When you think of sugar, what do you think about? Do you think about white, solid cubes on a spoon? Or do doughnuts, cakes, biscuits come to mind?
But the word ‘sugar’ is too general. Sugar can come in many forms. For example, sugar can be artificial or natural. Natural sugars are found in fruits, vegetables, honey, milk and the list goes on; natural sugars are common in whole foods. The can include glucose, fructose, sucrose and lactose. Glucose is common in carbohydrate-rich foods whereas fruits and vegetables are fructose-rich foods.
Now, you may think natural sugars behave similarly and artificial sugars such as aspartame and sucralose, behave similarly. But the reality is two sugars can be natural sugars but have completely different behaviour; this is seen with glucose and fructose. Glucose is absorbed by the intestines into the bloodstream. This will increase your blood sugar levels. But fructose goes into the liver and does not raise blood sugar levels.
Therefore, when you are thinking about sugar, identify whether it is artificial or natural.
I will be discussing three sugar misconceptions that many to this day believe:
Sugar causes hyperactivity in kids.
It raises blood sugar levels.
It is addictive as cocaine.
Many of us throughout our childhood to this day have been told our ‘hyperactivity’ is due to the amount of sugar we are consuming. A study done in 1994 found out there is no correlation between the amount of sugar consumed and hyperactivity. If there is a difference, it is not statistically significant. And many parents, believing this statement, put limits on how much sugar their children can consume. And this is where the problem arises.
Consider the following scenario:
You are at a birthday party. This is a great excuse for indulging in some sugar; you are limited to the amount of sugar you can have at home so this is your big day. And, just like the misconception, you find yourself as one of the hyperactive people at the party. And you wonder, ‘does sugar actually make people hyperactive?’
Well, there are many points to consider. First, have you heard of the self-fulfilling prophesy concept? Don’t worry if you haven’t! This concept is based on a belief. And a belief, whether a proven fact or not, can be imbedded into an individual so much that they start performing actions that conform to that belief. And this is the same with sugar. Throughout generations, we have come up with this belief that sugar causes hyperactivity (and some claim it is linked to ADHD) to the point when we eat sugar, we indeed do become hyperactive.
It is a similar concept to alcohol. In every society, there is a way of acting when someone is drinking alcohol and getting drunk. For example, in some cultures, people believe drinking alcohol results in a irritable behaviour whereas in other cultures, people believe getting drunk results in being sloppy. But in both example, people are drinking. But behaviour is cultural.
So, we can identify the same concept with sugar. We act a certain way, not because of sugar, but because of society’s expectations. There is no clear scientific evidence that proves sugar = hyperactivity.
This does not mean eat as much sugar as you want; there are other detrimental effects of sugar.
Secondly, we have this misconception of sugar elevating blood sugar levels. For this point, we will be focusing on the glycemic index.
First, we need to know how the glycemic index was created. In 1980, a Welsh man named Dr David Jenkins took 10-12 individuals with normal glucose tolerance. He gave them 50 grams of carbohydrates as a control variable for the experiment. He started of with making the participants fast for 12 hours and then feed them with 50 grams of a single food e.g., potato. Then he meausured how much their blood glucose levels had elevated. He repeated this for different foods such as strawberries, rice, ice-cream, you name it!
There are various problems with this study. First, any one person will not just eat potatoes or bread or berries by themselves; individuals have combinations of these foods. For example, someone may have toast with an avocado. This is crucial because the combinations of foods will impact the glycemic index. Combining fat and sugar will lower the glycemic index, resulting in slower digestion and lowered blood sugar levels. Secondly, a person will not fast and eat a certain food; we all eat at different times, different gap meals and different amount of meals throughout the day. All these factors have an impact on the glycemic index. Thirdly, the NHS states that just because a food has a higher glycemic index does not make it unhealthy and similarly, just because a certian food has a lower glycemic index does not make it healthy. An apple has a higher glycemic index than a chocolate cake! Therefore, we can conclude the glycemic index in not a reliable source to choose which foods you should eat and which you should eliminate.
Another point to consider with the second misconception is that not all sugar raises you blood sugar levels the same.
We already looked at the example of how glucose elevates your blood glucose levels but fructose does not.
Whether you are consuming artificial sugar or natural sugar, this can impact the elevation of your blood sugar levels. If you think you are having trouble identifying sugars, look out for words ending in ‘ose’ on ingredient lists. Even though natural sugars have end with ‘ose’ artificial sugars are used to sweeten beverages, added in cakes and biscuits and often have more complicated names. Some can aften be non-caloric as a solution for obesity. But studies have shown that the disadvantage of artificial sweeteners are that it leads to an increase in energy intake. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1028415X.2019.1639306#d1e298 (this is a link to an ariticle from PubMed)
Finally, we will be addressing the third misconception of sugar being as addictive as cocaine. I’m sure you must have heard of this one!
The reason behind this misconception is that both sugar and cocaine affect the reward system in the brain. But this statement is overlooked. There are other healthy activities that affects the same reward system e.g., hugging a pet, petting a dog, sex and even other foods. This causes dopamine release from the brain. Being addicted to drugs and cocaine is not the only think people are addicted to; some people can have addictions that many do not have e.g., being addicted to skiing.
in 2007, there was a study done on rats: they were given a choice between sugar water and cocaine water and 94% of rats chose sugar water. This caused the claim of sugar being more addictive than cocaine. First, cocaine causes a larger release of dopamine then sugar. Secondly, studies done on sugar often use artificial or added sugar. This is not the same as natural sugar found in wholefoods. And sugar becomes more addictive not on its own but when combined with ultra-processed food additives, preservatives and emulsifiers.
To conclude, there are 3 misconceptions with sugar. Knowing about sugar is important in today’s society because there is a huge invisible protest on eliminating sugar because it is ‘bad’. But our bodies need it; and you need the correct knowledge. My tips for the future is to keep your mind open and do you own research so that you are not the next person to fall into the trap! My personal opinion is that you chose natural sugar over artificial sugar as it has been used for generations and is found in whole foods. Research on artificial sugar is ongoing and there are more misconceptions on artificial sugar than natural sugar.
Hope this was of use to you :)
Link to the podcast: https://podcast.app/the-trouble-with-sugar-e331615274/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=share