With the average American eating more than 70 grams (17.5 teaspoons) of sugar a day, the World Health Authority has recommended we reduce our consumption, but it’s not easy. In the last 50 years we have settled into a love-hate relationship with sugar-we know we should hate it, but… Our evolutionary survival instincts trigger cravings for foods our bodies need, whether it be salt, fat, and sugar. To our early ancestors, sugar’s high-energy content was a lifesaver when food was scarce, and we actively sought it out, competing with birds, animals, and insects for foraged berries, fruits, and honey. These sweet treats helped the human species to survive and thrive, but for thousands of years our intake was moderated by seasonal availability. Until the mass production of sugar began in 1647, it formed only a tiny part of the human diet. Sugars carbohydrates, which are the body’s main source of energy. Made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, this sweet, colorless, water-soluble compound is found in the sap of seed plants and the milk of mammals, and it comes in six main types. Glucose is a monosaccharide, or simple sugar, that is carried by the blood and absorbed by cells. It has the same molecular formula as glucose, but different molecular arrangements make it taste sweeter.įructose is another simple sugar found in fruit and honey. Combining a molecule of glucose and a molecule of fructose creates sucrose, a disaccharide or double sugar. Maltose and lactose from milk are also disaccharides, as is the man-made sugar, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Of all the sugars, sucrose is the most common the crystalline tabletop sweetener is almost exclusively extracted from sugarcane and sugar beets.
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