Natural v/s White Sugar
Indians, and specially Gujaratis, have a sweet tooth.
No, where would this lead to?
Sugars would include all the foods, with added as well as natural sweetness.
Natural sugars would include dairy and all the fruits — however watery or juicy they may be (water melon, musk melon, chickoos, bananas, mangoes, oranges, papaya, pineapple, etc).
And white (added) sugars would mean all the mouthwatering desserts and sweets and puddings and ice creams.
Are natural sugars good for health?
Of course they are. Irrespective of all the calories and sweetness they have, fruits have a nutritive value, which can never be compensated.
Fruits, ideally should replace all the sugary and starchy foods. If you want to supplement fruits in your diet, then opt for low calories fruits — the watery ones (Apples, papaya, pineapple, oranges, grapes, guava, pears, etc).
Fruits do have calories; and calories have to be balanced.
So, choose YOUR fruits intelligently.
What can excess sugar in diet do?
Excess sugar has two effects — short term effect as well as the long term one.
The short term effect would be an imbalance in the calorie counts.
1 gram of sugar = 4 kcal
(1 Cal in common use refers to 1 kcal scientifically.)
Increase in calorie intake as opposed to calorie burning, would lead to obesity — weight gain in simple terms.
And, the long term effect would be — DIABETES.
[How excess sugar, when young, can cause diabetes, in old age — would be my next write-up.]
Better to have sugar in limit while young, so as to be able to continue enjoying sweets, however little, even in old age.
Is sugar a complete NO for diabetics?
If you can control your blood sugar levels, then a bit of sugar here and there wouldn’t harm.
Though, natural sugars in the form of dairy and fruits would be preferred than refined sugars; since they have something more than just calories — fibers and minerals.
Can diabetes kill?
Yes. Uncontrolled diabetes can. It opens you up to various infections, and with loads of infections in your system, can land you up in coma — diabetic coma. And as known, coma would be a totally unpredictable stage.
So yes, UNCONTROLLED DIABETES CAN KILL.
Need you worry about diabetes? NO.
Need you worry about uncontrolled diabetes? DEFINITELY YES.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE :
- Keep refined sugars or white sugar to a minimum. Always prefer fruits over added sugar and flavors. This simple change, if since childhood, can CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
- Easy way out? Keep a CHEAT DAY — one day/week OR a frequency you can set for your own body, according to your make and build; when you can have whatever you want, though in limited portions — only YOU can be the best judge for your portion size and control.
My social media channel:
