energy and it powers most people’s brains most of the time.
Glucose molecules get strung together and stored in the liver to be used
between meals. The liver also can convert protein into glucose in a pinch.
Fructose, on the other hand, is the sweet stuff. It makes sugary
soda, candy, cakes and ice cream so irresistible. Fructose comes from plants
such as sugar cane, sugar beets, fruit, and since the 1970s, artificially and
cheaply synthesized from corn. This is known as High-Fructose Corn Syrup.
Fructose, either naturally sourced or synthetic, presents something of a
challenge to our bodies. It must be converted to glucose in order to be used
and there is only one location in the body that does that: the liver. The
liver’s capacity to manage fructose can be overwhelmed by eating or drinking
too much of it. When fructose is over consumed it becomes liver fat and then
belly fat too. Fatty liver is presently an epidemic and is overtaking viral
hepatitis and alcoholism as the main cause of liver failure. Fructose is very
fattening.
How much sugar is too much?
There are different
answers. The American Heart Association sets the limit at 24 grams per day for
women and 36 for men. The World Health organization say 50 grams. How much is
that you might be asking? Just one serving of strawberry yogurt has 26 grams of sugar.
Yup, just one so called healthy
yogurt for breakfast is enough to break through a woman’s daily sugar budget.
It’s not even considered a dessert!
Processed foods that aren’t even particularly sweet contain huge amounts
of added sugars too. The processed food manufacturers have discovered people
really, really love sugar and buy
more when it is added to products. It pops up in unlikely places even foods
that usually aren’t sweet at all.
-Check
the labels and you’ll find it in jarred spaghetti sauce, whole wheat bread,
ketchup and peanut butter.
- A breakfast bar made with
"real fruit" and "whole grains" lists 15 grams
of sugar.
- A single cup of bran cereal with raisins, in
a box advertising "no high-fructose corn syrup,"
contains 20 grams of sugar per serving.
- A cranberry/pomegranate juice product, also
advertising "no high-fructose corn syrup" and "100% Vitamin
C," contains 30 grams of added sugar per 8 oz. serving. Some of the sugar
is naturally occurring, but some of it has been added.
74% of all supermarket groceries have added
sugar! How does one avoid the epidemic
of sugary foods? This is how I do it. Just eat real food. Avoid ultra-processed
refined foods. They have long complicated ingredient lists that invariably
contain something bad. There are at least 61 different synonyms that food
manufacturers use that all mean sugar (see sugar names list below). As a general rule,
avoid the center aisles of the supermarket.
Eat Real Foods
Choose
real food that comes from a field, forest or sea. It doesn’t pass through a
factory first. Real food is single ingredient. Real food doesn’t require
reading an ingredient list because it’s whole and unprocessed. That being said,
some fruit such as bananas and grapes do have high natural sugar content. If
you are diabetic or are struggling with weight it is best to curb consumption
of those as well. Above all else cut out all sugary drinks: Soda, all juice,
sport drinks, sweetened teas and sweetened coffees. Many of my patients have
made a big dent in their weight problems by only nixing sugary drinks.
61 Names for Sugar
●
Agave nectar--- Sorry Dr. Oz.
●
Barbados sugar
●
Barley malt
●
Barley malt syrup
●
Beet sugar
●
Brown sugar
●
Buttered syrup
●
Cane juice
●
Cane juice crystals
●
Cane sugar
●
Caramel
●
Carob syrup
●
Castor sugar
●
Coconut palm sugar
●
Coconut sugar
●
Confectioner's sugar
●
Corn sweetener
●
Corn syrup
●
Corn syrup solids
●
Date sugar
●
Dehydrated cane juice
●
Demerara sugar
●
Dextrin
●
Dextrose
●
Evaporated cane juice
●
Free-flowing brown sugars
●
Fructose
●
Fruit juice
●
Fruit juice concentrate
●
Glucose
●
Glucose solids
●
Golden sugar
●
Golden syrup
●
Grape sugar
●
HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)
●
Honey--Yup, honey is basically bee sugar, not
better than any other type.
●
Icing sugar
●
Invert sugar
●
Malt syrup
●
Maltodextrin
●
Maltol
●
Maltose
●
Mannose
●
Maple syrup
●
Molasses
●
Muscovado
●
Palm sugar
●
Panocha
●
Powdered sugar
●
Raw sugar
●
Refiner's syrup
●
Rice syrup
●
Saccharose
●
Sorghum Syrup
●
Sucrose
●
Sugar (granulated)
●
Sweet Sorghum
●
Syrup
●
Treacle
●
Turbinado sugar
●
Yellow sugar
Eric J. Sodicoff, MD
Further
reading about sugar:
Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed
Food, Obesity, and Disease
by Robert H. Lustig
Fun documentary:
That Sugar Film
Amazon Video ~ Damon Gameau
