One of the properties of sugar is to be a direct source of energy in our brain and cause a feeling of euphoria. According to Elena Roura, doctor in nutrition and scientific manager of the Alícia Foundation, the fact that “this energy drops very quickly” is what makes you “feel the need to eat more again.” This is why sugar is considered so addictive. What we have to watch out for the most, however, is that excessive intake can be harmful.
Roura explains that humans need “our blood glucose to be stable” and that “in foods with a high amount of sugar our body releases insulin.” This fact ends up causing us to run out of sugar in our blood and what this causes is a feeling of hunger, with which Roura concludes that “an excess of sugar increases the risk of suffering from obesity, both in childhood and in old age.” adult.”
On the other hand, the fact that the amount of sugar in the blood can rise and fall so quickly “can pose a risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” explains Roura. This is a disease in which, at its onset, insulin resistance is the first symptom. Over time the body cannot produce enough and this ends up causing glucose or blood sugar levels to be too high. In addition, Roura also warns about other drawbacks of excessive sugar intake: “It can increase the risk of being overweight or lead to a degree of inflammation in your body, and all of this can be the basis of other alterations of the cardiovascular system.”
In general, Roura recommends “a limited intake of sugar,” but we don’t have to eliminate it completely either. Firstly, it emphasizes that the sugar that is linked to other components of the food, such as that found in cereals, legumes or fruit, is “what we need”, and it is the added sugars that we introduce. us in food, with which “we have to try not to consume excessively.” From here, he considers that in cases such as wafers and nougats on Christmas Day or the Three Kings roscón there is no problem that we eat, as long as it is “on special occasions” and “in a moderate way.” Diana Díaz Rizzolo, professor of Health Sciences Studies at the UOC, shares this same vision and explains that “what determines our diet are habits and not a specific intake,” as in this case with Christmas sweets.
The two experts share a similar vision regarding dietary recommendations. On the one hand, Roura warns that “we have to consume the smallest amounts of ultra-processed foods that contain sugar or other elements such as fructose, glucose, agave syrup or starches because they are also simple sugars.” Díaz Rizzolo places “those foods that do not need nutritional labels” as those that have to be “the basis of our diet,” and from here “increase in the scale of minimally processed products such as canned legumes or fish” to finally “consume a minimum of the most processed foods.”
In most cases there is a relationship between sugar and sweetness, but in some cases the lack of sweet flavor does not mean that a food cannot contain added sugars. Díaz Rizzolo warns that “sauces or sausages can contain sugar in large quantities,” especially in industrial ones.