Talking FACS
Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky
Guest: Dr. Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Extension Specialist for Nutrition and Health
Episode 40
0:00 Welcome to Talking FACS; what you need to know about family, food, finance and fitness. Hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program, our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families and communities to improve quality of life.
0:20 Dr. Hunter: Hello and welcome to Talking FACS. This is your host, Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
Today, I'm pleased to be joined by, Dr. Heather Norman-Burgdolf, our Extension Specialist for Nutrition and Health. Thanks for joining us today, Heather.
0:36 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes ma'am.
0:37 Dr. Hunter: Today's topic is Sugar and this is one that I'm going to have my kiddos listen to is sugar, sugar, sugar. That I don't know how, but I have two kids that they love sugar.
0:51 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: We all do.
0:52 Dr. Hunter: I know. But I feel like they, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like they just love sugar more than the average person loves sugar, but they do. They love, they love sugar.
So, today, we're just going to have in general a conversation about sugar and sweeteners and how we use them and health aspects, etc.
1:11 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes.
1:12 Dr. Hunter: So, let's get started and just obviously, when we're talking about sugar, we're talking about sweeteners and there's many different type of sweeteners that are out there on the market right now. Are all sweeteners considered to be the same?
1:23 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, that's a good question. And I think it's a good place to start because it's one of the questions that I get the most as an extension specialist is, you know the misconceptions that there are some sweeteners that are healthier than others. But really, when it all boils down to it, they all, for the most part, if they're a nutritive sweetener, they're going to have calories. So, we're going to break it down first and let's talk about nutritive versus non-nutritive sweeteners.
1:46 Dr. Hunter: Yeah, let's start with the basic definitions that's right there.
1:49 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Okay. So, nutritive. So, essentially, these are going to be providing carbs in our diet and they have calories and they really lack other important nutrients. So, an example would be your classic granulated sugar you buy in bulk at the grocery store. The sweetness of all other sweeteners is compared to this granulated sugar. So, that's kind of something to keep in mind in the back of your mind.
2:10 Dr. Hunter: My son asked me the other day if he could just eat a spoonful of white sugar.
2:12 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Oh, okay. Maybe they do love sugar.
2:15 Dr. Hunter: Yeah. Just say you know where I'm coming from.
2:17 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, some other examples of these nutritive sweeteners are syrups or brown sugar, molasses, honey, syrup, nectars and several compounds you may see on a nutrition facts label that ends in -ose. So, that's kind of your clue or your sign those are sugars. So, think sucrose, maltose and dextrose. So, there we've already listed several different ingredients that could be listed on the Nutrition Facts label. So, I would encourage people to look at the show notes if you want to see those again.
Now, non-nutritive sweeteners; they generally provide very little or no calories at all and they are much, much sweeter than sugar. So, again we're comparing these to that white granulated sugar. Very small amounts are actually needed to sweeten foods.
They can be naturally occurring. They could come from plants or they're artificially made. So, this is where we start to talk about artificial sugars. That's where these would come in. So, it's going to be very, very sweet and then you'll only need a very small amount to sweeten something because they're so sweet.
3:15 Dr. Hunter: Okay.
3:16 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, essentially these guys have to be approved by the FDA before they can be used. So, a naturally occurring or plant based sweetener would be stevia. So, maybe you've heard of that. While examples of these artificial sweeteners, that provide no calories, are aspartame and sucralose.
3:33 Dr. Hunter: So, right now in my mind I'm envisioning sitting at a restaurant with the little packets of sweeteners of all the different colors in front of me. And I think one thing that you said and so, sweeteners is not something that I commonly would add to my food or add to my drink, etc. But one thing that you said that I thought was very interesting is that you would use a much smaller amount of those more artificial type sweet.
3:55 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Some of those artificial sweeteners are 200 times more sweet than your basic white sugar. So, very, very, very sweet compounds.
4:05 Dr. Hunter: So, other things that I think we kind of hear about on the market or that we see at the grocery store is raw and organic sugar compared to, like you say, the basic white granulated sugar.
4:18 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes. You know, now even in coffee shops or restaurants, we're starting to see that these are the types of sugars that are on the table.
4:25 Dr. Hunter: They’re trendy.
4:27 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes, they are. They are trendy. So, raw sugar, or it's also called turbinado; might be a word you've heard before. Organic sugar and white sugar; they're pretty much similar in the amount of calories that they have per teaspoon. So, there's no difference in their caloric content. So, it's really going to range between 16 to 18 calories per teaspoon.
Now, the reason that they have different colors is the molasses content. So, raw sugar is not heated as high or as long, so the sugar crystals actually retain some of that molasses which gives them that slightly browned color that they have compared to your white granulated sugar which is heated for much longer, so all the moisture and all the molasses is essentially pulled out and leaves it white. So, the raw sugar has not been bleached.
