--Candy Lover

Dear Candy Lover,

One of the reasons that you may have different reactions to different sugary foods is that some sugars are sweeter than others. Sucrose, which is table sugar and is in most sweets, is 1.0 on a relative sweetness scale. Invert sugar, sucrose broken down into glucose and fructose, which is in hard candies and honey, is 1.3 on a relative sweetness scale. Fructose, in fruit, honey, and some soft drinks, is 1.7 on the sweetness scale-- almost twice as sweet as sucrose.

As far as your reaction to sugar, there is a "disorder" called reactive hypoglycemia which is characterized by irritability, nervousness, headache, sweating and confusion some 2-4 hours after eating a meal high in simple sugars. These symptoms make sense in the context that the brain is particularly dependent on glucose for fuel. It is not clear what causes reactive hypoglycemia, but it may be caused by the pancreas' overproduction of insulin in response to rising blood glucose levels. To control your symptoms, you guessed it-- cut down on the simple sugars! Try to eliminate the chocolate and hard candies, or eat dietetic candies if you need to, eat regular meals with some protein and fat in each, and eat complex carbohydrates that contain ample soluble fiber-- fruits and vegetables for example. Fat, protein and soluble fiber in the diet tend to moderate swings in blood glucose.

This week, there have also been some more general questions dealing with sugar and its effects on your body. There is mixed thinking on this. The middle of the road approach is that there is nothing wrong with eating sugar, unless it is in place of other more nutritious foods. If it is in place of other foods, a person could become deficient in vitamins and other nutrients.

Dental caries are the main problem associated with a high sugar intake. We have all heard the dentists' warnings about cavities-- brush your teeth after meals and after eating sweets. If that's inconvenient, limit your intake of sweets or eat them with meals, instead of in between meals or by themselves. This way, other foods help to dilute and neutralize the acid that is produced by bacteria on your teeth.

Again, according to the moderates, there is no credible research that supports claims that sugar causes heart disease, diabetes, or other problems. They stress moderation-- limit sugar intake to 10% of your total kcalorie intake. That would allow 10 teaspoons (50 gms) on a 2000 kcalorie diet.

There are others who believe that sugar is the devil incarnate. For their side of the story, read "Sugar Blues", available in your local bookstores. Whoever you choose to believe, here are some tips for reducing your dietary sugar intake:

At the supermarket

• Read ingredient labels. Identify added sugars in a product. Select items lower in total sugar when possible.

• Buy fresh fruits or fruits packed in water, juice or light syrup rather than in heavy syrup.

• Buy fewer foods that are high in sugar such as prepared baked goods, candies, sweet desserts, soft drinks, and fruit-flavored punches and drinks. Substitute vanilla wafers, graham crackers, bagels, English muffins, and diet soft drinks, for example.

• Buy nuts (dry roasted), sunflower seeds, and air-popped popcorn or baked tortilla chips to replace candy for snacks.

In the kitchen

• Experiment with spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, and mace to replace sugar for sweetness and flavor in foods. (This also works well with plain yogurt instead of buying sweetened ones).

• Use home-made foods with less sugar whenever possible rather than commercially prepared ones that are higher in sugar.

At the table

• Use less of all sugars-- including brown sugar, honey, molasses and syrups.

• Reach for fruit instead of a sweet for dessert or for a snack.

• Add less sugar to your foods-- coffee, tea, cereal or fruit. Get used to using half as much, then see if you can cut back even more.

• Cut back on the number of sugared drinks. Substitute water, fruit juice, or diet sodas.

Alice

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