Sugar, you may think it is a nutrient. In fact, the nutritional components of food are mainly divided into: protein, fat, carbohydrates, calories, inorganic salts, calcium, phosphorus, iron and so on. It is a natural process that carbohydrates are converted into monosaccharides by digestive enzymes and absorbed and utilized by human body. Therefore, the medical community believes that carbohydrates are nutrients, and free sugar is its product, a downstream product, not a natural nutrient. The human body only needs carbohydrates, not sugar. When carbohydrates enter the body, they will be converted into sugar (free sugar). Therefore, the logic of eating sweets is that we drink sugary drinks or eat sweets to get sweetness, and choose sweets for the feeling that sweetness gives us, not for energy.
It is now known that eating more sweets is harmful to health. Then why eat starch (polysaccharide), that is, rice and steamed bread that we eat every day, without harm, but eat sugar, which is harmful to our health? Because starch is a kind of polysaccharide, it needs to be digested by digestive enzymes and converted into monosaccharide before it can be absorbed by the human body. This is a natural process. After monosaccharide (glucose) enters the body, it will lead to a temporary increase in blood sugar, and then secrete insulin, which will slow down the decline of blood sugar. This is called the "sugar tolerance" of the human body. Just like body temperature, the blood sugar of human body remains basically the same. This is a natural and slow process. The body has an adaptation process to the slowly rising blood sugar, and the secretion of insulin is also slow.
Let's look at sugar again, free sugar. Glucose can be absorbed into the blood in the mouth, and then others like maltose are digested into glucose in the intestine and then absorbed. This process is also very fast, much faster than digesting starch into glucose, and many steps are omitted. Therefore, after eating sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly, which makes the secretion of insulin react rapidly, which is equivalent to the beta cells of islet (the organ that secretes insulin). It should react as quickly as a fireman. Think about it, a person who often eats sugar's islet β cells are in a state of high tension and fatigue all day, just like a fireman. Then, after a long time, the beta cells of the islet are fatigued and aged. So everyone can understand why starch is harmless, sugar-free and harmful.
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that sugar is unnecessary in a person's life, and even zero intake will not have any impact on the body. On the contrary, zero sugar intake has a very good effect on health.
So, what are the bad effects of eating too much sugar, especially drinking sugary drinks? We will introduce it to you in the next issue, so please pay attention.