5:12 Dr. Hunter: Okay. So, in general then, is raw sugar considered to be healthier; it's not been processed or heated as much.
5:05 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: No, there’s really no difference with the processing that occurs. You're right, some do say that raw sugar is healthier because it has trace amounts of vitamins and minerals. And that is true; there are trace amounts of potassium, calcium and iron, but still raw sugar is 99 percent sucrose and white granulated sugar is 99.9 percent sucrose.
So, I would not recommend purchasing or using raw sugar as a way to add nutrients to your diet because the amounts are so small that really it's not going to contribute too much anyway.
5:48 Dr. Hunter: So, your key word there is trace.
5:51 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Exactly. So, essentially again, same amount of calories, just one has been slightly less processed. In this case when we say processed, it's mostly a heating process that's taking place.
6:03 Dr. Hunter: So, let's talk a little bit about nutrition labels and food labels that when we've recorded podcasts before, you know that that's one thing that, and it's not my doing, it's school has trained my children to read the nutrition label, but they do it. Even on candy, they read their nutrition label. So, they do know how much sugar it has as they're consuming it.
So, as we're starting to see these labels that say “No added sugar” and the nutrition facts label includes added sugars on the panel; what exactly are added sugars?
6:36 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, these are typically sugars and syrups that are added to foods prepared at home or by a food manufacturer. So, they don't naturally have this sugar in the product. So, it has been incorporated. And that's what really makes sugar one of the most popular food additives in the United States essentially.
So, think about canned fruit; it's going to be in a heavy syrup. That heavy syrup is going to have some added sugar in it. So, that would be an example. Any time you prepare coffee or tea and you put a spoonful of sugar, you are essentially adding sugar. So, that is an example of where you could find added sugar in your diet.
So, anytime we are adding a nutritive sweetener to a food that didn't have naturally occurring sweetness; that would be considered an added sugar. And so, you may see food items that have sugar in them, but zero grams of added sugar.
Well, how can that be? It's because most of those items typically have a naturally occurring sugar in them. So, it's going to be a dairy item or it's going to be a fruit item. So, they're going to have sugar, but it hasn't been added. It's going to be that natural sugar that's present. So, that would not be reflected on the added sugar line on the nutrition facts label.
7:47 Dr. Hunter: Okay. When you're talking about things like fruit that's in heavy syrups and the amount of added sugar there. As a consumer, I know that there are several alternatives when you're looking at canned fruit; what would be the recommendation for a consumer to purchase in terms of canned fruit; in light syrup? Heavy syrup? It's own juice? There's so many labels out there.
8:08 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up because it can be overwhelming just purchasing canned fruit because there's so many options now.
8:14 Dr. Hunter: You brought up the canned fruit.
8:15 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: I did.
8:16 Dr. Hunter: And my mind started to go into all the labels of the canned fruit.
8:18 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Right. Light syrup, yes, would have most likely less sugar than your heavy syrup. I would look for packaged in its own juice or in water.
8:26 Dr. Hunter: Okay.
8:27 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Those are going to be your best options. And a lot of those now, the front of those food packages most likely have something that says in big font, “No Added Sugar” and those would be the first ones that I would look at to see if they were package in their own juice and if they were in water.
8:44 Dr. Hunter: Which is a great way to not only read the food label, but also if you're looking at just the outside packaging, it might be able to direct you to which ones to go to.
8:51 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes.
8:52 Dr. Hunter: Okay. So, now here's the question that I'm going to make my kids tune in and listen to; alright?
8:57 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Okay.
8:58 Dr. Hunter: How much sugar do we consume? But better yet, how much sugar should we consume?
9:03 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Okay, perfect. I'm speaking directly to your kids.
9:05 Dr. Hunter: To my children; yes. Listen up kiddos.
9:08 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, sugar is important. I will say that it's an important nutrient. It is the source of energy that our body prefers to use, and there are even some parts of our body that can only use sugar as energy. So, you know, sugar is a good thing.
9:22 Dr. Hunter: Not helping me, Heather.
9:23 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: I'm sorry. No, not my case. So, the dietary guidelines recommend that no more than 10 percent of our daily calorie intake comes from added sugar. So, for someone who's on a 2000 calorie per day diet; that's usually around the average, this would be no more than 200 calories a day in total in added sugar. Okay? So, 10 percent.
So, for comparison; one 20 ounce bottle of a regular soda provides that much plus some. Okay? So, we quickly and very easily go over what the dietary guidelines recommend. I'm still talking to you all. I bet they're listening.
10:05 Dr. Hunter: Yeah, I think she's talking to me first to begin with.
10:07 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: And that doesn't even take into consideration all the other foods that we consume throughout the day that may have added sugars. So, I encourage you, and this is your homework for your children, next time you're in the kitchen, take a minute to measure out 22 teaspoons because that is how much added sugar Americans are consuming each day. And the primary sources, especially in younger individuals/adolescence, is sugar sweetened beverages like sodas, energy drinks and sports drinks.
