Nutrition News Abilene Independent School District Student Nutrition Department Jab APRIL 2017 IN THIS ISSUE There is a lot of buzz about sugar lately and how it can impact wellness, butFebruary why exactly is isAmerican sugar problematic Heart and Month. how can This you reduce month sugar we to boost health? Let’s take a deeper look into how sugar impacts your health work to raise awarenessand about vitality: heart disease prevention Sugar (the white granularand or powered treatment. stuff that we put in coffee, baked goods, and many packaged foods and beverages) in large quantities The Hype About Sugar triggers an ever-increasinghttp://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/ insulin response by the body. At some point Demystifying Sugar your cells will stop responding to the high levels of insulin (known as Page 2 insulin resistance) and your pancreas may even stop making so much insulin (known as diabetes). When sugar is not able to get into your cells it is instead turned into body fat, leading to weight gain, and/or can attach on to tissue in your body causing damage to your eyes, kidneys, blood vessels, and more. In addition, the high levels of sugar are a stress on your liver because excess fat is stored in the liver too. When you look at the nutrition facts on a product label you will see “carbohydrates” and then you will see “fiber” and “sugar.” Sugar (also known as sucrose) is what you want to watch out for on package labels and minimize in your diet. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, is a more Good vs. Bad Carbohydrates general term referring to grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds that Catherine’s Corner are broken down by your digestion into sugar molecules (glucose and fructose). You don’t need to avoid carbohydrates during a sugar detox, DIY TIP although it is helpful to keep carbohydrates to a minimum and in Monthly Recipe balance with protein. Now let’s take a look at a few quick and easy steps to reduce sugar intake Page 3 & 4 for a complete sugar intervention that will leave you feeling strong, energetic, and balanced. Understand Where Sugar is Hiding The first step is to fully understand where sugar is hiding. For example, “sugar” on the label could be actual sugar, or it could be sugar disguised in another form. If you see that there are grams of sugar in the product, then look at the “ingredients list” to find out what that sugar is coming from. “Sugar” on your food packaging could be coming from the following: Beet sugar Brown sugar Brown rice syrup Cane sugar or juice Dextrose Dried or raw cane sugar Evaporated cane juice Glucose Maltose Malt sugar Sucrose (Table Sugar) Watch the Fructose, Not just the Sucrose Fructose, which is in fruit and vegetables, as well as agave, honey, and maple syrup, can be a problem as well, especially when highly concentrated, such as in high fructose corn syrup. It doesn’t trigger insulin, but is instead a direct issue for your digestion, liver and metabolism when consumed in large quantities. Watch out for fructose in these forms: Agave Corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) Honey Maple syrup Molasses Take a Break From High Sugar/Adult Beverages Soft drinks are the beverage of choice for millions of Americans, but sugary drinks, including adult beverages, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions so it is wise to watch what you sip! Mixers, soda, and syrups added to drinks contain sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. Alcohol itself (in any form) triggers insulin, which means that it can lead to a rebound in low blood sugar and, in the long term, a decrease in insulin response. All in the all, high sugar filled beverages and alcohol are a stress of your sugar metabolism. Follow the link provided for 10 tips to help you make better beverage choices: https://choosemyplate-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/tentips/DGTipsheet19MakeBetterBeverageChoices_0.pdf Outsmart the Sugar Addiction Sugar is addictive! Soon after you eat it, your body releases “feel good hormones” such as the neurotransmitter dopamine. So at first it seems to make you feel better. As your blood sugar level rises, you may experience an increase in energy, focus, and mood, but not for long. As insulin moves glucose out of your blood and into your cells, and subsequently your blood sugar levels fall, you are more likely to feel down, low energy, and irritable. Then of course, at that point, all you can think about is eating sugar and returning to the previous state of a sugar high. Therefore, it is not uncommon to have intense cravings for sugar at the beginning of a “sugar detox”. Rest assured, over time, once you avoid sugar long enough, your cravings will subside. Don’t Be Fooled By Foods That Seem Healthy Some packaged foods, such as crackers, juices, and cereals that say “fat-free” or “reduced calorie” may seem healthy but when you look carefully they are packed with sugar. Be careful and don’t let “healthy” labeling fool you, ALWAYS check out how many grams of sugar are contained in the product and then look to the list of ingredients to find out the source of that “sugar.” Instead choose small amounts of healthier forms of sweeteners that don’t cause such a strong insulin response, for example: Coconut sugar Palm sugar Raw honey Stevia — an herb that is sweet but doesn’t trigger insulin at all. Replace Your Sugar-Filled Foods With Whole Foods! I suggest heading to your local health food store and replacing the products in your home containing sugar, opting for products that are free of sugar. Look for whole, unprocessed foods to add to your cupboards, like whole fruits, vegetables, meat/fish/poultry and whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and millet. Foods that are higher in fiber are also better because fiber slowly down the digestion and absorption of carbs, delaying the insulin response. Good vs. Bad Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are an important part of your diet, but that doesn't mean you're free to load up on cakes and cookies to get your daily amount. Here, we explain the difference between good and bad carbohydrates. The good and the Bad Carbohydrates, often referred to as “carbs,” are your body's primary energy source, and they're a crucial part of any healthy diet. Carbs should never be avoided, but it is important to understand that not all carbs are alike. Carbohydrates can be either simple (nicknamed "bad") or complex (nicknamed "good") based on their chemical makeup and what your body does with them. Complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and legumes, contain longer chains of sugar molecules; these usually take more time for the body to break down and use. This, in turn, provides you with a more even amount of energy to be able to sustain you through your daily activities for a longer amount of time. The Detail on Simple Carbohydrates Simple carbohydrates are composed of simple-to-digest, basic sugars with little real value for your body. The higher in sugar and lower in fiber, the worse the carbohydrate is for you — remember those leading indicators when trying to figure out if a carbohydrate is good or bad. Fruits and vegetables are actually simple carbohydrates — still composed of basic sugars, although they are drastically different from other foods in the category, like cookies and cakes. The fiber in fruits and vegetables changes the way that the body processes their sugars and slows down their digestion, making them a bit more like complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates to limit in your diet include: Soda, candy, artificial syrup, sugar, white rice, white bread, white pasta, potatoes (which are technically a complex carb, but act more like simple carbs in the body), pastries, and desserts. We can all enjoy simple carbohydrates on occasion, you just don't want them to be your primary sources of carbs. And within the simple carb category, there are better choices — a baked potato, white rice, and regular pasta — than others — chips, cakes, pies, and cookies. The detail on Complex Carbohydrates Complex carbohydrates are considered "good" because of the longer series of sugars that make them up and take the body more time to break down. They generally have a lower glycemic load, which means that you will get lower amounts of sugars released at a more consistent rate — instead of peaks and valleys —to keep you going throughout the day. Picking complex carbohydrates over simple carbohydrates is a matter of making some simple substitutions when it comes to your meals. Have brown rice instead of white rice, have whole-wheat pasta instead of plain white pasta. To know if a packaged food is made of simple or complex carbohydrates, look at the label. Read the box so you know what exactly you're getting. If the first ingredient is whole-wheat flour or whole-oat flower, it's likely going to be a complex carbohydrate. And if there's fiber there, it's probably more complex in nature. The Glycemic Load Factor Describing carbs as being either simple or complex is one way to classify them, but nutritionists and dietitians now use another concept to guide people in making decisions about the carbs they choose to eat. The glycemic index of a food basically tells you how quickly and how high your blood sugar will rise after eating the carbohydrate contained in that food, as compared to eating pure sugar.