In a 2015 JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) research paper a shocking revelation was made that contained proof the sugar industry bribed leading doctors to lie about and report on the consumption of sugar was safe when they knew it wasn’t.
In 1965, in fact, the Sugar Association paid two Harvard scientists $6,500 to twist the facts surrounding sugar.
They wanted to blame fat for the health problems sugar seemed to be causing. Why? So they could keep selling you more sugar.
They succeeded, and it led directly to the chronic disease and obesity epidemics we’re facing today. These epidemics have claimed the health and lives of billions of people.
During processing, sugar is added to food to enhance flavor, texture, shelf life or other properties.
Added sugar is usually a mixture of simple sugars such as glucose, fructose or sucrose. Other types, such as galactose, lactose and maltose, are less common.
Unfortunately, food manufacturers often hide the total amount of sugar by listing it under several different names on ingredients lists.
The nutrition facts label on food or beverage products lists key nutrients, serving size and calorie information based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Consumers can use the nutrition information to compare foods, select foods that align with their healthy eating pattern, while also staying within their individual daily calorie allowance. Conveniently, many food manufacturers list the nutrition facts for a single serving and the entire container, such as for beverages. This product information can be used to guide food decisions.
Carbohydrates, a key nutrient, are listed on the nutrition facts label. Sugars, both naturally occurring and added sugar, are listed under total carbohydrates, along with dietary fiber. Naturally occurring sugars include fructose found in fruits as well as lactose found in milk and milk products. Added sugars and syrups are added to a food or beverage during their preparation and processing. Examples include white sugar, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, fruit nectars, malt syrup, fructose and dextrose.
When you look at the nutrition facts label, you will notice the amount of natural and added sugars are listed as grams and this measurement may not be familiar, or easy to interpret. Grams are a metric measurement of weight whereas a teaspoon, a more common measurement in America, is a measurement of volume. Learning how to convert grams into teaspoons can be a helpful way to determine how much sugar you are consuming throughout the day.
Look at the nutrition facts label on a package of white or brown sugar, the serving size is one teaspoon. Sliding down the label to the total carbohydrates it reads sugars “4g,” or “4 grams.” This important bit of information is your key to converting grams into teaspoons. Four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon. To be precise, 4.2 grams equals a teaspoon, but the nutrition facts rounds this number down to four grams.
The Glycemic Index is an indication of how quickly a specified amount of food will cause a rise in blood sugar level. The amount of food is the portion that contains 50 grams of carbohydrate (200 calories from carbs). So it is really an indication of how one carb compares to another.
Certain foods cause a spike, or rapid rise, in blood sugar level. This spike causes an insulin response and may over time lead to health problems such as diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and other issues. Maintaining a more even blood sugar level appears to be beneficial in many ways.
Only foods that contain carbs cause this spike, proteins and fats do not. They provide calories but do not cause an immediate rise in blood sugar levels. Meat and eggs contain no carbs at all, they can be considered to have a zero glycemic index. However this is not strictly true as the test cannot be carried out on them: no amount of eggs will give the required 50 gm of carbs.
The test is carried out on volunteers who have been fasting for a period of time. They are fed a portion of food containing 50 gm of carbohydrate and their blood sugar level monitored over a 2 hour period. This data is drawn on a graph and the area under the curve measured, the larger the area, the higher the glycemic index (GI). Glucose is used as the standard with a value of 100 and all other foods are compared to this.
