New Delhi: Sugar is one of the most dreaded white products, considered a killer for diabetics, heart patients and obese people. Such is the fear, that many people have totally stopped its consumption. Almost every second household takes pride in announcing that they have replaced sugar with jaggery, brown sugar, palm sugar and khaand.
Yet who can deny cravings for mithai and confectionary made with sugar as the only sweetener? The moral dilemma is – Should I? Should I not?
Who better to address the question than a nutritionist? Celebrity nutritionist knows exactly what troubles people’s minds and keeps posting dos and don’ts, both as warnings and also to allay fear.
She recently took to Instagram to address the issue and explained if we should skip sugar totally or not. “Yes, you should skip the sugar but not all,” she said.
“The sugars which you must skip are the sugars that come from ultra-processed and packaged foods. Sugars that come from cereals, jams, biscuits, ketchup, nut butter, granola bars chocolates or cola, and sugars confectionary items,” she informed.
These sugars must be avoided. According to her, ultra-processed and packaged foods cause a lot of problems and sugar is just one of the ingredients. “If you consume sugar from these sources then you must skip it 100 per cent,” she added.
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However, you should not skip sugars that come as a part of a healthy wholesome diet which includes local, seasonal and traditional diets. Also, you need not avoid home-prepared sweets (halwa, laddoo etc) during festive seasons and the sugar that you put in your tea, coffee and sherbets, “You can continue consuming such sugars and still stay healthy, fit, and lose weight and also have good skin,” she said.
On the question of fear of consumption of sugar, she said “We have so much fear about sugar because having fear about just one thing is healthy for the profits of the food industry and obviously of the weight loss industry,” she revealed.
The food industry tells us that sugar is harmful to us but at the same time, the industry comes up with sweeteners and sugar substitutes. “It reformulates the same sugar and brings it back in the market and you get both with and without sugar products.”
