The 7 Myths About Sugars

Eating less sugar is an important step in building a healthier diet. Because yes, sugar is nowadays in a lot of products that you buy in the supermarket. And yes, that is unhealthy. For example, you gain weight faster and are more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. But for an ingredient that is so widely written about, there are still a lot of misunderstandings about sugar. And that is why people sometimes take a completely wrong approach to reduce sugar! If you want to avoid that, the seven fables about sugar below are hopefully a good start.

1. All sugars are unhealthy

People often think very black and white about nutrition. Something is healthy or it is unhealthy – there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground. And sugars are clearly being thrown into an unhealthy heap these days.

However, that doesn’t mean you should always avoid all sugars. A clear exception is fruit, for example. It contains fructose, so fruit sugar. Even so, it is still wise to eat some fruit every day! The reason is that fruit also contains other healthy substances, which largely cancel out the harmful effects.

The same goes for some other sugars, such as the lactose in milk – yes, that’s sugar too. So you don’t have to fanatically ban all products that naturally contain sugar. It is especially important to be careful with added sugars and products that contain very concentrated sugar.

2. Natural sugars are healthier

Aha, many people think. So natural sugars are allowed? So it is no problem to use honey, fruit syrup and maple syrup to your heart’s content to sweeten my food. After all, that’s all-natural, isn’t it?

The myth that these kinds of ‘natural’ sweeteners are better than, for example, granulated sugar and cane sugar is persistent. The idea would be that honey and maple syrup have more nutrients than ‘processed sugars’ and are therefore better. But that difference in nutrients is very small, and otherwise honey has exactly the same effect on your body as other sugars. It is therefore not necessarily healthier, and certainly not suitable for eating in large quantities!

This applies to practically all types of ‘natural sugars’ that are often referred to as healthy products. Honey, maple syrup, date syrup and other fruit syrups, fruit juice… They all consist almost entirely of sugar, without containing other nutrients that limit the effect of the sugars.

The only exception to this is (dried) fruit. Because fruit is very rich in fiber, the sugars it contains are absorbed by your body more slowly. That makes them healthier. So if you want to make something sweet, for example, date, mashed banana or dried apricot is your best option.

3. You must avoid sugar 100%

Does that all sound very intense? Fortunately, we can reassure you a bit: no, you don’t have to avoid sugar completely. Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, you really don’t get overweight spontaneously if you add some honey to your cottage cheese or eat a slice of cake every now and then.

It’s especially important that you don’t eat too much sugar most of the time. That means that it is not standard in your main meals, or that you do not eat a large piece of chocolate every day. If you want to sin every now and then from that healthy basis, then that is no problem.

However, in order to achieve that, it is very important that you know exactly what you consume sugar with! Many people eat too much sugar because they simply do not realize it. That way you cannot really cut down, let alone sin consciously …

An important way to monitor your sugar intake is to cook as much as possible yourself. The more fresh ingredients you use, the better you know if there is sugar in your food. Do you use products that are ready-to-use, such as sauces, or bread? Make sure you read the labels carefully, and make a conscious choice whether you want to use them when they contain sugar!

4. Sugar is only found in sweet products

And that brings us to the next point. Many people only check the labels of sweet products to see how the sugars are doing. After all, flavored yogurt or biscuits can be expected to contain. For savory products, the labels are often skipped, because why would you throw sugar in chips?

You guessed it: that’s a mistake. Sugar is really everywhere. Bread, tomato sauce, pizzas, canned vegetables, dressings… It is not only used as a sweetener, but also as a way to increase the shelf life of products. In addition, sugar can mask the lesser taste of cheap ingredients. That too is often a reason to add it.

Fortunately, variants without sugar can be found of most of these products. But if you just pull the cheapest option off the shelf, chances are the manufacturer added sugar for taste or shelf life!

5. Light products contain less sugar

Another category where it is important to look very carefully at the label: light products. Few people know exactly what that label means. That is why it is easy to assume that, for example, light biscuits contain less sugar.

However, that does not always have to be the case! Products may use the label light if they have either 30% less fat, 30% less sugar, or 30% fewer calories. But beware: they only have to meet one of those three requirements. And that of course poses pitfalls.

For example, look at light chips. They are called light because they contain much less fat. The problem, however, is that chips without fat taste a lot less delicious. So what is the manufacturer doing to fix that? Exactly, he adds more sugar to it. As a result, light chips contain more sugar than normal chips.

Light variants can sometimes be an option, for example with jam or sweet yogurt that contains less sugar. But always pay close attention when you buy them! In the vast majority of cases, products do not become healthier if they are light.

6. Sugar is clearly stated in the ingredients

To avoid all these kinds of problems, it is always very important to look at the label when you buy something. However, a pitfall awaits you there! Many people assume that sugar is always clearly indicated. So if they don’t see the word ‘sugar’, they assume it’s fine.

Unfortunately, that is beyond the gimmicks of the food industry. There are many other names with which sugar can be indicated on the label. Anything that ends in syrup, for example – see point 2 on natural sugars. In addition, names ending in -ose, such as glucose and fructose, are also always sugar.

Do you want to know how much sugar is in your food? Don’t look at the ingredients, but at the nutritional values. There you see, among other things, “carbohydrates, of which sugars” are listed. The number behind it gives you the total sugar content of a product.

With foods that naturally contain sugars, such as fruits and some vegetables, this can be somewhat misleading. But with most processed products, the option with as few sugars as possible is often also the option with the least added sugars.

In the beginning, you may spend some time reading and comparing in the supermarket. But don’t worry: at some point you will know which option is the healthiest for all your favorite products. Then you no longer have to think about it. So it is time that you only have to invest once!

7. You can be addicted to sugar

Then one last fable that is often cited these days to show how bad sugar is for you. It is often said that people become addicted to sugar, which is why it is so difficult to eat less sugar. However, that is not entirely accurate.

An addiction arises when a substance makes changes in your brain that make you physically unable to function properly. That is what alcohol, tobacco and other drugs do, for example. Hence the withdrawal symptoms that occur when you try to quit an addictive substance.

Sugar has no such effect on your brain. That does not mean that it is completely ‘harmless’. It can indeed cause a kind of vicious circle, for example, because sugar peaks are often followed by lows. These valleys provide more appetite for sweetness, and thus the next sugar peak.

Plus, sugar activates the reward center in your brain. This can have a slightly addictive effect. But beware: that reward center is also activated by sports, sex, other good food, beautiful music and other pleasant experiences. In this respect, sugar is no more addictive than a daily run.

So why is it so difficult to eat less sugar? In part, it’s because people are just really bad at changing their habits. In addition, we are often surrounded by unhealthy snacks and food with sugar all day long – in the supermarket, but also in the canteen or even in our own kitchen. That makes the temptation very great.

But that doesn’t mean that sugar is really an addiction. And good news: that also means that it is possible to eat less!

Cook more yourself!

The most important step you can take to eat less sugar is to prepare as much food as possible yourself. After all, no sweeteners have been added to fresh vegetables, grains and proteins. This way you keep control over the amount of sugar you put on your plate. An extra advantage is that it is also a lot cheaper.