What role does sugar play in the body?
Sugar is omnipresent in our daily diet, and although its consumption is often criticized, it plays an essential role in the functioning of our body. However, one question remains: how does sugar really affect our metabolism?
How sugar powers your body?
This section explains how sugar affects your metabolism. You’ll learn the importance of sugar and discover ways to burn fat more efficiently while controlling those sweet cravings.
Sugar is our main source of energy. The simple sugar glucose supplies the body with immediate energy. Once consumed, glucose enters the bloodstream, causing blood sugar levels to rise. In response, insulin is released to help direct the sugar into cells, such as muscle cells, where it is converted into energy.
The more active you are, the more sugar you’re able to burn. However, if too much sugar gets into the blood too quickly, the body has to work harder to distribute it. This is because your body’s first priority is to keep your blood sugar level constant. The body has developed a complex control system for this purpose, but this system should not be overtaxed.
What happens to the excess sugar?
When sugar isn’t needed immediately, it’s stored for later use. In this anabolic state—meaning the body is in “building” mode—sugar is converted into glycogen in the liver. This is our primary energy reserve. If there’s more sugar than the body needs, it’s transformed into fat and stored in the adipose (fatty) tissue.
This anabolic condition is facilitated by the high insulin level. As long as there is insulin in your blood, it is impossible to burn fat. If you want to burn fat, it’s important to have breaks between meals.
Tip: Give your body a chance to tap into its fat reserves!
Many people who tend towards being overweight find it helpful to eat till they’re full three times a day and not snack in between. If you can’t manage that, you may snack on vegetable sticks, cottage cheese or nuts. Fruit is not suitable as snacks, as it raises the blood sugar level.
Another popular trick is not to eat late in the evening or to delay breakfast a little. The thinking behind it is always to lower the insulin level in the blood in order to tap into the body’s own energy reserves.
Where does your energy come from if you don’t eat?
When blood sugar levels drop, insulin secretion halts. At this point, glycogen is released from the liver and muscles as an energy reserve. This reserve lasts about 30 to 90 minutes during intense activity. The longer the activity continues, the more fat reserves are burned proportionally.
You can, in theory, run a marathon on this energy reserve. The intensity of the effort, your level of fitness and genetic factors determine how well you’re able to mobilise your fat reserves.
Where do sweet cravings come from?
Sugar not only affects your fat stores but also your appetite. A rapid rise in blood sugar is followed by a rapid drop, triggering hunger signals. As a result, you may eat a small snack that raises your blood sugar again, and the cycle continues throughout the day.
To combat this, foods rich in fiber and protein, like curd cheese, cheddar, cottage cheese, nuts, mushrooms, and vegetable sticks, are great options. These foods help you feel fuller for longer and slow the rise in blood sugar.
Tip: Snack with savvy!
If you want to be smart about sugar consumption, combine it with foods that are rich in fibre and protein, or eat it immediately after a main meal. When it’s mixed with other nutrients, sugar takes much longer to get to the blood.
When do you get hungry?
It’s different for every individual. While it’s good to know about balanced diets, it’s also important to listen to your body’s signals!
Conslusion :
Are you one of those people that are always hungry? Then, over the next few days observe how long it takes you to get hungry after each meals, and which foods make you feel full longer. You should also plan to have your meals at regular intervals, as your stomach likes habit and adjusts to them.