Sugar

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Sugar is indicated for one of the three white poisons - salt, sugar and flour. Even knowing this, people have been consuming sugar for thousands of years because the sweet taste is much more pleasant, tempting and preferred than the bitter one. Nowadays, awareness is a major feature of society - those who emphasize the harmful effects of sugar on the human body are constantly emerging, but even this fact does not stop the consumption of sweet "white poison".

What's more, the modern food industry is increasingly exploiting sugar to give a pleasant taste to foods that we don't even suspect need to be used. For example, sugar is found in almost all packaged foods, even McDonald's potatoes and salads. which is one of the reasons for the harmful effects of the so-called. fast food.

Sugars are a type of carbohydrate. Refined sugar is sucrose, which consists of glucose and fructose - simple sugars found naturally in fruits. Sucrose and glucose are found in small amounts in some vegetables, such as beets, carrots, peas.

History of sugar

Mankind has been using sugar for thousands of years. As early as the middle of the first millennium BC. the Indians began to boil the powder from the juice of the sugar cane. The resulting product was initially used only as a medicine, but over time they began to sweeten various dishes with it. After several centuries, sugar cane plantations appeared in China and then in Persia.

In ancient times, sugar was known as Indian salt in Greece. Cultivated beets are believed to originate from the Mediterranean regions of Europe. Although it has been used much earlier as a vegetable and fodder crop, it has only been used as a source of sugar since the last 170 years. Europeans have not produced sugar for a long time, and imported sugar has been very expensive. It was not until 1747 that the German chemist Andreas Margraf discovered that crystal sugar could be obtained from beets.

Napoleon revolutionized sugar production by initiating intensive beet production. By his order, installations for the extraction of sugar in France. Around the middle of the 19th century, a mass industry developed in Germany and France, based on high-sugar beets and advanced sugar production techniques.

In the beginning, sugar was a luxury food like black caviar and was sold only to the elite of Europe. Soon, however, it was used as a fast source of energy for workers in the newly industrialized world. According to some scientists, people love sugar because its sweet taste reminds us of breast milk. All the sugars we ingest are converted into glucose so that our body can process it. This is why all mammals love sweets, although for most of them it is really harmful.

Sugar composition

100 grams of white sugar - 398 kcal, 98 grams of carbohydrates

100 grams of brown sugar - 390 kcal, minimum 97, 5 grams of carbohydrates

Neither brown nor white have fats and proteins.

Brown sugar contains some minerals and is also preferable to refined sugar sugar. The refined sugar however, it is a source of only empty calories, it does not supply other useful nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fiber, unlike fruit.

Sugar production

Sugar is obtained from sugar beet or sugar cane. White and brown sugar are found in the commercial network. The pursuit of healthy eating, which has become a mania around the world, is forcing people to use more brown sugar with the idea that they maintain their health. The truth is that both types sugar they stand on one scale, and brown sugar <is more expensive only because of its place of production and transportation.

The process of extracting sugar is long. First, the roots are washed thoroughly, and then cut into thin strips. The sugar is removed from them by diffusion with warm water through a series of compartments. The warm water first reaches the beet strips, from which most of the sugar has already been removed, and gradually shifts to those containing more sugar.

Hot water with a sugar content of 10 to 15% is obtained, which is first treated with lime to remove the sugar-free part, then with CO2 gas and filtered. This is done by a series of five steam heating and vacuum drying. Crystal sugar is added to the final very saturated solution to promote sugar crystallization, and the crystals are separated by centrifugation. The separated molasses is boiled and centrifuged. Finally, the molasses is treated with lime and mixed with "raw juice" to extract even more sugar.

The final product is white and ready to eat, whether from households or soft drink producers. In the production of unrefined sugar, as not all sugar is extracted from the essence, there is a secondary production of a sweet product - beet molasses. It is used for the production of food for cattle or sent to factories for the production of alcohol.

Types of sugar

White refined sugar - This is the most common type of sugar offered in our country. The quality white sugar is shiny and white, it should not stick when touched by hand, and the crystals themselves are homogeneous, with distinct walls. Depending on the size of the crystals, it can be found in large, small and medium crystals. Sugar with small crystals is most suitable for making cakes.

Powdered sugar - is ground refined white sugar which contains a certain percentage of starch to prevent it from sticking together. Powdered sugar is mostly used in pastry glazes, as well as for sprinkling. It cannot be used as a substitute for regular sugar.

Fructose - It is also called fruit sugar, it is found mostly in natural form in honey and fruits. Factory fructose is available in liquid and powder form, the latter being more common. Fructose caramelizes and darkens significantly faster than sugar.

Brown sugar - combine sugars with a pronounced brown color due to the presence of molasses. This group includes:

- Light brown and dark brown refined sugar - the most common brown sugar is produced by mixing refined white sugar and cane molasses. According to the content of molasses syrup in the final product, it is divided into light brown - less molasses and dark brown - more molasses.

