Guest Blog

Gopi Chandratheva is a registered nutritionist with a BSc in nutrition and over 10 years nutritional experience. 

She currently is specialising in adult weight management in the private sector and also has her own website and social media platform working with food brands creating nourishing recipes. 

You can find her on Instagram @gopis_nourishingrecipes and at www.gopisnourishingrecipes.com

 

What is sugar?

Sugar is a form of carbohydrate a source of energy our body needs, a key sugar in our body is glucose and our brain requires glucose to function. It is formed when our body breaks down foods from carbohydrates such as bread, pasta and rice.

Sugar also adds sweetness to foods and drinks, acts as a preservative, provides colour and flavour and texture.

There are many forms of sugars found in foods and drinks some of which include are fructose, glucose, galactose, lactose, maltose, sucrose and glucose which are extracted and processed with variable tastes and functionality.

The sugars we need to be mindful of are free sugars. According to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in its 2015 report on Carbohydrates and Health the definition of free sugars- ‘This comprises all monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices. Under this definition lactose when naturally present in milk and milk products is excluded’.

Free sugars should not exceed more than 5% of total energy from the age of two upwards. Free sugars are those added to food and drink and those naturally present excluded from free sugars these include lactose found in milk and sugars in fruit and vegetables. In the UK the common foods where sugar is added include drinks, cakes, biscuits, cereal products.

Sugar and health

An increased sugar consumption is correlated with an increased energy intake and can have a negative impact on our health when eaten in excess. Excessive sugar consumption has been associated with obesity, metabolic disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, and cognitive impairment. Numerous studies have found a strong correlation between sugar consumption and obesity and overall energy intake.

High sugar consumption may also impact our gut health and mood. Especially in western diets, high sugar consumption has been linked with inflammation as sugary foods impact our dopamine release activating our reward pathways. Sugars in the diet also have an impact on oral health and 1 in 5 children have dental carries due to an excess of free sugars.

How much sugar should we be having?

Adults should be consuming no more than 30g of free sugars per day about 7 sugar cubes. Dietary sugar consumption is associated with many negative health outcomes especially obesity and reducing free sugars can impact our health in a positive way.

Prevention

Sugar should not be avoided but having it in moderation and being mindful of how much free sugars we should be having can benefit our health. The government have implemented a tax levy on sugary drinks to tackle childhood obesity. The sugar reduction programme was introduced to reduce sugars in some food categories by 20%.The simple replacement of sugar by a single ingredient is not as straightforward and sugar reduction in correlation on the calories of a product is dependent on what sugars are replaced with e.g., sweeteners in drinks.

Ways to reduce sugar:

• Use fruit to naturally sweeten foods
• Tinned fruit in juice instead of syrup
• Opt for low sugar or unsweetened cereals and add fruit-Weetabix, porridge oats, shredded wheat
• Half the amount of sugar in your recipes e.g., cakes and bakes add bananas/dried fruit
• Opt for water/sugar free drinks
• Limit unsweetened fruit juices/smoothies to no more than 150mls-remember one glass only counts towards one of your 5 a day
• Many pasta sauces/tinned products/ can contain a lot of added sugar, opt for plain versions e.g. tinned tomatoes, reduced sugar beans-keep an eye out for hidden sugars
• Read the food labels choose products that are 5g or less of total sugars, anything more than 22.5g is considered high
• When it comes to spreads such as jams and chocolate versions-try reduced sugar, be mindful of how much you spread/add fruit toppings e.g., banana with peanut butter, strawberries with cream cheese
• Be mindful of the types of sugars e.g., white and brown; invert sugar, dextrose and molasses; fructose, sucrose, glucose, the sugars in honey, treacle, malt extract and all types of syrups including glucose syrup, glucose–fructose syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and rice malt syrup; sugars in all types of nectars e.g. coconut blossom nectar; date nectar, agave nectar-Whilst some of them may be more nutrient dense it is still a source of free sugar and breaks down in the same way.

References

Carbohydrates and Health (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Sugar - British Nutrition Foundation

Reformulation - Action on Sugar

The Impact of Free Sugar on Human Health—A Narrative Review - PMC (nih.gov)

UK Sugars and the body (makingsenseofsugar.com)

A definition of free sugars for the UK - PMC (nih.gov)

Dietary sugar consumption and health: umbrella review | The BMJ

Sugar: the facts - NHS (www.nhs.uk)