Hidden Sugar Secretly Steals Away Health
Nowadays, as life gets better, more and more people are afraid of obesity. Even when we eat a piece of candy or a little sweet, we think twice. So why is our sugar intake still increasing? The reason is that sugar is not only found in sweet foods. Many foods that taste bland, or even sour and salty, can contain large amounts of "hidden sugar". And the dangers of eating too much sugar are no less than the dangers of eating too much salt. Besides causing obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases, it can also lead to osteoporosis, gallstones, optic neuritis, and even "sweet tooth syndrome," which manifests as willfulness, impulsiveness, and irritability.
Eat Less Sugar, Live Longer
A serving of braised pork belly hides 50 grams of sugar
"Most hidden sugar is hidden in processed foods and restaurant-made dishes." Puffed foods and instant pastes like walnut powder and sesame paste are the biggest "hidden sugar" culprits in processed foods. For example, puffed foods like snow cakes, dried scallops, and shrimp strips contain little oil, which many manufacturers have seized upon to heavily promote them as a healthy choice, and many parents like to buy them for their children. Although they are salty to eat, they contain a large amount of starch but no dietary fiber that can inhibit blood sugar rise. The same is true for walnut powder and sesame paste; anyone with a little life experience knows that even when ground into powder, they cannot be stirred into a paste with boiling water. Manufacturers generally add thickeners like maltodextrin to make them a paste. The starch in these two foods enters the body and raises blood sugar faster than sugar itself. Similar foods include high-starch vegetables like potatoes and taro. Laura Dowson, a famous American nutrition educator, points out in her book "The Low-Sugar Diet" that the starch in these foods is quickly converted into glucose after consumption, which is no different from eating white sugar.
There is a saying in the food service industry: "sugar adjusts a hundred flavors." Zhang Liang, a senior national chef and the head chef of Shandong, said that in restaurant dishes, a serving of braised sea cucumber with scallions requires about 15-25 grams of sugar, braised pork ribs, braised fish, and fish-flavored pork shreds require about 25-30 grams, braised pork belly requires 40-50 grams, and even Ji Zhuan Da Chang requires 50-60 grams. The highest is Wuxi pork ribs, with each serving containing about 75 grams of sugar. Other processed meat products, such as the popular dried meat and jerky, also contain a lot of sugar.
Although eating fruit is healthy, the sugar content cannot be ignored. Yang Jinkui, director of the endocrinology department at Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, reminds us not to be fooled by the sweetness of watermelon, which has a sugar content of only 4.2%; kiwi, which tastes more sour, has a sugar content of 10%. Fruits with a sugar content between 9% and 13% also include apples, apricots, figs, oranges, grapefruits, and lychees. Fruits like persimmons, longans, bananas, bayberries, and pomegranates have a sugar content of over 14%.
There is also "hidden sugar" in bread, preserved plums, yogurt, and sauces. A regular white bread contains about 10-20 grams of sugar per 100 grams, not counting its own starch content. Snacks like preserved plums add a large amount of sugar to prevent spoilage and inhibit bacterial growth. The formula for yogurt is 10 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of milk. In sauces like ketchup and barbecue sauce, there are about 15 grams of sugar per 100 grams. Even the popular "sugar-free foods" on the market, although the effect of xylitol on blood sugar is less than that of white sugar, studies have shown that each gram still produces 2.4 kilocalories of energy, which is only slightly lower than the 4 kilocalories per gram from glucose. Because xylitol is much more expensive than white sugar, many "sugar-free foods" even add both xylitol and white sugar, a deceptive practice that can easily mislead diabetics.
Yogurt, preserved plums, white bread, braised pork belly, overly ripe fruit, and puffed foods are all major sugar-hiders.
Because of hidden sugar, we are at risk of excessive sugar intake at any time in our lives: if you eat 100 grams of white bread (containing 20 grams of sugar) in the morning, half a serving of braised pork belly (containing 25 grams of sugar) and a bowl of rice (equivalent to the calories from about 20 grams of sugar) at noon, a small bottle of lactic acid drink (containing 16 grams of sugar) and a pear (containing 20 grams of sugar) in the afternoon, and half a serving of fish-flavored pork shreds (containing 15 grams of sugar) and a bowl of rice in the evening, you will have consumed 136 grams of "hidden sugar" in one day! Although the Chinese Dietary Guidelines does not specify a daily sugar intake limit, the latest standard from the American Heart Association is that most women should not consume more than 100 kilocalories from added sugar per day, and men should not consume more than 150 kilocalories. And 136 grams of sugar is equivalent to 544 kilocalories! After this sugar enters your body, it will cause your blood sugar to spike, stimulating insulin secretion. This is not only harmful to the health of diabetics but is also equally harmful to healthy people. Research indicates that excessive insulin is closely related to the occurrence of aging, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, gallstones, optic neuritis, vaginitis, and many other diseases.
Sugar is also related to pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, bile duct cancer, and breast cancer. But if you eat a little less sugar, Fan Zhihong says, a German experiment showed that worms could increase their lifespan by 1/4, equivalent to 15 years of increased human life. "Although it's difficult to apply the results of the worm experiment to humans, it gives us a hint: eating less sugar is indeed beneficial to health."
Learn to Read Labels to Stay Away from Sugar
It seems not easy to stay away from "hidden sugar," because many processed foods do not disclose their sugar content. However, experts have taught us a few simple methods to uncover "hidden sugar."
First, learn to read the labels on processed foods. Each ingredient on the label must be listed in order of content. If words like white sugar, granulated sugar, sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrin, maltodextrin, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, maltose, etc., are listed in the top few ingredients, it is a food containing "hidden sugar," and you must consume it in moderation.
Second, when choosing fruits, try to select those that are slightly less ripe. They not only contain less sugar but are also richer in nutrients with health benefits.
Third, when eating foods that quickly raise blood sugar, such as white congee or white rice, be sure to pair them with side dishes rich in dietary fiber and protein, such as celery with dried tofu. For high-starch vegetables like potatoes or taro, try not to steam them; instead, shred and stir-fry them. Both of these methods can inhibit blood sugar rise.