Sugar in the diet
This subpage on sugar constitutes the fourth part of the theory for Biotech Academy’s material on the Body and the Diet.
Colloquially, the word “sugar” is used in many contexts. You’ve probably heard of icing sugar, sugar cubes and regular sugar. But you may have also once said that you were about to go sugar cold? Or met someone with the disease diabetes?
It can be difficult to figure out what exactly you mean when talking about sugar. In this article, you’ll learn what sugar is on a chemical level, what it does to your body, what the term “empty calories” covers, and why one of the dietary guidelines is about eating less sugar.
Chemically speaking
When you talk about sugar on a chemical level, it’s about different sugars. Remember that carbohydrates can be different sizes? Monosaccharides and disaccharides, which belong to the smallest of their kind, are the most common sugars.
Glucose (grape sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar) belong to the monosaccharides. Of the disaccharides, lactose (milk sugar) and sucrose (cane sugar) are the most used.
Added sugar
When you eat a chocolate bar or drink a soft drink, it is added sugar, which can be glucose or sucrose, for example. This means that the food does not have a natural content of sugar.
When a food, such as a soft drink, contains “empty calories”, it means that it provides nothing but fat and sugar to your body. This gives the body a lot of energy, and if the body receives more energy than it consumes, it can lead to excess weight. Being overweight can be the cause of a number of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Three Danish trials examined the effect of “empty calories”. The researchers found that the more “empty calories” a person ate, the fewer they ate fish, fruits and vegetables, and whole grain products.
Therefore, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration recommends that the diet should contain a maximum of 10% added sugar. This corresponds to 45-55 grams of sugar daily for a child of 6-18 years. In one week, children aged 11-15 years may consume a maximum of the following:
- A 1/2 liter cola
- 1 handful of popcorn
- 1 small handful of Matador Mix
- 2 small soda ice creams
- 6 pieces of chocolate
- 1 piece of cake
Question:
Try to think back to your past week. Did you eat more or less than the recommended amount of sugar?
BMI
Knowing the weight and height of a person, it is possible to calculate whether the person is in the class of overweight or underweight. The so-called Body Mass Index, BMI, is calculated. It provides a measure of the ratio of a person’s height and weight. However, it is important to mention that it does not take into account bone mass and muscle composition. For example, a bodybuilder weighs a lot because of muscle mass, and the person will therefore have a high BMI. According to the formula, this means that you are overweight, but in reality it is the muscles that are to blame for the high number. For calculating BMI, weight must be inserted into the unit kg and the height in the unit meter. The formula for BMI is:
It is therefore important to consider other factors when determining whether a person is in the “overweight” category. The waist circumference is a good marker to assess whether the person is overweight or not. The table shows the risk of developing type-2 diabetes based on BMI and waist circumference.
Risk of developing diabetes-2 | |||
Classification | BMI | Waist circumference | Waist circumference |
Men Women: |
Men > 102 cm Women: > 88 cm |
||
Underweight | < 18.5 | Nobody | Nobody |
Normal weight | 18.5 – 24.9 | Nobody | Increased |
Overweight | |||
Moderately obese | 25 – 29.9 | Increased | High |
Severely overweight | High | Very high |
Source: Feller S, Boeing H, Pischon T. Body mass index, waist circumference, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: implications for routine clinical practice. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2010; 107(26):470–476. DOI:10.3238/arztebl.2010.0470