What you eat every day is more harmful than smoking

This article was reviewed by Pa Li Ze, chief physician of nutrition, science popularization committee member of the Chinese Nutrition Society

During the Chinese New Year, many people can't help but eat some candies and sweets, but for the sake of everyone's health, we have to pour some cold water on it. One bite of sugar can ruin the whole body, so we must pay attention to our daily sugar intake!

Chinese people's sugar intake increased fivefold

In recent years, the Chinese people's sugar consumption has remained high, and the harm of eating sugar has not been recognized by more people. In 2008, a survey showed that each Chinese person consumed 19.6 kilograms of sugar in that year, equivalent to an average of more than 50 grams of sugar per person per day. Compared with 30 years ago, the Chinese people's sugar intake has increased by 5 times.

The World Health Organization (WHO) once investigated the causes of death in 23 countries and concluded that sugar addiction is more harmful than smoking! The survey also showed that people who are addicted to high-sugar foods for a long time have an average life expectancy that is 10 to 20 years shorter than those who eat a normal diet, and put forward the slogan of "quitting sugar".

One bite of sugar ruins the whole body

Induce high blood pressure

It is now widely acknowledged that a high-salt diet is closely linked to high blood pressure. High blood sugar levels act on a key part of the hypothalamus, causing an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

Causes obesity

After sugar enters the human body, the excess sugar that is not stored as energy required by the body or in the form of glycogen for emergency use will be converted into fat and stored in the body, causing obesity over time.

Susceptibility to osteoporosis

Eating a large amount of sugar or carbohydrates will consume a large amount of calcium, magnesium, sodium, etc. in the body. The lack of calcium in the body will cause muscle hardening and weakening of tension, disrupt the mechanism of regulating blood pressure, and a large amount of calcium will be neutralized, which will cause bone decalcification and cause osteoporosis.

Causes gout

Excessive sugar can easily lead to the formation of endogenous uric acid in the human body. If the uric acid level is too high, it can easily cause gout. The incidence of gout in people who drink a lot of sweet drinks is many times higher than that of those who do not drink sweet drinks.

Prone to wrinkles

Sugar will combine with collagen in the skin, weakening the collagen's repair and regeneration function, causing premature wrinkles and sagging of the skin. Studies have shown that if people aged 50 to 70 have high blood sugar levels, they will look 5 to 7 months older.

Prone to tooth decay

If you eat sweets frequently and do not rinse your mouth in time, you are very likely to suffer from caries (cavities) and various oral diseases.

Anorexia leads to malnutrition

If you eat too much sugar, it will affect your appetite, and the intake of other nutrients will inevitably decrease, leading to a lack of protein, vitamins, and minerals in the body, which can easily cause nutritional imbalance.

3 ways to find out "hidden sugar"

1. Check the sugar content when eating fruit

Many people think that fruits are mainly composed of "water" and are not high in calories. In fact, the sugar content of fruits varies. The new version of the dietary guidelines recommends that everyone choose fruits with low sugar content.

Fruits with low sugar content (sugar content 4%~10%), such as grapefruit, watermelon, green plum, strawberry, and bayberry;

Fruits with medium sugar content (sugar content 10%~15%), such as oranges, papayas, peaches, apples, grapes, pineapples, kiwis, and pomegranates;

Fruits with high sugar content (sugar content > 15%), such as bananas, persimmons, lychees, hawthorns, sugar cane, and fresh dates.

2. Read the labels when buying snacks

Although some snacks do not taste sweet, the sugar content in them is surprisingly high. Glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose, maltose, honey and corn syrup are all sugars. The higher the ingredients are listed in the food ingredient list, the higher their content. Therefore, we must learn to read food labels, so that we can find out the hidden sugar even in packaged foods.

3. Use less sweet, sour and braised food when cooking

You should also pay attention to cooking, and try to avoid sweet and sour, braised and other methods. For example, braised pork and fish-flavored pork shreds are high in sugar. A portion of braised spareribs, braised fish, and fish-flavored pork shreds should add about 25g-30g of sugar, and sweet and sour spareribs and sweet and sour pork tenderloin should add about 75g of sugar per portion. In addition, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce and other sauces have about 15g of sugar per 100g.

6 tips to help you eat sugar healthily

The "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016)" recommends that the daily intake of added sugar per person should not exceed 50 grams, and preferably within 25 grams.

1. Eat more natural foods and less processed foods. Eating some fruits properly is better than eating sweet cakes and drinking sugary drinks directly.

2. If you drink honey water or brown sugar water on the same day, it is best to avoid other sweet foods afterwards.

3. Eat less puffed foods, such as snow cakes, fresh scallops, shrimp crackers, etc. Although they taste salty, they contain a lot of starch but no dietary fiber that can inhibit the rise of sugar.

4. Eat less dried meat, meat jerky, and preserved plums. For the sake of taste, some processed meat products, such as dried meat and preserved plums, contain a lot of sugar. In order to prevent spoilage, snacks such as preserved plums also add a lot of sugar to inhibit bacterial growth.

5. Do not drink or drink less sugary drinks, drink less lactic acid bacteria drinks. When drinking coffee or soy milk, add less or no sugar.

6. Be careful with foods labeled “low sugar” or “sugar-free.”

The sweet taste in sugar-free foods is created by artificial sweeteners. Sweeteners are not nutrients, do not produce energy, and cannot be used by the human body. Excessive intake of sweeteners will increase the burden on organs.

For low-sugar foods, you need to check whether they meet the low-sugar standard (sugar content less than 5g in 100ml of liquid or solid).

Source: CCTV Life Circle, Health Times, etc.

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