There’s been a lot written in the past year about our consumption of sugar and its effects on our health, but it’s all fairly confusing. I have broken it down scientifically to find out if it really is the villain of the dietary piece….

Sugar is very popular; people seem to like it. Let’s find out more….

Sugar is loved universally. The thing is once people grow to like the taste of it sugar it has got you. Bet you didn’t know it is as addictive as alcohol or cocaine.

How does that work then?

It works on the brain’s reward centre and eventually you need more and more of it just to get the same effect, it’s extremely subtle, but believe me it happens. Sweet tooth? I don’t think so, you’ve created an addiction, and your body wants MORE!

Sounds intriguing….

Believe me there’s nothing straight forward about sugar, it’s a complex character made from a bond of glucose and fructose molecules.

I am aware that lot of people don’t know their fructose from their glucose, can you try and help me out with that….

Fructose is naturally occurring, it’s the type of sugar found in ripe fruit and is loved by the food industry, whereas glucose is made by the body from food sources but is also the type of sugar you get in a bag.

Just 2 types of sugar then?

No, there’s more…. did I mention sucrose? That’s refined white sugar, then there’s dextrose, another name for glucose, corn syrup which comes from maize, dextrin, coconut sugar, barley malt sugar and honey.

Does the type of sugar you consume make a difference to your bodies? i.e. Does sugar make us fat?

In a nutshell, yes. Please don’t be naive and assume that just because the packaging suggests that it is healthy it is. Do your research and READ THE LABEL! Sugar has the same amount of calories per gram as FAT…… basically, when you eat glucose that’s metabolized by every cell in the body, which is then turned into energy and then the rest is stored as fat. Fructose is the one you’ll be most interested in, I think.

Explain fructose?

Of course, sugar is not just a one trick pony you know…fructose has twice the intensity of glucose and can only be metabolized in the liver. So, when you eat something containing fructose the liver has to jump to it and produce insulin, and if the fructose is consumed in a liquid form, such as a glass of OJ, then the liver has to work even harder. *Please don’t

confuse eating a normal serving of fruit as being as concentrated in fructose as fruit juice*

So, it’s this constant spiking of insulin levels after we eat fructose that can cause issues?

That is true. If the insulin levels are constantly spiked it make it harder for the liver to respond properly and then people get weight gain around the midsection and in the longer-term type two diabetes.

How do we keep vigil? How can you track sugar down? It seems to be hidden all over the place!

You can find sugar; it has to be listed on every label. Just read the small print, it’s in loads of stuff, and not just the obvious things. For example, it’s in tomato ketchup, fruit juice, smoothies, ready meals, yoghurts, cake, wine, the list goes on and on.

I hope this helps; we love helping our clients decode their nutrition. Helping you avoid the sugar traps is going to be a whole lot easier now.

Oh, there’s more to this than meets the eye, let’s just confirm you have got the basics….

How many teaspoons of sugar do the government says we can consume each day; I reckon its 20?

No, close, it’s a maximum of 16 teaspoons for a man and 12 for a woman or child, plus Action on Sugar would like to see that cut by half. Also, did you know there’s up to 5 teaspoons in a glass of OJ, or a smoothie, 7 teaspoons in a can of Coca Cola, 3 teaspoons in a Petit Filou yoghurt, 1 teaspoon in a slice of white bread, half in a slice of whole meal, up to 12 teaspoons in a can of energy drink and 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon of jam or honey!

Wow I’m blown away, thank you for your time and I’m confident that my fellow Alchemists and I will now.

Be better equipped in dealing with the pitfalls of SUGAR!