10:35 Dr. Hunter: I will say that those are the areas in our house that we really do try and cut back. And I do joke; they do both very much have sweet teeth or a sweet tooth, they probably got more than one, but they because they'll ask for a piece of candy after dinner; that type thing, but in terms of drinks, we really try to limit their sugar content just because of how much hidden sugar there actually is in drinks.
11:00 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: And I probably should add to that list; sugar sweetened coffee beverages. That's another area too. So, these specialty coffee drinks; they're high in sugar when it comes to the syrup that's being used to sweeten them and things like that. So, that's something to keep in mind.
Maybe if you're like, “Oh, I drink a ton of water throughout the day.” Well, I daily have my sweetened perk preference of a coffee beverage. And so, that's another place that we need to be mindful of.
11:26 Dr. Hunter: So, in all this conversation about sugar, how does sugar really impact our health?
11:31 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Okay. So, when the body takes in sugar, like I mentioned, it's going to use it for energy because it really likes to. It's an easy form of energy for our body to use. I love the biochemistry behind that.
But in situations, and for the most part, when we take in too much sugar, our body will turn it into fat so that it can be stored. And so, that's where all this excess added sugar is starting to be an issue. That's how we link essentially consuming excess sugar to weight gain and having a lot of fat in our blood.
So, those are things that really kind of go hand-in-hand. A diet that’s high in sugar content is going to be linked to a heavier body weight as well as having more fat in our blood. And both of those, tend to be the biggest risk factors for diabetes.
So, sugar in the diet does not directly cause diabetes, which may be what some people think; it's kind of a myth that consuming sugar is going to give you diabetes. Really, lots of sugar in the diet is closely linked to being overweight and obese and that's where you're going to see the increased risk for diabetes as well as heart disease and kidney disease. So, kind of just clearing that up a little bit.
And then individuals who consume a lot of excess sugar have more dental caries or cavities. So, oral health is another place that we really need to be mindful when we're consuming a lot of excess sugar.
12:44 Dr. Hunter: All good things to think about. And just as we're wrapping up today, can you share with us just a few tips on how to reduce sugar in our diet? Because it's not necessarily easy. We talked about it that there's a lot of sugar in processed food, there's just a lot a lot of sugar in the standard American diet today. So, what are just some basic tips on how we can reduce sugar?
13:06 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: I will say I have a handful here. The first one is be careful if you're purchasing foods that say they're low in fat or low in sodium, because in that case, what we tend to see is sugar is added to save the flavor, essentially.
13:23 Dr. Hunter: Okay.
13:24 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: So, something that's low in fat? Still read that nutrition facts label and look at the sugar content because it might be higher actually than the product that’s not low fat.
So, really just kind of thinking about how all these nutrients go hand-in-hand. And again, you may have some guidance from a registered dietitian or your healthcare provider on what you should be limiting in your diet. Just keep that in mind.
Other ones would be use the natural sweetness and added nutritional value of fruit to sweeten things like cereal or oatmeal or yogurt or even using them as a topping on your pancakes and waffles. So, yes, they're actually sweet, they’re going to have some natural sugars, but you're also getting all the other nutrients; fiber, vitamins and minerals that whole fruits have.
So, that's a way that you can still have a sweet tooth as well. I hope your kids are still listening.
14:08 Dr. Hunter: Yes.
14:09 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: And then see if you can gradually reduce the amount of the sugar sweetened beverages you consume. So, don't go cold turkey and just nix it all at once. Maybe you can consume one less this week then next week or you can cut back one a day. Just see if there's a way that you can pay attention to how much sugar is in the beverages that you're consuming because that's the quickest way that you can start to eliminate those in the diet.
And then the last one would be to really learn the common names for sweeteners and then you can always be informed when you check the ingredients list.
So, try to choose foods that don't have a sweetener listed in the first three ingredients on the nutrition facts label. And then I'm going to give a shout out to our extension offices because they have several publications and good resources. There's a really good publication out right now that we could link in the show notes maybe about sugar and how it plays into health and all those types of things.
15:00 Dr. Hunter: Yep, definitely we’ll get that added to the show notes. And I think that this has been, you know, I've given my kids a hard time, but I think it's been a good conversation because sugar is something that’s out there.
15:10 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: It's everywhere.
15:11 Dr. Hunter: It's everywhere and just becoming mindful of how much sugar it is that we're actually consuming. And I love the, “Don't go cold turkey.” You know, maybe some small steps to improving your overall diet and health would be a good place to start.
15:25 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yeah.
15:26 Dr. Hunter: Thanks for joining us today, Heather.
15:27 Dr. Norman-Burgdolf: Yes, thank you.
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