Blood Sugar
We consume more sugar than ever
On average, we consume around 134 pounds of sugar every year. In 1850, this number was closer to 15 pounds per person. And what you may not realiize is: you may be consuming high amounts of sugar- everyday- that could be causing an ill-effect on your health.
How much sugar are your really eating?
Sugar is found in so many foods today. Besides the obvious high sugar content foods such as candy, cookies, pastries, etc. sugar is in manyu breakfast cereals, most preocessed foods, canned goods, many frozen foods and even some condiments, such as ketchup.
sugar can have many names. ON food lables you may see"sucroses", "fructose", "dextrose", or "high fructose corn syrup." These are all sugars. If any type of sugar is one of the top four ingredients in a food, it would probably be a healthy choice to avoid it.
How Does my Body use Sugar?
The body has extensive control mechanisms that control and regulate the amount of sugar in the blood. After a meal, the digestive process converts complex carbohydrates (such as those found in rice, potatoes, vegetables, beans, lentils, etc.) into simple sugars, which can then be absorbed from your digestive tract. Once sugar (as a simple sugar glucose) is absorbed into the bloodstream, an intricate series of control mechanisms come into play.
Sudden elevation of blood sugar causes a very quick rise in the levels of the hormone insulin produced by the pancreas. This results in a rapid clearing of sugar from the blood, which is then stored as glycogen, predominately in the liver and the muscles. Insulin only lasts for a few minutes before it is removed from the blood by the liver. As glucose levels in the blood drop, the opposite happens: stored glycogen is converted back into glucose, and gradually feeds back into the bloodstream from the liver. The healthy liver thus acts as a buffer, preventing dramatic fluctuations in blood sugar levels. It is easy to see the importance of both the pancreas and the liver for maintaining appropriate blood sugar levels.
Hypoglycemia: Consuming Too Much Sugar May Leave you Feeling "Low"
If the mechanisms controlling it do not function correctly, dramatic fluctuations of blood sugar can lead to a number of symptoms. When blood sugar is at its lowest level, symptoms such as fatigue, depression, irritability, confusion, hunger, rapid mood swings, nervousness, lethargy, and many others may be evident.
|
Here's
the sugar content of some common foods:
|
| Food |
Tsp
of sugar |
| Chocolate
2 layer cake, 1/12 cake (iced) |
15 |
| Cherry
pie, 1/6 medium pie |
14 |
| Apple
pie, 1/6 medium pie |
12 |
| Prunes,
stewed, sweetened, 4-5 medium |
8 |
| Chocolate
bar, 1 average size |
7 |
| Sherbet,
1/2 |
6-8 |
| Chocolate
Milk, 5 oz |
6 |
| Angel
food cake, 1/12 of large cake |
6 |
| Ice
cream, 1/2 |
5-6 |
| Cream
puff, one custard-filled, iced |
5 |
| Fruit
cocktail, 1/2 cup |
5 |
| Egg
nog, 8 oz |
4
1/2 |
| Chocolate
sauce, 1 tbs thick |
4
1/2 |
| Pumpkin
Pie, 1/6 medium pie |
4
1/3 |
| Soda,
6oz |
4
1/3 |
| Chocolate
fudge, 1 1/2 in square |
4 |
| Doughnut,
3 in diameter, plain |
4 |
| Cocoa,
with 5 oz milk |
4 |
| Peaches/pears,
2 halves 1 tbs syrup |
3
1/2 |
| Ginger
ale, 6 oz |
3
1/3 |
| Chocolate
mint, 1 medium (20 to 1 lb) |
3 |
| Brownie,
2x2x3/4 in |
3 |
| Marmalade,
1 tbs |
3 |
| Jelly,
1 tbs |
2
1/2 |
| Marshmallow,
1 large |
1
1/2 |
| Gingersnap,
1 medium |
1 |
| Chewing
gum, 1 stick |
1/2 |
|
Eat
Low Sugar - Higher Fiber Foods
The first step in the control of blood sugar is careful control
of the diet. Foods that are high in simple sugar are digested
and absorbed more rapidly than high fiber foods rich in complex
carbohydrates, and contribute to higher blood sugar levels and
greater fluctuations as the body attempts to compensate. The
potential for foods to cause an increase in blood sugar is known
as their glycemic index.
The
following chart lists the glycemic index of various foods. It
is important for people suffering from the symptoms of hypoglycemia
to choose lower glycemic index foods. Here's a comparison of
the glycemic index of common foods: |
| Fructose |
20 |
| Glucose |
100 |
| Honey |
75 |
| Maltose |
105 |
| Sucrose |
60 |
| Bread,
white |
69 |
| Bread,
whole grian |
72 |
| Pasta |
45 |
| Rice,
brown |
66 |
| Cereal,
bran |
51 |
| Beans |
31 |
| Lentils |
29 |
| Orange |
40 |
| Corn
flakes |
80 |
| Puffed
rice |
95 |
| Banana |
62 |
| Raisins |
64 |
| Corn |
59 |
| Peas |
39 |
| Potato,
baked |
98 |
| Sweet
potato |
48 |
| Apple |
39 |
| Sausage |
28 |
| Nuts |
13 |
| Milk |
34 |
| Ice
cream |
36 |
|
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