What is sugar and how it actually affects the body?

Sugar is one of the most exciting foods of our time. How much can you eat? Is it possible at all? What happens to a person if they completely eliminate sugar from their diet? Does sugar really cause diabetes? These are just a few of the questions people ask when it comes to sugar. Those with a sweet tooth who want to lose weight are especially worried: what can replace sugar in order to eat sweets and not gain kilograms? And if you leave it in your diet, what is the “limit”?

First you need to understand what sugar is. This is not only a white powder sold in grocery stores in bags of one, five and ten kilograms, first of all, sugar is a special type of carbohydrate. These include glucose, fructose, galactose and many others. Sugar is present in almost every product, even in a tiny amount. This group of low molecular weight carbohydrates also includes starch, dietary fiber (for example, fruits and vegetables), chitin and cellulose.

When we eat something with a lot of sugar, receptors in contact with this substance send information to the brain that it is something really tasty. As a result, our brain remembers this, we begin to consider sugar a good product and “get attached” to it, especially considering that it is quickly broken down and transformed into energy for our body . However, the “dependence” on sugar is determined not only by this factor (after all, there are many people who are completely indifferent to sugar, and one piece of chocolate will be enough for them for several days). Sugar cravings are influenced by age, childhood eating habits and genetic makeup.

Recent studies have shown that sugar (contrary to popular belief) does not particularly affect weight gain if a person is limited to a daily calorie intake. Accordingly, if you choose a bar of one thousand three hundred calories for yourself and based on this calculate how much sweets you can tolerate, then no ten extra pounds will not be added, even if you eat a piece of chocolate every day.

Weight gain depends on how much sugar a person eats per day. Sweet foods are usually much higher in calories, but they turn into energy very quickly and are also quickly spent, and as a result, instead of one bun, we can safely eat two or three. And as a result – unpleasant numbers on the scales, anger at myself, at the unfortunate buns and at the whole world. So it is not sweet foods that are dangerous, but the fact that we cannot stop in time.