From tempting sweetness to white poison? Is sugar really unhealthy, or is it harmless to our bodies even in moderation? With this article, I want to draw your attention to a more conscious approach to sugar and provide you with all the useful facts.
Why Sugar Can Be Harmful
Sugar, in the form of blood sugar, is a component of our bodies. Sugar is also found in natural foods, such as fruits, vegetables, or grains. These forms of sugar generally pose no problem.
However, when it comes to added sugar like table sugar or glucose syrup, a closer look at quantities and ingredients is worthwhile. How much blood sugar levels rise after a meal depends on various factors such as the type and quantity of carbohydrates and the overall composition of the meal. Sugary foods can cause blood sugar levels to rise. The extent of this rise depends, among other things, on the amount, food type, and the composition of the entire meal. High consumption of free sugars particularly increases the risk of tooth decay and can contribute to weight gain with persistently high energy intake.
The Glycemic Index (GI)
How quickly and how high blood sugar levels rise after consuming a food is measured by a specific parameter: the glycemic index. The glycemic index describes how quickly carbohydrate-containing foods raise blood sugar levels compared to glucose.
Pure glucose has the highest GI of 100. White bread, for example, is between 70 and 85, and cola is at 70. Whole grain products have a GI of 40, legumes and most fruits and vegetables are even lower.
Foods with a lower glycemic index generally lead to a slower rise in blood sugar than foods with a high GI. However, the glycemic index alone is not sufficient to nutritionally evaluate a food. Portion size, fiber content, processing, and combination with other foods also play a role.
Different foods can have different effects on blood sugar levels. What is crucial here is not just individual sugar types, but also the composition, quantity, and combination of the consumed foods.
With natural sugar in fruits or grains, you also ingest accompanying substances such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber. In contrast to fruits or whole grain products, isolated and refined sugars do not provide comparable amounts of fiber and other natural components of the original food.
What Makes Sugar Healthy?
Sugar occurs naturally in fruits and dairy products, for example, and can also be added to foods. Therefore, for nutritional classification, not only the type of sugar is decisive, but also the overall composition of the food and the total amount consumed.
Health Problems and Risks
Highly processed foods and added sugar play a significantly larger role today than in the past. Therefore, it is worth keeping a conscious eye on quantities and ingredients.
Highly sugary and ultra-processed foods often provide only small amounts of fiber and micronutrients, depending on the product. However, the overall diet is crucial for nutrient supply. For example, if we ate the sugar beet as a whole, we would consume fiber, vitamins, and minerals in addition to carbohydrates. Nature has combined everything necessary for a balanced nutrient supply in fruits.
Table sugar & co. unfortunately no longer contain any nutrients. Refined table sugar primarily provides carbohydrates and contains no relevant amounts of fiber and only small amounts of micronutrients. However, this does not mean that the body generally depletes its vitamin or mineral reserves during processing.
A very unbalanced diet can make it difficult to obtain a sufficient supply of individual nutrients. Whether a vitamin or mineral deficiency actually occurs depends on the overall diet and other individual factors. And here we can lump sugar, white flour, and white rice together. All have lost almost their entire nutrient diversity as a result of intense processing.
The health consequences of a specific nutrient deficiency depend on the nutrient affected, the severity, and the duration of the deficiency, and cannot be summarized generally.
Tips for switching to a low-sugar diet:
- Avoid sugary drinks – instead, drink Kombucha and high-quality water.
- Start the day with a sugar-free breakfast.
- Eat plenty of fresh, raw foods, with as many bitter substances as possible.
- Wild herbs can add additional variety to the menu with their different aromas and plant compounds.
- Prefer valuable carbohydrate-rich foods such as sprouts, nuts, or sweet potatoes.
- Eat as few processed foods as possible.
- Read food ingredient lists and identify hidden sugars.
- Use alternative sweeteners.
- Get used to thorough chewing.
Labeling of Sugar
Reading ingredient lists when shopping can sometimes be difficult - sugar hides behind many names, especially behind all kinds of sugar syrups. Syrup is cheap, sweetens even more intensely due to its usually higher fructose content, and has now crept into almost all convenience foods.
Sugar can have the following designations:
Sugar |
Sugar syrup |
Alternative sweeteners |
|
Brown Sugar
Dextrose Fructose Gelling sugar Barley malt extract Invert sugar Rock candy Caramelized sugar Lactose Maltose Malt sugar Milk sugar Cane sugar Saccharose Grape sugar Vanilla sugar White sugar |
Fructose syrup |
Agave nectar
Date syrup Fruit concentrates Fruit juice concentrates Honey Coconut blossom sugar Palm sugar Stevia Grape sweetness |
Watch out!
When reviewing ingredient lists, it's easy to misjudge the sugar content and the sweeteners used.
- Sugar is hidden behind names that don't directly suggest sugar, such as dextrose or isoglucose.
- Multiple listings of sweetening ingredients cause them to move further down the ingredient list, but in total, they add up to enormous amounts of sugar.
- Products labeled "unsweetened," such as rice milk, still contain 7.2 g of sugar per 100 ml.
- Products like pizza, vegetarian spreads, and many more contain various sugar additives.
