👀 Is Your Sugar-Free Food Actually Sugar Free?
Sugar is everywhere, from your breakfast to dinner to your snacks. Now, the best way to escape this sugar is accepting sugar-free food items. But is it so?
In case you missed it, for the last two days we have been on a health kick.
That's because Team ReadOn recently took a deep dive into its own eating practices and realised the snacks we had been bingeing on were super unhealthy.
Mainly because they were full of sugar.
So, we looked into why sugar was so addictive and how India got hooked to it and also how we could effectively quit sugar without harming farmers and the sugar mills.
But like most of you we also had a question: what to do when we want meetha?
Well, here we are with the answers. So, ReadOn!
🤔 If Not Sugar Then What?
For the longest time now, the world has known sugar is bad.
But for the longest time this information has been suppressed, with some of the blame for our bad health being passed on to fat-filled food.
This was reportedly a conspiracy by the sugar industry and according to NY Times Coca-Cola also funded studies which put the blame squarely on fat instead of sugar.
But this soon changed and the world was left to face the bitter reality that sugar was behind their weight gain problems.
So, companies were also forced to develop sugar-free products.
Now, no one wants Coke that isn't sweet or chocolate that tastes bitter.
Which is why, food manufacturing companies were forced to find sugar alternatives.
And hail science! We found not one but many.
Xylitol, Sucralose, Aspartame, etc, etc.
Some of these were even sweeter than sugar and had almost zero calories!
Soon, these hit the market as individual products as well to help those with diabetes enjoy meethi chai and halwa.
And this alternative sugar market grew up to be worth $7.5 billion in 2021 and is set to grow at a CAGR of 7.20% to be worth $12.86 billion by 2029.
That's not all. Now several startups and D2C brands have also started making special chocolates, sweets and other products catering to those who want to avoid sugar.
Their market share is rapidly growing as the number of diabetics in India and the world are rapidly growing.
So, with so many alternatives, so many sugar-free yummy desserts and even sugar-free drinks, quitting sugar should be super easy na?
Well, no.
That's what we're here to tell you.
There is no easy way to escape the side-effects of sugar.
🧐 Why Sugar-Free Food is A Myth?
A disclaimer: when some brands say sugar free they actually mean it. There is no added sugar of any kind in their products. But then their products aren't sweet either.
Now, the brands that do claim that they are sugar-free and still sell sweet-tasting things use a sugar alternative of some kind.
What's wrong with that?
A lot of these sugar alternatives are equally bad for us.
Take sucralose for example. It is the main ingredient in many artificial sweeteners. And because unlike many other artificial sweeteners it doesn't leave a weird aftertaste in your mouth. So, it is used in a lot of desserts as well.
But some studies show that it can kill good bacteria in your gut that help with digestion, stimulate your appetite so you eat more and could cause inflammation, leading to obesity.
Now, because a lot of these studies weren't conclusive, sucralose is a permitted ingredient but most doctors agree you shouldn't have much of it. Especially not the amount found in packaged foods.
And sucralose is not the only artificial sweetener that is problematic.
Xylitol and polyols make you gassy and bloated, while Aspartame has been allegedly linked with increasing risks of cancer and can make you moody, give you headaches and even lead to depression.
And over the years, per capita consumption of these sweeteners has increased 36%, which is dangerous.
So, what can be done?
Well, if you have watched Shilpa Shetty's Dabur honey ads, you probably know the answer.
Honey, jaggery, agave and stevia, these natural and plant-based sweeteners have also become popular as natural alternatives to sugar.
And unlike sugar many of them have nutritional qualities. Honey is anti-bacterial and has been a cough remedy for years. Plus, it is sweeter than sugar, so you need to use less of it.
Jaggery also has a lot of vitamins and minerals.
But can we simply replace sugar with honey or jaggery?
Well, the answer is no. Honey and jaggery have a similar glycemic index (amount of glucose) as sugar. So, they also cause blood sugar to spike and also help you retain fat.
So, they're out as a replacement for sugar (even though they might be good for you in small quantities).
What about agave (another sugar alternative made from plants)?
While agave has less glucose, it has tons of fructose which increases cholesterol and weight.
Stevia and monk fruit juice seem to be the only safe alternatives.
However, stevia still makes for very little of our alternative sugar consumption. That's because it can only be grown through a tedious process like stem cutting. Also, it has a bitter aftertaste.
But even eating too much stevia is bad for you.
So, most natural sugars can also only be eaten in moderation. We simply cannot justify the amount of sugar we eat, no matter whether natural or not.
But many brands right now are misleading customers, trying to claim that natural sugars are not harmful, in fact they are better for you.
Some of these brands put much more sugar in their products as well to make them taste better and be more addictive. This can mess with your brain chemistry. If you want to understand more about your brain chemistry, you should read The Molecule of More.
And this harms consumers like us who believe that we are eating a healthy product.
So, the end goal of this was to warn our users that sugar of any kind harms you and don't believe the tall claims some companies make. Do your research yourself.
Bottomline is that there are a lot of alternatives to sugar, some good and some very bad. If we use these alternatives in moderation, we could become healthy soon.
But now the question is will the world be ready to sacrifice their favourite food?
⚡In a line: No sugar of any kind is good for you, so beware of brands that claim that they have healthy sugars.
💡Quick question: Will the world ever be able to quit sugar?
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