Sugar comes in different forms, all of which are carbohydrates. The complex carbohydrates found in veggies, grains and fruits are good for you; the simple sugars found in sweet drinks, candies, icings, and packaged treats can do harm when eaten in excess. When you understand which carbs are best for your body, you can help your family stay healthy.
Did you know that sugar can suppress your immune system?
Here’s how: Eating or drinking 100 grams (8 TBSP.) of sugar, the equivalent of 2 1/2 12 oz. Cans of soda, can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by 40%. This immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than 30 minutes after ingestion and may last up to 5 hours! In contrast, the ingestion of complex carbohydrates, or starches, has no effect on the immune system.
What does this mean to you and your kids?
Every time you child drinks sweet beverages like Gatorade, Kool aid, soda –even too much juice– or eats candy and cookies, their immune system may be suppressed for several hours, possibly contributing to frequent colds and sicknesses. On the other hand, you can strengthen the immune system by offering whole fruits and vegetables containing vitamin A and C (carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, spinach, oranges, tomatoes, cantaloupe, bell peppers, just to name a few!).
Here are some of the many disguises of sugar:
Sucrose, glucose, honey, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, sorbitol, fruit juice concentrate, galactose, lactose, polydextrose, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, maladextrin, turbinado.
Good Rule of thumb:
If you see any of these forms of sugar as one of the first three in gradients in your food, it’s a high sugar food.