Sweet food makes you fat. But most people really like sweet food. Why is there this preference for sweets that is actually so bad for people? That comes from the time when we lived as cave people.
Body wants to survive
The human body has developed a wonderful mechanism: it is made to survive in times of scarcity. The body then switches to a different combustion method. So in times when there is little food, the body deals with it differently. But that same body is always trying to survive times of scarcity. And that means storing energy. Sweet food contains a lot of energy and that is why people love it so much. Fat also contains a lot of energy and people also like that. Even salt is something that is useful to the body, because it ensures that moisture is retained. So it is not surprising that people like this bad food so much. The point is that the circumstances are different. We no longer have to hunt to get that food. We no longer have times when we have little or no food available. But the food industry is making more and more food that makes it seem as if we are still cave people. Because a lot of food contains a lot of hidden sugars, fats and salt.
How much sugar do we eat per year?
On average, a Dutch person eats no fewer than 35 one-kilo packs of sugar per year. People who pay attention and never take sugar in their tea or coffee, who eat little chocolate, liquorice or other things and hardly indulge in pastries and cookies, still consume a lot of sugar. Often without them even knowing it. Because sugar is in almost everything. Of the sugars that people in the Netherlands consume, 85 percent is processed in all kinds of products. But 15 percent of all sugar intake is done very consciously and by handling the sugar bowl. This leads to habituation to the sweetness of sugar and also means that people often no longer like food without sugar at all.
Slow and fast sugars
Sugars are carbohydrates. Just like bread, pasta, potatoes and rice, these carbohydrates provide energy for the body. This keeps you busy, allows you to move, think, exercise and do everything a person does. Unfortunately, tasty foods such as chocolate, liquorice, cookies and pastries contain carbohydrates that can be classified as bad sugars. They are also referred to as fast sugars because they are very easily transferred from food to the blood. So a lot of sugar suddenly enters your blood and that is too fast a reaction. Too much glucose (sugar) in the blood has a number of consequences. These are:
- Too high a sugar level can make people feel unwell
- The cells become overcrowded and the body starts working on this, because it wants to get rid of it. A small amount of the sugar is stored in the liver and muscles, but the rest of the excess glucose is converted into fat and that fat is stored. Eating too much sugar causes more and more fat to be stored, which means that a person will become fat if there is no combustion in return.
- The sugars that are cleared away as quickly as they entered the body also result in the blood sugar level suddenly dropping very quickly again. And that in turn means that someone wants to start eating again and often consumes fast sugars again. Resulting in a spiral. Anyone who exercises a lot or for a long time does need a lot of sugars, and at that moment these may be fast sugars. Those who are not very active are better off taking slow sugars such as bread, pasta or potatoes.
Slow sugars
Slow sugars found in bread, pasta or potatoes are processed very differently by the body than fast sugars. They are, as it were, in long chains of molecules. The human body must first completely disassemble them and only then do the good substances enter the body. This is much slower and more gradual. Small amounts of glucose continue to enter the cells, the blood sugar level falls and rises much more gradually and the feeling of hunger therefore remains balanced.
Products that contain sugar even though people don’t know it
In fact, there are very few products in the Netherlands to which the manufacturer has not added sugar (unless they are items purchased in the Natuurwinkel, which sell many more products without additives). Almost everyone knows that soft drinks contain enormous amounts of sugar (a can of cola contains 10 lumps of sugar), and that a chocolate bar is chock full of sugar. But there are also so many other things that it includes, such as:
- mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Breakfast bars
- Drinking yoghurt
- Rusk
- Dry toast
- Pickles
- Scoop ice cream
- Breakfast cereal with nuts and honey (1 serving contains 3.5 teaspoons of sugar)
- Milk&Fruit (contains 9 lumps of sugar per pack)
- Vitamin water (also 8 lumps of sugar, while many people think it is healthy water)
- Minute Maid orange juice (also seems very healthy, but has 12 sugar cubes)
Sugar in medicines
What many people do not know is that many medicines also contain sugar. It is then a filler that is used to obscure the taste of the medicine. In addition, it must ensure that the medicine does not absorb moisture.
I choose consciously logo says nothing about healthy food
Many people think that if they choose a product with an I choose consciously logo, it does not contain any sugar or fat. Nothing is less true. If there is less fat in a product, that logo is already stuck on it. While sugar has been added, which is then converted into more fat in the body itself. For milk, for example, skimmed milk may contain little fat, but it does have the most milk sugar (about 10 sugar cubes per liter).
Would you rather have more fat or more sugar?
One gram of fat contains more calories than one gram of sugar. But the difference in sugars and fats is also big. Those who want to lose weight sometimes no longer know what to do when it comes to the intake of fats or sugars. But the most important thing remains to consume more energy and that can only be done through sports or exercise. Good food also ensures that the body continues to function as it should and also develops a good metabolism (burning).