Ice cream, chocolate, cakes...... Whenever you see these delicacies, does it always make your mouth water? Do you like to eat foods that are high in sugar? Wait! Excess sugar can ruin your health, and sugar intake can have some side effects on your body. But is all sugar harmful? Not really! There is a type of sugar that is considered a "good sugar" that can help you regulate your blood lipids and maintain blood sugar stability.
01
Sugar is sweet, but it can also be very harmful
In 2006, a multinational survey launched by the World Health Organization showed that people who regularly consume foods high in sugars live an average of 10 to 20 years lower than those who eat a normal diet. The reason behind this result is that too much sugar intake can lead to a lot of potential health problems.
First, eating sugar may increase the risk of cancer. Studies have found that excessive sugar intake can trigger obesity, which is a cause of many cancers.
Second, consuming too much sweets can cause blood sugar to rise and suppress appetite. At the same time, sugar metabolism in the body requires the consumption of a large number of vitamins and minerals, and if you consume sugar in large quantities for a long time, it may cause a deficiency of various nutrients.
In addition, long-term excessive sugar intake can also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. When we have too much sugar intake, these sugars can be converted into fat stored in the body, which can trigger obesity and may lead to decreased insulin sensitivity and increase the risk of diabetes.
In addition, excessive sugar intake can also affect vision health, oral health and even liver health, causing myopia, tooth decay, fatty liver and other problems.
Most of the sugar we consume in our daily lives is the so-called "added sugar". For example, sucrose, glucose, fructose, corn sugar, etc., these are all sugars that are artificially added to food, and they are far more destructive than you think. The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022) recommends that the daily intake of added sugars per person should be controlled within 25 grams.
02
Not all sugar is "bad sugar"
Faced with this fact, we can't help but ask, is all sugar really "bad sugar"? Those studies and data tell us, no.
Unexpectedly, there is also a "good sugar" that can help us improve blood lipids and stabilize blood sugar, that is, β-glucan.
In addition, a lot of the sugars you see, and even ingest, aren't necessarily harmful to health, especially those that are naturally present in foods.
Yu Huanling, a professor at the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at the School of Public Health of Capital Medical University, simply divides the sugar we consume daily into two categories, one is the sweetener artificially added in the food manufacturing process, such as sugar, sucrose, glucose, etc.; The other is sugars that have positive benefits on the human body, such as β-glucan.
According to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022), our daily intake of β-glucan is more than 3 grams, which can bring positive effects to our health.
β-glucan can promote the excretion of cholesterol metabolites and inhibit reabsorption, thereby lowering cholesterol in the body.
At the same time, because β-glucan has the effect of regulating glucose absorption in food, β-glucan is undoubtedly a high-quality choice for diabetics.
03
What foods can you find β-glucan?
β-glucan can be found in foods such as oats and barley. Every 100 grams of oats contain 3-7 grams of β-glucan, which is enough to meet our daily health needs. However, when choosing to eat oats, make sure that the product only has oats in the ingredient list, which is more beneficial for health.
Generally speaking, the closer you are to the oat husk, the richer the β-glucan, so oat bran contains more β-glucan than other parts.
On the other hand, whether you choose oat husks, oat bran, oat seeds or oatmeal, you should make sure that you only include oats in the ingredient list when you buy it, which is better for your health.
When it comes to sugar, we don't have to be overly afraid. A large amount of added sugar will undoubtedly pose a new threat to health, but "good sugar" such as β-glucan can escort our health. In our diet, we should consume sugar in moderation and pay attention to the source and type of sugar. Friends who like sweets can appropriately use sugar alcohols or sugar substitutes to replace added sugars to complete the transformation from "loving sugar" to "eating sugar healthily". Let's "live in peace" with sugar and pursue a healthy and beautiful life.
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