Is Natural Sugar Better than Added Sugar?
It’s almost Halloween. The time of year where we wear fun costumes, plan outings to pumpkin patches, and get our adrenaline pumping with a visit to a haunted house. But oftentimes the scariest part can be that giant bowl of candy for the trick-or-treaters. Or is it?
There’s a lot of noise out there around sugars and “healthy swaps” for sugars that use agave or maple syrup instead of regular white sugar. And I get it can lead to confusion around if you should be reaching for the natural sugar vs. the added sugar.
Let’s take a look at the science behind sugar.
There are two main types of sugar: natural sugar and added sugar. Natural sugar is sugar naturally occurring in food, and added sugar is sugar added to the food item at some point in preparation.
Examples of natural sugar:
Fruits
Vegetables
Yogurt
Milk
Examples of added sugar:
Marinara sauce
Cookies
Oatmeal
Cereal
Spoiler: your body can’t tell the difference. From a molecular standpoint, the sugar molecules are all the same, so it won’t matter if the sugar was from a candy bar or from an apple.
There are two main sugar molecules: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides are single sugar molecules and disaccharides are two sugar molecules linked together.
Examples of monosaccharides:
Fruits
Cookies
Milk
Marinara sauce
Examples of disaccharides:
Ice cream
Sweet potatoes
Table sugar
Maple syrup
Sugar provides fuel for your body to do all the things you enjoy. Glucose, one form of sugar, is your brain’s preferred energy source. Meaning that our body actually needs sugar to maintain energy throughout the day. Bottom line is sugar is sugar is sugar.
It might feel a bit scary to let go of your rules around sugar, but let me assure you that Halloween candy and holiday sweets aren’t something to be afraid of. And if sugar is a food fear you are working to overcome, show yourself some grace in the journey. The best way to overcome that fear is to challenge it, which can be hard work. Utilize your treatment team, talk to your support system for accountability and slowly work on challenging those sugar items so you can get to a place where you are able to enjoy them with confidence!