For years now, there has been a lot of buzz about sugar and how it can affect your health.
Since one of our main objectives at Cronometer is to spread the facts, educate and empower you to make the best nutrition decisions, we asked our in-house experts to tell us a bit more about sugar.
Is Sugar Bad?
Sugar isn’t bad and there is no need to avoid it completely.
It is, however, worth paying attention to the type of sugar and the quantity we consume.
Take a look at added sugars vs. natural sugar.
Added sugar, which comes from candy, processed foods, sugary drinks, etc, are what some would call ‘empty calories’ which don’t provide much nutritional value.
Whereas natural sugar coming from fruit or dairy usually comes with many other vitamins and minerals, including fiber. Natural sugars are absorbed at a slower rate and one will typically feel full more quickly, so people are unlikely to consume as much.
Can I Eat Too Much Sugar?
The issue when we have too much sugar is that it is extra energy. If we are not active enough there is no way to burn this extra energy and it is stored as fat, contributing to weight gain and obesity.
Does Sugar Cause Diabetes?
There are two types of diabetes and sugar does not directly cause either type – Type 1 is an autoimmune disease and is not caused by anything in your lifestyle.
There are several risk factors for type 2 diabetes, including obesity, so a diet that is high in sugar and therefore calories that leads to obesity may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Tracking Sugar In Cronometer
If you’re not already, start tracking your sugar in Cronometer!
In the mobile app, navigate to your Daily Report (Diary > tap on the header bar > Daily Report). Scroll down and you’ll see sugar intake under the carbohydrates section. You can also click on this to edit your targets, see your top sources and to learn more information about the nutrient in general.
On the web app, just scroll down on your Diary to see sugars listed under the carbohydrates section. You can hover over to learn more information or click to edit your targets and view your top sources.
You can also add it as one of your highlighted targets to view it more quickly in your diary.