Demerara - is unrefined brown sugar, the color of which varies from light brown to reddish. It has a specific taste, is crunchy and slightly sticky. It is used in various pasta desserts and to sweeten many drinks. Produced on the island of Mauritius.

Muscuvado - It is also known as Barbados or moist sugar. It can be lighter or darker, depending on the amount of molasses in the final product. It has a fine and moist consistency, and the muscovado is characterized by a distinct aroma of caramel and molasses. This type of sugar is very suitable for cakes, creams, various fruit cakes. It is resistant to high temperatures and has great durability.

Turbinado - processed unrefined sugar which has undergone double washing to be edible. Turbinado is a light sugar with a light aroma. It is mainly used for sweetening hot drinks and for decorating desserts.

Permissible daily dose of sugar

In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) imposed a healthy dose of sugar per day - no more than 10% of calories. In grams, the amount of pure sugar is not more than 60 g for men and 50 g for women. Carbonated drinks and even iced teas also contain sugar - about 40 g. Drinking 2-3 coffees with sugar exhausts our daily dose.

Benefits of sugar

Although harmful in excessive use, sugar also has a positive effect on the human body when consumed in moderation. Sugars provide the fastest energy for the body during both physical effort and mental work. They promote rapid recovery from mental and physical fatigue. Sugar gives a pleasant feeling of sweetness, which makes it a favorite food in any form and product.

According to Polish doctors, the sugar-free human body has a shorter life. Sugar activates blood circulation in the brain and spinal cord, and when it is deficient in the body, sclerosis can occur. According to other experts, sugar significantly reduces the risk of plaque formation in blood vessels and thus prevents thrombosis. Confectionery lovers are much less likely to get arthritis than people who have completely given up white crystals.

Sugar supports the work of the liver and spleen. It is important to know, however, that from the gastrointestinal tract, sugar goes directly to the liver and can be broken down only there. While the liver is busy breaking down the sweet product, it can do almost nothing else. This is the reason why when a person consumes jam and alcohol, he gets drunk more easily. In such cases, the liver breaks down sugar and cannot process alcohol.

Harm from sugar

Scientists and experts strongly recommend that sugar be used as little as possible. In adulthood, sugar can increase harmful cholesterol in the blood and disrupt cell function. It is widely believed that sugar contains nothing but pure calories - no vitamins, no trace elements, no fiber. Sugar is considered an addictive product, equal to a drug, and giving it up is associated with discomfort.

It causes nervousness, irritability and even headaches. Sugar gives the body a sharp surge of energy, followed by a sharp drop until we recharge with the next dose of jam. The effect of sugar on the brain is comparable to that of opiates, because sweet things cause a feeling of happiness, which, however, is short-lived.

Some of the main harmful effects of sugar are:

- Sugar is causing a sharp drop in blood glucose, and unstable blood levels sugar often lead to mood swings, fatigue, headaches and an overwhelming need for a new dose of sugar.

- Sugar suppresses the immune system because the bacteria in the body feed on sugar. When these organisms are more in the body, infections and diseases are more likely.

- Sugar increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It makes you fat, which leads to more diseases. It is the basis of the scourge of our century - obesity, because people in a busy daily life consume mainly foods and semi-finished products that are high in sugar. the higher the glycemic index (GI) of the foods a person consumes (foods that rapidly affect blood sugar levels), the greater the risk of weight gain, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. There is a link between high GI and various forms of cancer.

- Regular consumption of sugar leads to chromium deficiency. If a person consumes a lot sugar and other processed carbohydrates, it will not get enough chromium, which actually regulates blood sugar.

- Sugar makes us age faster. Excessive consumption leads to sagging of your skin. As a result of the glycation process, in which sugar enters the bloodstream and "sticks" to proteins. The obtained new molecular compounds are a good basis for the loss of elasticity of tissues in the body - from the skin to organs and arteries.

- Sugar damages teeth and gums. She is the clear enemy of a healthy smile. Chronic infections, such as those resulting from periodontitis, play a role in the development of coronary artery disease, or in other words, damage to heart health.

- Sugar affects mood and negatively affects the concentration of adolescents.

- Sugar increases stress. Stressful situations lead to increased levels of stress hormones, which are activated when blood sugar levels are low. Eating a lot of sweets causes the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, epinephrine and cortisol. They increase blood sugar levels, thus providing the body with a quick energy boost. The ultimate negative effect is restlessness, irritability, trembling.

- Sugar interferes with the absorption of important nutrients. Sugar-loving delicacies have been shown to have the lowest absorption of vital nutrients, especially vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B12, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron. This is extremely dangerous for children and adolescents, who need these useful vitamins and minerals the most.