July 9, 2018
Sugars, which fall under the category of carbohydrates can be a confusing food. Most of us know sugar in the form of highly refined white sugar used in candies, doughnuts, and sodas. But what about the sugar in other carbohydrates like fruit, pasta, breads and even vegetables? The question is: are all sugars bad for your health?
The answer of course isn’t simple. Your body needs some sugar to operate correctly. Sugar is a quick fuel for the body, our cells use sugar to interact with each other and certain sugars help immune function. The problem with sugar comes when it is consumed in excess.
When your body has more sugar than it can use it is sent to the liver and either stored safely for later or converted to fat. After consumption, sugar floods the bloodstream raising blood glucose levels and resulting in a shaky energy increase we refer to as a sugar high. Each time your body experiences this it causes stress, when the body is repeatedly stressed in this way it can stop processing and reacting to the sugar in the right way thus creating health issues such as diabetes.
So as you have read sugar isn’t all bad, but it is the way we consume it that can make it detrimental to our health. Here are a few ways to consume sugar that can benefit both your taste buds and your heath.
Consume it with other nutrients. Don’t choose the refined highly processed desserts and candies. Make your go too sweet treat fruits. If you must have a candy or doughnut make it yourself, choose sugars that contain nutrients.
Choose alternative sugars over white sugar. Coconut Palm sugar, honey, and maple syrup all have health benefits that can help your body, not just give it a nutrient depleted sugar rush. The best option for sugar replacement on the market is Stevia. Just simply searching recipes using stevia will result in many recipe ideas.
Consider using less sugar, you may miss it the first few weeks but soon you will adjust and realize you don’t need half as much as you thought you did.
Consuming sugar in the form of fruits and other nature given carbohydrates (meaning all the nutrients and fiber have not been processed out) slows down the digestive process. Fiber is what does this. When we eat a fruit it spends a longer time in the stomach being digested due to its fiber content. The longer this takes the more time your body has to use all the sugar in proper, healthy ways. This is true for all carbohydrates fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and tubers not just sweet ones.
Hopefully this will help you make some smart and sweet choices the next time you need a treat. Keeping you healthy and happy for a joyful life.
Very Berry Nice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Frozen Banana
- 2c Frozen mixed Berries
- 1tsp Vanilla
- ½ c Almond Milk
Directions
- Add all ingredients to blender and mix until smooth. Serve and enjoy!