Overview of Sugar Alternatives
Agave Syrup
Agave syrup is extracted from agave plants and then filtered and thickened, among other processes. It consists mainly of fructose and glucose and has a comparatively high fructose content. Therefore, agave syrup is also considered a sugar-rich sweetener and should be treated as a sugar source.
Caution: A high fructose content can also have negative effects. Fructose is predominantly metabolized in the liver. Despite its high fructose content, agave syrup therefore remains a concentrated sugar source and should be considered as such, like other sweeteners.
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is the boiled-down sap of the Canadian maple tree. Approximately one liter of syrup is produced from about 40 liters of sap. It has a slightly caramel taste and contains around 67 percent sugar, a 1:1 ratio of glucose and fructose, and small amounts of minerals such as potassium, iron, and magnesium. Maple syrup consists predominantly of sugar and also contains small amounts of various minerals and other plant components. Composition and sweetness vary depending on the product; maple syrup should also be considered a sugar source.
Apple Thick Juice
Apple thick juice is also known as apple sweetness. During production, apples are pressed into juice and then steamed. Apple thick juice is a regional sweetener, with a slightly sour and subtly apple-like taste. Depending on the manufacturing process and temperature, minerals and secondary plant compounds can be preserved. It should be noted that thick juices have a fructose content of approx. 60%.
Date Syrup
Date syrup is made from dates and consists largely of various types of sugar. Depending on the manufacturing process, small amounts of minerals and other components of the date may also be present.
Date paste can be made very easily at home and, unlike a heavily filtered syrup, also contains components of the whole fruit.
Recipe:
Soak 200 g of dates in water for at least 2 hours. Then puree and season with cinnamon, vanilla, or cardamom if desired. The amount of water determines how thick the paste will be. Stored in a sealed jar, it will keep in the refrigerator for a good week.
Honey
Like sugar, honey consists of glucose and fructose, but it also contains minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, vitamin C, and additional enzymes. It is recommended to buy cold-extracted honey from a local beekeeper. Honey is traditionally used as a sweetener and varies significantly in taste, origin, and composition depending on the variety.
Coconut Blossom Sugar
This is the thickened, crystallized sap of coconut palm blossoms. Like regular sugar, it is sucrose, composed of one part glucose and one part fructose. Like table sugar, coconut blossom sugar consists predominantly of sugar and should therefore also be used consciously and in appropriate amounts. In addition to minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc, and potassium, it also contains the fiber inulin. It has a slightly caramel taste and is not quite as sweet as table sugar.
Rice Syrup
Rice syrup is made from rice or rice flour and primarily contains glucose and carbohydrates derived from it, but hardly any fructose. It remains a sugar-rich sweetener and should therefore be included in the total sugar intake. Rice syrup still contains some minerals such as potassium, iron, and magnesium and has a slightly malty-nutty taste. Its sweetness is only half that of table sugar.
Stevia
Stevia, also known as sweet herb, is a plant with intense sweetness and a licorice-like taste. Approximately 20% of the green leaves consist of the sweetening substances stevioside and rebaudioside A, which are 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar. However, intensive processing is required to extract these sweetening substances. Steviol glycosides provide a very high sweetening power and are therefore only used in small quantities. The properties and ingredients of finished stevia products differ depending on the manufacturer and dosage form.
Yacon Syrup
Yacon syrup, similar to maple syrup, has a caramel-like sweetness. It is made from the tuber of the yacon plant, which is related to Jerusalem artichoke. Like Jerusalem artichoke tubers, yacon tubers are rich in water-soluble fiber. In addition to inulin, yacon tubers also contain fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Fructooligosaccharides belong to the non-digestible carbohydrates and can be fermented by certain microorganisms in the intestine.
Due to its composition, yacon syrup is often offered as an alternative to classic sweeteners. It contains, among other things, fructooligosaccharides. However, the composition and sugar content should still be considered in the diet, as with other sweeteners. It should be noted that the consumption of yacon syrup can lead to digestive problems in sensitive people, such as diarrhea or bloating.
Erythritol
Erythritol is a sugar alcohol with about 70 percent of the sweetness of table sugar. The substance also occurs naturally in small amounts in various foods and is industrially produced for use as a sweetener.
Erythritol provides practically no usable carbohydrates and therefore has a very low impact on blood sugar levels. However, in larger quantities, sugar alcohols can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Taste and tolerability differ individually.
*from "How Not to Die" by Dr. Michael Greger
Conclusion
The sweeteners presented differ in taste, composition, and sweetness. A blanket classification as "healthier" than table sugar is not possible. Alternative sweeteners should therefore also be used consciously and in appropriate amounts.
Which sweeteners you use is ultimately a matter of taste, recipe, and personal diet. The total amount of sugar or sweeteners consumed remains crucial.
Sugar plays an important role in kombucha fermentation and is partially metabolized by the microorganisms involved. Kombuchery contains 2.3 g of sugar per 100 ml, which is 50% less sugar than conventional soft drinks. Our Raw Kombucha remains unpasteurized and contains millions of active cultures as well as vitamin C from acerola.*
In addition, I recommend new taste experiences with fresh fruits and vegetables, combined with plenty of leafy greens and wild herbs, to initiate a gentle change in taste.
Good luck and good health!
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