Sugar: Myths and Reality

Abstract

The whole world adores sugars and sweeteners, yet many people wonder whether eating of sugars affects the human health. The science of sugar has elaborately studied and lot of research was done to know about myth and reality of sugar consumption. Misperception prevails on glucose and fructose-containing sweeteners and therefore, doubts related to metabolic properties of simple sugars and confusion related to various definitions for mentioning added sugar need to be clarified. General belief on sugar and components weakens the nutrient availability of diet is inconclusive. The sugar uptake up to 25% of the total caloric need is accepted by the US dietic association. A food safety guideline of Europe says that vouched patterns of food intake are more important than fixing maximum limit for consumption. The relation between sugar intake and obesity is debatable. The research findings argue that magnitude of the glycaemic index does not correlate with body weight and basically, added sugars alone are not responsible for increase in body mass index. Generally, well-being groups, health experts and dieticians divided in their views on intake of sweeteners and beverages as integral portion of their stable food for a longevity and healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the conflicting views and findings regarding sugar and health profile need to be further explored. It is expected that new researches shall further explore the effects of sugar on human health and answer the important queries held around health value of sugars.