Sugar is important for the body
SUGAR has been a part of the human diet for centuries, initially used as a medicine and gradually incorporated into European cooking during medieval times.
With its transition from a luxury substance to a basic ingredient came a shift in the perception of sugar, particularly related to health. There is a lot of misinformation surrounding sugar and health, but the most reliable information comes from scientific research.
Sugars are carbohydrates
Health Canada recommends that we obtain 45-65% of our total calories from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates include starches, sugars, and fibre, which are mostly found in grain products, vegetables, fruits, and milk products.
Sugars are a natural part of many foods and are also important ingredients, providing sweetness and other functional roles in foods. ‘Sugar’ refers specifically to sucrose, the most abundant of the sugars found in nature.
Sucrose is the major product of photosynthesis, the process that turns sunlight into energy in green plants. The sugar in your sugar bowl is the same sugar (sucrose) found naturally in sugar cane, sugar beets, apples, oranges, carrots and other fruits and vegetables.
The body uses sugar (sucrose) from sugar cane and sugar beets in the same way as the sugar (sucrose) in fruits and vegetables. In the body, sugar is broken down into glucose and fructose.
Glucose is the body’s main source of fuel. Fructose is mostly made into glucose or directly used as energy, with only a small amount
Sugars do not displace important vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients that our bodies require to function properly.
Minerals help regulate cell function and serve as building blocks for cells and organs. Vitamins have many specific functions and also help the body use the energy from food. Sugar is often described as “empty calories”; meaning that it contains calories, but does not contribute other nutrients.
However, sugar is seldom eaten in isolation, but more often as an ingredient in foods that provide vitamins and minerals. In fact, sugars improve the taste of nutritious foods such as chocolate milk, sweetened yogurt and presweetened cereals.
Sugars add sweetness and important functional properties to a variety of foods; they do not displace vitamins and minerals in the diet.
Sugars are a good source of fuel for physical activity
A nutritious, well-balanced diet is important for good health and energy. When it comes to the best choice for fuelling physical activity, carbohydrates such as starches and sugars play the starring role.
When carbohydrates are eaten as starches (in cereal, bread, pasta, among others) or sugars (in fruit, milk, table sugar, honey, etc.) your body breaks them down into glucose. The glucose can be used to provide energy to the body’s cells, particularly in the brain and muscles, or it can be stored for future use.
The storage form of glucose, found in the liver and muscles, is called glycogen. Glycogen can be broken down into glucose any time the body needs energy or when blood glucose levels are low.