{"id":4890,"date":"2025-07-22T14:09:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vegaqura.com\/knowledge\/sugar-your-friend-or-your-enemy\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T09:38:34","slug":"sugar-your-friend-or-your-enemy","status":"publish","type":"knowledge","link":"https:\/\/vegaqura.com\/en\/blog\/knowledge\/sugar-your-friend-or-your-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar: your friend or your enemy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Sugar: your friend or your enemy?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The sweet truth about real and fake sweet<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Reading time: 4-5 min<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sugar<\/span> is <\/span>one of the most<\/span>talked about nutrients <\/span>and <\/span> often in a negative sense. It would <\/span>your <\/span>make you fat, tired and sick<\/span>. This is somewhat strange considering that<\/span> sugar in the form of<\/span> glucose <\/span>the<\/span> fuel of every cell in your body<\/span>. <\/span> There is a smell around it, so to speak. One sugar is not the other, and these days it is bursting with <\/span>artificial<\/span> sugars in food. Those who think a sweetener in coffee is better than <\/span>for example<\/span> cane sugar gets cheated<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sugar, starch and carbohydrates<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The three basic substances that make up food are carbohydrates, <\/span>proteins<\/span> and fats. In <\/span>this item<\/span> The focus is on carbohydrates. E <\/span>r <\/span>exist many types of<\/span> carbohydrates<\/span>, including starch<\/span>. Glucose is a so-called <\/span>single carbohydrate<\/span> and that’s what we now just <\/span>sugar<\/span> call<\/span>. Fructose is a dual carbohydrate and <\/span>this <\/span>we know as fruit sugar<\/span>,<\/span> because <\/span>the <\/span>divalent carbohydrates most commonly found in fruit<\/span>and<\/span>. Multiple carbohydrates <\/span>are molecularly more complex<\/span> and only taste sweet when you chew them to pieces. <\/span>Think for<\/span>example <\/span>the carbohydrates (starch) in<\/span> a sandwich. If you take those <\/span>but <\/span>chews long enough<\/span>,<\/span> you break down the long chains of carbohydrates<\/span> and <\/span>arise <\/span>the <\/span>short carbohydrate chains<\/span>. The sweet taste that then arises is the <\/span>glucose that is released <\/span>from the long multiple carbohydrates<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sugar is quick energy<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Your body can act in two ways <\/span>get energy from food. Carbohydrates are suitable for <\/span>the<\/span> rapid combustion and<\/span> fats for<\/span> slower combustion. The <\/span>carbohydrate burn<\/span> turns on at your breakfast and the other<\/span>e, the fat burning,<\/span> comes on when you sleep so you don’t wake up <\/span>from hunger <\/span>and have to pop into the fridge at night <\/span>to<\/span> some snacking. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Sugar: more than taste alone<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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If you eat sugar, it provides g<\/span>lucose <\/span>directly<\/span> energy to <\/span>your <\/span> muscles, brain and organs. Without sugar, you can <\/span> your<\/span> literally don’t function. <\/span>And if you eat no sugar at all, then z<\/span>elfs <\/span>the <\/span>proteins and fats <\/span>you ingest – <\/span>if it <\/span>needed – <\/span>converted into glucose to keep your body running.<\/span> And w<\/span>at <\/span>we <\/span>often forget: <\/span>also <\/span> many enzymes in the body are made up in part of sugar molecules. Sugar is <\/span>so <\/span>not only an energy supplier, but also a building block.<\/span> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In fact, glucose can enter into all kinds of combinations, for example with amino acids. Then new substances are formed, the so-called sugar proteins, with exotic names such as ribose (necessary for cellular metabolism), fucose, galactose and mannose. Sugars are therefore essential everywhere in your body! <\/span> <\/span><\/p>

But that’s not the whole story …<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\nOne sugar is not the other<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We eat mostly refined sugars. <\/span>There is an important difference between natural <\/span>sugars <\/span>and <\/span>the <\/span>refined <\/span>variants<\/span>, such as white <\/span>crystal<\/span>sugar<\/span>, cane sugar<\/span> and glucose<\/span>–<\/span>fructose syrup<\/span>. Natural sugars contain<\/span> by nature all kinds of <\/span>accompanying <\/span>help<\/span>substances such as minerals and vitamins. As a result, they cost the body <\/span>few <\/span>energy and nutrients to digest.<\/span> Refined sugars <\/span>are stripped of the natural minerals and <\/span> extract vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins from your body during the digestion process. If you don’t have enough of these in your diet, your body will rob them from your bones and muscles. <\/span> ‘Empty’ sugars thus deplete your body.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Avoid the peaks and valleys<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Slow, complex carbohydrates, such as those found in legumes, whole grains and tubers, provide much needed fiber, B vitamins, enzymes and minerals in addition to glucose (energy). Because they are broken down more slowly, they provide stable blood sugar levels and long-lasting energy. Therefore, the rule of thumb is: the sweeter the taste, the more processed the sugar is, the more taxing it is for your body. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>

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Especially the “sugar spikes” you experience after eating a lot of sweet are a drain. Your blood sugar rises at lightning speed, you feel a little hyper and then down. After the spike inevitably comes the valley. This often results in you continuing to eat sugary foods throughout the day just to feel ‘high’ on sugar, overflowing with energy. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>

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That in itself is a tragedy for your body, but it could be worse….<\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Artificial sweeteners: appearances can be deceiving<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Many people reach for light products containing artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame, sucralose or acesulfame-K) in hopes of living healthier lives. Unfortunately, this exacerbates the problem. Light products demand even more minerals and vitamins to be broken down and require more energy, and therefore the craving for more sugar actually worsens. Research points to hefty consequences, including disruptions in gut flora, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, hypoglycemia (sugar dips) to type 2 diabetes. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>

Your metabolism benefits from low sugar. And what we consider normal these days (a cookie with coffee) is actually already way too much. To disguise this fact, the food industry invents a few more names for sugar every year. On the site of 100% suikervrij.nl you will find no less than 45 names for sugars and artificial sweeteners. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So what are the good sugars?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Good sugars, which have at least some mineral content, are the types in the list below. Use them in moderation. <\/span><\/p>