Can You Eat a Balanced Diet with Sugar?
Let’s discuss sugar.
Sugar has a terrible reputation. Many link it to the rising incidence of obesity. Some believe you can get addicted to it. Others think that you absolutely must avoid it to stay healthy. Sugar in moderation is fine, but consuming excessive sugar can in fact lead to negative health consequences, including inflammation.
Q: What are the facts? What are the effects of sugar on my teeth?
Sugar is classified as a simple carbohydrate, meaning it only has 1-2 molecules in its chemical structure. Since the molecules are small, they are readily digested and absorbed into your bloodstream so your cells can use it for energy.
When you eat a large amount of simple sugars, you quickly digest and absorb them which spikes your blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels. Your body responds by releasing insulin, a hormone that helps facilitate the movement of glucose into your cells. Once glucose enters your cells, blood sugar levels return to normal.
However, constant consumption of simple sugars can cause something known as insulin resistance, where your cells become less sensitive to insulin. When this happens, blood sugar levels remain higher for longer. Elevated blood sugar can cause chronic low-grade inflammation.
Sugar and Inflammation: The Evidence
The effect of sugar on weight gain, inflammation and lipid metabolism has been studied extensively in both animals and humans. In healthy subjects, a low to moderate intake of sugar over a short period of time can:
Affect the LDL (bad cholesterol) particle size
May increase fasting blood glucose (blood sugar) levels and
Has been shown to increase inflammatory markers
Sugar can also cause our gut microbiome to shift and become less diverse. When this happens, the production of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) may increase. These endotoxins have been shown to increase gut permeability, and if they sneak through the midgut lining and into the bloodstream, they may also trigger an inflammatory response.
Artificial Sweeteners
If regular sugar can trigger negative health effects, what about artificial sugars like aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda), stevia (Truvia), and acesulfame potassium (Sweet One)? These are found in everything from diet soda and sugar-free candy, to yogurts and cereals.
These sweeteners are insanely sweet and can enhance your cravings and taste for sweet things.
Multiple studies have linked artificial sugars to the development of type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, headaches, inflammation, and cancer
Studies have also shown some of these sugars can disrupt and alter your gut microbiome and metabolism
Can You Eat a Balanced Diet with Sugar?
You don’t have to cut all sugar out of your life if you are worried about your health or managing chronic inflammation. Here are a few tips to help you include sugar in a healthy way: 👇👇
Focus on complex carbohydrates
Focus on eating complex carbohydrates rather than simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest, so they won’t spike your blood sugar. Additionally, complex carbohydrates have fiber, which helps to slow down digestion and can even help lower your cholesterol levels. Complex carbs are found in unprocessed foods like whole grains, brown rice, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
Limit your simple carbs
Simple carbs are known as refined carbs. These are found in processed foods like soda, baked goods, cereals, fruit juices, and packaged cookies and crackers. Even foods like some breads and white rice are refined, meaning they underwent processing to strip out fiber and micronutrients.
Try to avoid artificial sugars
Artificial sugars have no calories but may have unintended consequences for your gut and overall health. If you have an addiction to sweet things, try to slowly wean yourself off of these foods. For instance, if you drink 1 can of diet soda every day, try to cut it down by 1 each week until you are at zero.
Read nutrition labels for hidden sources of added sugar
Updated nutrition labels include a line item for added sugars. If it doesn’t, read the ingredients. Sugar can be listed as cane sugar or juice, maltose, dextrose, rice syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.
Be aware of...
🚫 Lollipops. That’s because when it comes to how bad candy is for your teeth, the frequency of exposure is more harmful than quantity. If you eat the candy quickly and brush your teeth and it’s over very quickly — as far as your teeth go it’s much better than sucking on candy all day long, like in the case of a lollipop.
🚫 Gummy worm! They’re the most acidic. Acid is bad for your teeth because it wears down the tooth enamel, which protects your teeth. This makes it easier for teeth to become chipped or broken. Enamel also insulates the tooth. A lack of enamel can expose your teeth’ nerves, which are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature of the things you eat and drink.
🚫 Anything Sticky. The stickier the candy, the worse it is for the health of your teeth. Sticky candies will linger because they hug the spots that are tough to brush, increasing the chance for a cavity. The same goes for dried fruit. It’s relatively sticky and has a high concentration of sugar.
✅ Munch on real fruit, which is far less concentrated in sugar and is packed with fiber and water that keep you full.
Minimize damage to teeth by...
🦷 Waiting at least 30 minutes to brush (to give enamel a chance to recover from the acid attack)
🦷 Spacing out the treats (also to give enamel a chance to recover and remineralize)
🦷 Eating candy at mealtime instead of in between meals (helps buffer the acid attack as well)
🦷 Drink plenty of water. The adequate intakes recommended for total water from all sources each day for most adults between 19 and 30 years of age are 3.7 liters (or about 130 fl oz) for men & 2.7 liters (about 95 fl oz) for women - The CDC.
You can eat a balanced diet with sugar, but being mindful of what and how much sugar you are eating is important to manage inflammation and the onset of other chronic diseases!
