Do We Raise Blood Sugar?

We usually avoid sugar when we are aiming for weight loss or the blood glucose levels are no longer good and control is needed. In the younger generations there is also the avoidance of sugar, because of its impact on behavior, which also has logic ...

When, for one reason or another, we have to run away from sugar, it is more common to exclude it from our diet altogether. Is this necessary?

It turns out that the total exclusion of sugar is completely unnecessary in cases where it is not an explicit prohibition by the doctor.

Regarding the diet and the prevention of high blood pressure in our country, we are still talking more only about reducing fat consumption. In recent years, we have rarely commented on the impact of carbohydrate foods on cardiovascular health, a fact that has long been accepted by advanced Western societies to work on the details of the problem today.

A review of data from two separate studies conducted by the University of Toronto shows that "yes" to white sugar leads to an increase in blood pressure. But not all products containing sugar have such an effect. What matters is what the product is and its composition, the scientists commented, presenting their results in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Consumption of drinks sweetened with refined sugar is associated with a 10% increase in blood pressure by researchers. This is clear from their analysis of 900,000 health records of those included in the studies. 

Sweet fruit, a small amount of 100% natural juice, even moderately sweetened dairy products and whole grains do not have such an effect on cardiovascular health, on the contrary, they comment.

This can greatly alleviate the situation of people whose health problems require them to count the amount of sugar in the products. Dietary recommendations are based on a number of proofs of harm to the health of sweetened beverages, but this should not apply to all products containing sugar, said study leader Assoc. Prof. Dr. John Sievenpiper from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and full-time physician and a scientist at St. Michael's Hospital.

He shares that patients very often, on the basis of this extreme understanding, exclude the consumption of fruits, fruit juice, even sweet vegetables and others, because of the sugar content in them. This would compromise the observance of some of the most anti-hypertensive diets, such as the DASH diet . It emphasizes the consumption of more vegetables, fruits, including low-fat sweetened milk, legumes, whole grains, nuts and small meats, not excluding even sweetened drinks and sweets.

The guidelines of state-of-the-art dietary guidelines, including the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Canadian Cardiovascular Association, are to limit technologically processed foods in the diet and to emphasize whole and unprocessed foods. According to the expert, this is a more liberal, modern approach that allows the inclusion of fats, sugars and salt in certain amounts.

In fact, the richer, more varied the diet, the more it is good for health, including having a protective effect against high blood pressure. When the nutrients in a product are better balanced , the healthier the product and the presence of a small amount of sugar in it should not be considered a problem. What this means? If you eat a piece of homemade cake, where there is no excess of sugar, combining it with a glass of natural yogurt for breakfast, it should not have an adverse effect on blood. In contrast to the regular consumption of packaged confectionery or confectionery such as juicy tolumbi and triguni.