The journey from Bangalore to Mysore in Karnataka is
one of the most scenic in the country. Particularly attractive are the
seemingly endless fields of sugar cane, especially when they are in bloom.
Having made this trip hundreds of times, my enjoyment of this sight ceased once
I started studying nutrition. I realized that while beautiful and lush greenery
is soothing to the soul, the crop I was admiring was not only water wasteful
and chemical intensive, it was essentially going to become a 'food' that contributes
to our population's ill health!
All the debate about white sugar has been resolved –
yes, excessive sugar intake over a long period of time really does cause
Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and Asthma in addition to creating a body
environment that promotes other diseases as well. Most scientists,
nutritionists and medical professionals now agree that sugar should rightly be
classified as a 'toxic' substance.
There is a war being waged against sugary foods around
the world and beginning in India too. Parents especially want laws passed to
make it mandatory for food manufacturers to reduce the sugar present in their
products to a minimum level. They want clearer food ingredient labels as well
to help people distinguish if a product is high in hidden sugars. Also, the
sale of sugary foods is being limited in school zones there. Soon governments
all over will be taking actions – but will these really resolve the problem?
Let's come back to this point in a bit.
Here in India too, we're not only talking about white,
refined sugar – with a bakery or sweet shop on the corner of virtually every
street, the problem lies in first identifying unhealthy sugary foods:
The impact of sugar containing foods on children's
systems is much worse...They consume sugary foods at the expense of healthy
ones leading to dental caries and tooth decay, behavioural problems related to
sudden sugar highs and lows, irritability and tantrums. Obesity, insulin
resistance and type 2 diabetes can result from prolonged excessive consumption.
Temporary disturbances like drowsiness and headaches can be seen after a
child's sugar binge.
Children don't need sugar, even in milk! Least of all
for energy. Sugar and sugary foods cause a sudden increase in blood sugar
levels which is followed by a just-as-sudden drop in glucose levels and this
see-saw effect is responsible for most of the above consequences. Parents
should ensure their child gets enough steady supply of calories from the
COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES in whole grains, pulses and sprouts in their diet. Even
sugar from fruits and dry fruits is preferable to processed sugar sources.
Refined carbs like white rice and maida products are no good. They affect the
body similarly to sugar.
There is no such thing as a 'sweet tooth' – these are
only cravings caused by the brain's pleasure centre
becoming excessively stimulated, setting up repeated cravings for sweet foods.
Sugar is dangerous because of it's addictive nature!
The good news is, as you include more whole
grain cereals and pulses, consciously cut out the hidden sources of sugar
listed above and eat fruits when a craving hits, consistently, you will retrain
your brain and body to create a healthy metabolism again.
Artificial sweeteners and foods containing them should
be avoided by children at all costs. Their livers are much more sensitive to
the chemicals present in these. Not only that, children (and adults) who routinely use artificial sweeteners or consume
products containing these may develop a dislike for less sweet or non-sweet,
healthy, filling, and highly nutritious foods while consuming more artificially
flavoured foods with less nutritional value. The brain's ability to correlate
sweetness and calorie perception is also affected.
Even Diabetics don't really benefit from
using such sugar substitutes. The responsible thing to do is to reduce your
need for the sweet taste altogether! Sweets and snacks promoted as Diabetic
friendly are most often high in fat instead – thereby completely unhealthy in
any case.
So how much is OK? Assuming you are limiting other
sugary foods in the diet, your child and family members can consume a maximum
of 2 to 3 teaspoons (10 to 15 g) of any type of sugar per day. This is however
just the maximum allowance – you can avoid sugar completely and it will be even
safer for all of you!
Ideally stick to natural foods which are
much healthier but if you must choose processed foods, look at the food
ingredient labels. Sweeteners can be nutritive (calorie providing) or
non-nutritive (contain negligible calories)...
- Indian sweets and desserts of all types
- Jams, jellies, marmalades and even
ketchup / tomato sauce
- Biscuits (especially those with cream
filling) and cookies
- Cakes, muffins, pastries, desser,ts,
waffles, pancakes, doughnuts, bread-based sweets like croissants, etc.
- Ice cream, ice candies, flavoured
yoghurts, smoothies, srikhands, chocolates, mints, chewing / bubble gum, hard
boiled candy, etc.
- Processed fruit juices, fruit juice
concentrates, reconstituting juice powders, dehydrated fruit pulp snacks, even
fresh fruit juice or milkshakes from a vendor, etc.
- Carbonated (soft) drinks, flavoured
sodas, sports drinks, 'energizing' drinks, flavoured milk or soymilk, etc.
- Sugary breakfast cereals including
muesli, energy / nutrition bars, etc.
Kids are most susceptible to excessive sugar
intake....look at the list above, some food or the other may make it into your
child's mouth on a daily if not weekly basis.
There is evidence that excessive sugar intake during
pregnancy too affects your infant's taste preferences so avoid sugary foods and
sugar consumption during this time. While you're at it, reduce your sugar needs
during breastfeeding as well. Though traditional practices may dictate lots of
high calorie sweet foods at these sensitive stages, do your best to avoid them
and educate the elder women in the family.
Demerara (brown) sugar, honey, jaggery and
palm sugar, while preferable since they haven't undergone as much processing as
the refined white variety, still should only be enjoyed in limited quantities
since they too impact blood glucose levels.
Nutritive sweeteners - contain calories so are not really any use for
the health conscious.
Processed
Table sugar / sucrose, Confectioner's/powdered
sugar, High Fructose Corn syrup, Dextrose, Invert sugar, etc.
Unprocessed
Brown sugar, Fructose or
"fruit sugar", Glucose, Honey, Lactose / milk sugar, Maltose or "malt
sugar", Mannitol, Molasses, Raw sugar, Xylitol, Sorbitol, etc.
Non-Nutritive Sweeteners – contain chemicals which have to be dealt with by the liver, therefore
not really any healthier than refined sugar..
Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Neotame, Saccharin, Sucralose,etc.
