Is Sugar really a villain in our diet?

Sugar is everywhere in our diet, in sweet product of course ,but also in other unsweetened products like in soups,bread,cookies,ketchup etc.Thus almost all of our current consumption of sweet nearly 80% comes from processed products.

Sugar alone isn't harmful to our bodies, instead it's the amount of sugars we consume on a daily basis, that extra sugar adds calories but no nutrients.They are easy to eat in excess, for example you may drink a can of soft drink but you would not eat four apples in one sitting,as the fibre in fruit makes you full.

We are talking about two types of sugar that we consume in our daily life, one is natural sugar that we consume through fruits,milk,honey etc and other is Refined sugar or added sugar that we found mostly in packed and processed products.

Added sugar or Refined sugar is one of the worst and most toxic ingredients in western diet.it has no nutritional value and lacks any essential minerals & vitamins.It can have harmful effects on our metabolism and contribute  to development of numerous serious health conditions and diseases such as obesity,heart diseases,diabetes,breast cancer and also lead to day to day complications like headache,low energy level etc.

When we eat foods high in sugar , the reward centers of brain are activated and releases a large amount of dopamine,this is what makes eating sugar feel so good.But overtime and over stimulation of those reward centers , we develop an addiction to sugar and function similar to how actual drugs like heroine and cocaine do.

Body breaks down sugar into glucose typically this isn't the problem as it is the energy source of our body but any excess glucose will be converted into fat,which can lead to weight gain and obesity.

So what can we do now?

Because it can be difficult to completely cut sugar out of our diet, the least we can do is eat the minimum amount and opt for natural alternatives.

If you are going to eat sugar make sure it is the natural kind found in fruits.Fruits are still high in sugar, so don't overdo it.

one way is to limit sugary beverages like regular soda,energy drinks,fruit drinks,sweetened coffee and teas.

The WHO strongly recommends we reduce our daily intake of free sugars to about 7 teaspoons per day.

When you reduce or eliminate sugar, storage of fat will decline slowly and you will lose some weight.however this takes time to show effect about one to three weeks.

In conclusion , it is better to allow yourself to have the occassional fancy drinks or favorite soda or any other sweet.it can actually make it more special and enjoyable when we limit these to special occasions rather than every day.