Reader\'s Digest India - 09.2019

90 september 2019

25.1 KGS

6

Still sugar

The amount of sugar consumed by the

average Indian adult in a year, accord-

ing to a 2014 Indian study titled Sugar

Intake, Obesity and Diabetes in India.

This figure includes ‘white’ sugar,

natural sugars (jaggery and khandsari)

as well as sugar-sweetened beverages.

Co-author of the study, Dr Seema Gu-

lati, head, National Diabetes, Obesity

and Cholesterol Foundation, says

that the number indicates that India

ranks higher than the average global

sugar consumption levels of 23.7 kgs

a year. It also far exceeds the World

Health Organization’s recommenda-

tion that sugar comprise less than

5 per cent of one’s total energy intake.

(^7) ‘Healthier’ sweeteners
are not much better
Those trying to cut down on sugar
can try natural alternatives—coco-
nut or palm sugar, jaggery, dates,
raisins, figs or stevia—all of which
have micronutrients. “The FDA deems
sweeteners such as stevia as healthy
and safe. But anything in excessive
amounts is toxic. Exercise modera-
tion,” says Kolkata-based endocrino-
logist, Dr Binayak Sinha.
Gulati echoes this
view: “These are all
high in calories so
consume judiciously,”
she says.
(^8) Artificial sweete-
ners—do they help?
The evidence is mounting against
sucralose, saccharine and aspar-
tame. They’re associated with
weight gain and glucose intoler-
ance, the two things people use
them to prevent. “Based on what
we know, I wouldn’t consume
those products—or give them to
my kids,” says Laura A. Schmidt,
a professor at the University of
California San Francisco School
of Medicine. Dharini Krishnan,
former chairperson of the Indian
Dietetic Association, agrees:
“Long-term consumption of
such add-ons, commonly found
in diet colas for example, can
lead to a wide range of side
effects, including changes to one’s
gut microbiome, which can lead
to serious health problems.”
9 Sugar messes with
our cholesterol
A 2010 study in the Journal of
the American Medical Association
found that as subjects’ added-
sugar intake went up, their
levels of HDL (good cholesterol)
dropped, increasing their risk
of cardiovascular disease.
The study also found that
women in particular who
ate more added sugar had
higher levels of LDL density
(bad cholesterol).
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