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Sugar and health

The answer to the question of how compatible sugar consumption is with the body's health can be provided by one's own assessment of the amount of sugar consumed per day.

It's well known that a craving for sugar and various sweets develops in humans from childhood, even early on if parents were careless enough to spoil their infants with sweet cookies and candies. This early development of an interest in sweets is very difficult to overcome in adolescence and even more so in adulthood. This fact must be taken into account when considering celebrating a child's birthday with a sweet feast.

But despite the 100% addictive nature of sweets, much like a bad habit, sugar plays an important role in nutrition as a source of energy for the body and, when consumed regularly, as a product for the brain's proper functioning. Sugar essentially stimulates the nervous system to move muscles, speed up thought processes, and accelerate reactions to various external stimuli.

It turns out that even seemingly minimal daily sugar consumption exceeds the physiological daily sugar intake needed to maintain good health. This is because sugar is found in the most unexpected foods, seemingly unrelated to sweets. For example:

Sugar is found in milk and dairy products, even if they don't taste noticeably sweet. All natural dairy products contain organic sugar.
Fresh berries, fruits and vegetables contain a high percentage of sugars, even if they taste sour.
Unleavened and salty bread contains sugar, despite the different taste sensations it provides when eaten.
Consuming boiled or raw beets and sweet carrots adds a portion of the daily sugar requirement.
Preserving vegetables, fruits, and berries in marinades ultimately adds sugar to these products. This also applies to marinating meat and fish.
Green salads or coleslaw, onions and other fresh herbs, sprinkled with vinegar to improve the taste, are a complete source of sugar.
Dried berries, fruits and vegetables contain more sugar than their fresh counterparts per 3.5 ounces of product.
Wine and wine drinks, beer, punches - these are practically free sugar.
All types of foods preserved in one way or another, but with the use of vinegar and sugar, contain high levels of sugar as a preservative.

It's well known that bread, potatoes, and other starchy foods (such as corn, sweet potatoes, rice, and the like) contain carbohydrates that are converted to sugar with a delayed digestion time, as the body doesn't directly digest starch as a carbohydrate. Fruits, berries, sweet vegetables, milk, and dairy products, on the other hand, contain sugars that don't need to be converted into easily digestible substances, so the body quickly absorbs the sugar from these foods.

For an active, working-age adult, a total daily sugar intake of 3.5 ounces from various food sources may be considered normal, as sugar is quickly used by the body for physical activity and mental activity. However, for people with a sedentary lifestyle and low intellectual functioning, 3.5 ounces of sugar is a significant carbohydrate overdose, which is harmful to health.

It turns out that sugar and health are compatible, and a person doesn't necessarily have to give up excess sugar consumption if they can engage in physical activity that burns off excess sugar. However, if intense exercise and strength training aren't possible, then daily sugar intake should be limited by switching from overly sweet foods (lollipops, chocolate, pastries, cakes, and similar foods) to foods with reduced sugar content.