This is one of the numerous questions asked by readers of last week’s column in which I explored the implicational links among sugar, obesity, diabetes, and death. Others wanted to know why sugar is so much of a concern now when we’ve been eating it all along. Yet others wanted to know how much sugar is contained in a bottle of beer or wine, which Nigerians consume in large quantities on social occasions, with some even mixing fruit juice or soda (and, therefore, more sugar) with their alcoholic drinks.
This is one of the numerous questions asked by readers of last week’s column in which I explored the implicational links among sugar, obesity, diabetes, and death. Others wanted to know why sugar is so much of a concern now when we’ve been eating it all along. Yet others wanted to know how much sugar is contained in a bottle of beer or wine, which Nigerians consume in large quantities on social occasions, with some even mixing fruit juice or soda (and, therefore, more sugar) with their alcoholic drinks.
These are very important questions. Unfortunately, there are no answers or useful guidelines on sugar consumption provided by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and even the nation’s health facilities. One, therefore,has to look to the World Health Organisation, foreign governments, top class foreign hospitals, and foreign books and newspapers for useful guidelines on sugar consumption. Such guidelines are very important not only to save healthcare costs but ultimately to save lives by reducing the negative effects of excessive sugar intake.
There are no simple answers to sugar-related questions, but there appears to be a consensus on most of them.Let’s begin with the question as to why there is so much concern about sugar these days. The simple answer lies in the rising statistics of those who die worldwide from excessive sugar consumption, which leads to various health problems, including tooth decay, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
The recent figure of sugar-related deaths is about 190,000 annually. In the absence of reliable records, no one knows how many of these deaths occur in Nigeria. One can only guess that the number would be high, given the high poverty and illiteracy rates, poor health facilities, the dearth of health education, and the lack of regulation, or its enforcement, as to who sells and consumes what. Besides, the sugar content of most foods and drinks produced or packaged in Nigeria are hardly indicated on the labels.
True, we’ve been eating sugar all along; but it has been sugar mostly contained in the body of carbohydrate foods. Sugars that occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods is unlikely to pose health risks, because they occur in the body of these foods along with minerals and other nutrients. The problem is with added sugar, especially in sodas, beverages, sweetened fruit juices, flavoured fruit drinks, and processed foods. Research after research has revealed that too much added sugar causes the health risks listed above.
It’s only within the last 50 years or so that added sugar from various sources predominated in our diet due partly to increased food processing and partly to the ubiquity of sodas and other sweet drinks and snacks. Yet, according to evolutionary biologists, our evolutionary path never prepared us for so much sugar intake. We must move away from high sugar consumption in order to reduce the damage to our health caused by mismatches between our evolutionary path and our new dietary, work, and social habits.
That’s why it is important to know the sugar content in the foods we eat, especially drinks, in order to properly gauge our sugar intake. However, you should treat what follows only as useful information and practical guide, rather than medical or nutritional advice.Besides, it must be remembered that sugar manufacturers and their industrial consumers like Coca-Cola continue to contest the health implications of excessive sugar intake.
As indicated recently, sodas are very high in added sugar. A 12 oz (35cl) can or bottle of coke contains as much as 10 cubes or 10 teaspoons of added sugar. Beers, however, contain little or no added sugar (I don’t know about beers brewed in Nigeria, because of the dearth of information on their lables). Nevertheless, beers contain natural sugars from malt and other ingredients, part of which is converted into alcohol in the process of production.
Wines still have slightly more sugar than beers, with white wines having more than red. A standard (750ml) bottle of white wine has about 8 grams (2 cubes) of sugar, while the same bottle of red wine has only 5 grams (slightly more than a cube) of sugar. Although wine is made from grapes, which are high in natural sugar, yeast converts much of the sugar into alcohol during the wine making process.
It should be borne in mind, however, that beers and wines contain carbohydrates, which are eventually converted into blood glucose. A standard bottle of red wine contains 20 grams of carbohydrate, while a bottle of beer contains over 40 grams. However, wines contain much higher calories than beers. A bottle of red wine contains as much as 625 calories, while a similar bottle of beer contains about 450 calories. Ultimately, then, both alcoholic beverages add to your waistline, if consumed in excess, because the excess calories provide little or no nutritional value.
Given the various health implications of excessive sugar intake, various recommendations have been made as to the reasonable amount of sugar intake per day. Although not often specified in the recommendations, the focus is generally on added, rather than naturally occurring, sugar.
For example, in its latest recommendation, now being discussed around the world, the World Health Organisation revised its 2002 recommendation from 50 grams (between 12 and 13 teaspoons) of sugar per day to 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons), citing increasing health hazards associated with excessive sugar intake.
Perhaps still guided by WHO’s 2002 recommendation, the United States Department of Agriculture advises adults to limit sugar intake to about 40 grams (10 teaspoons) of added sugar per day.
The American Heart Association’s recommendations are gender and age specific. It recommends a daily added sugar intake of 36 grams (9 teaspoons) for men; 20 grams (5 teaspoons) for women; and 12 grams (3 teaspoons) for children.
But it is one thing to know how much added sugar to consume per day. It is another thing to be able to cut down to that level. You must do four things to achieve that goal. First, you must change your sugary habit. Avoid sugary drinks, especially sodas. Remember that a daily intake of a can of soda not only exceeds your recommended daily sugar allowance; it also increases your chance of diabetes by as much as 22 per cent. You should also cut down on sugary deserts like ice cream.
Second, in order to know what to avoid, you must read the labels on foods and drinks, including all kinds of sugary snacks. Added sugar comes under various names on the ingredients list, including syrup, fructose, maltose, lactose, and sweetener. Sometimes, the word “sugars” is used as a combination of various sweeteners. Your best choice is a product with “no added sugar”.
In this regard, NAFDAC should require manufacturers of processed foods and drinks in Nigeria to provide detailed information about the ingredients and nutritional content of their products. The system that allows the Nigerian Breweries to use the label of its Guilder beer bottle to advertise a TV programme to the neglect of detailed information about its content leaves much to be desired.
Third, you must engage in regular physical exercise to burn excess calories.
Finally, you must discipline yourself as to what and how much you consume. You have to cut down on carbohydrates in general but specifically on added sugar. True, cutting down on sugar intake may be hard because sweet foods and drinks are pleasurable. Besides, sugar relies on the same neurological pathways as narcotic products to get the brain to send out the “eat more” instruction.
The earlier you controlled your brain to issue the eat-less-sugar instruction, the healthier you would become.
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