People of my age group often feel guilty when they have a craving for some dessert or sweets. Or when they are caught having a plateful of sweets. So many of us have desperately tried to stay away from sugar and sugar-coated food. But is it really that bad? Is it really good to shun sugar completely?
Maybe we should ask first why Sugar is important for the body.
Before we go into visit the reasons why sugar is important we need to know the importance of sugar in Indian life. Because a lot of our food habit is defined by the culture we follow. And in Indian culture, sugar (or sweets made of jaggery or sugar) occupies a lot of importance. When a student heads of an exam or something important, the mother sends off with curd and sugar. Likewise, you are on a journey, your dear ones would traditionally offer some sweet. Guests have been invited, it is always unavoidable to not serve syrupy jalebis or laddoos. You can’t think of any celebrations, be it graduation or getting married or the birth of a child, a plate of sweet is must for everyone. Last but not least whenever there is any festival (Diwali, Dussehra, Pongal, Sankranti and many more), you not only stock up one variety of sweet but there should be multiple options.
With time, use of sugar has increased in making of sweets instead of sweeteners available naturally (jaggery or honey). Other than sweet dishes, the sugar content is found to be present in a variant proportion in whatever else we commonly consume like rice, roti, vegetables. Now conscious people are switching to healthy diets. Many of us are making an effort to buy organic sugar and jaggery, just to stay away from artificial flavors and pesticides and fertilizers.
Also, when you are buying unprocessed sugar made from sugarcane, a lot of important minerals such as iron, potassium, and magnesium remains intact. Therefore it is advisable to buy you a packet of sugar which is organic and not chemically treated. There are online sites like Biomart, which sells such products in different sizes and from different brands.
Due to change in lifestyle (more sedentary life), and increasing use of sugar-coated items, there has been a huge spike in incidents of diabetes, across countries.
But if you are feeling tired after a day’s hard work, a teaspoon of sugar can instantly spike energy level. Even in case of diabetic patients, they are advised to take a measured quantity, as such patients can experience a sudden drop in blood sugar level. So cutting down on sugar after a certain age is advisable but should not be done away with it completely.
You cannot deny the
fact that sugar makes many things edible (can cut down bitter taste or
excessive acidic flavor). With the help of sugar, an infant can be fed many
things which might be healthy but not appealing to his taste buds.
Plain sugar might be
high on calories, but everything else, like cholesterol and fat count, is zero.
So when you add a spoonful of sugar to your energy drink, you can be sure that
drinking that will add another layer of fat to your body.
Not to mention sugar
can moisturize and make skin look supple when mixed with coconut oil. It has
good scrubbing properties. So to smoothen your cracked feet, mix a teaspoon of
sugar with lemon juice and soon you will notice cracked heels are gone forever.
After knowing all
these, do not throw your can of sugar to the trash bin. There are multiple uses
and benefits that you can enjoy.
