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It is common that this consumption more frequent than usual is tempted to justify.
With the arrival of summer and holidays one relaxes newspapers. This leads to excessive consumption of certain foods and beverages that we do not abuse so much the rest of the year. One of them, with the warmth that surrounds us these days, is beer. A cold beer – or more – is the preferred choice of many consumers to mitigate the effects of heat and enjoy a pleasant time in company.
This more frequent consumption than usual is tempted to justify. For example, say that beer helps with hydration. This idea is deeply rooted in consumers as a contrasting fact, but it's a completely mistaken perception. In my book The False Myths of Food – Miguel Herrero, Catarata, 2018 – I explain this and other food legends.
Beer can not be good to moisturize because alcohol has a diuretic effect that leads to severe dehydration. For the same reason, beer does not help the body to recover from an intense sport. At least, the conventional. A non-alcoholic could have a greater potential for hydration, although the most effective is water
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without alcohol is home to another myth widespread: like normal beer, it contains folic acid – vitamin B9 – . As it is important during pregnancy to prevent neural developmental problems of the baby consumption of non-alcoholic beer is recommended to pregnant women.
However, the recommended daily amount is a person in good health. not pregnant should consume folic acid is 200 ug, while beer contains about 30 ug / L. A 200 mL cane will provide 6 ug of folic acid, or 3% of the daily total needed. Is this fame justified? It seems obvious that no. It would be much more advisable to take vegetables and fruits that together will make a significant contribution.
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Beware of soft drinks
Another component consumed in excess in summer is sugar. Glucose, the most common of simple sugars, is an essential substance for the proper functioning of the body. However, the excess can be very harmful, by increasing the level of glucose in the blood. This can lead to diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
In our current lifestyle, it is common to consume processed foods, soft drinks, juices and other products containing a significant amount of simple added sugars. As a result, per capita sugar consumption has skyrocketed from a few years ago.
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The WHO, after conducting the badysis of many scientific papers , issued a dietary recommendation: that the daily intake of free sugars does not exceed 50 grams. That equates to about 10 teaspoons
It's a quantity that is very easily surmountable by the time we take a – 35 grams of sugar – or a chocolate smoothie – 25 grams of sugar – to give some examples. Keep in mind that the recommended 50 grams also include naturally occurring sugars in foods, so maintaining these levels is a challenge.
Brown sugar is not better
To stop the consumption of sugar, some replace the common sugar, white, brown sugar cane. Many people believe that the latter is healthier because it is less refined, when by refined we refer to purified. In any case, we are talking about the same product: purified sucrose crystals after an industrial process.
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The only difference is that white sugar is 100% sugar, while sugar cane is 100% sugar. In other words, almost everything is sugar. In addition, this difference of 3% makes it softer, so adds more and worsens the situation.
Therefore, there is no appreciable difference in the use of white or brown sugar. Even when the latter contains some minerals and vitamins in very small quantities.
What if honey was used instead of sugar? Honey is a good product, but it must be consumed in moderation. It contains 1% minerals and vitamins and up to 2% protein, but over 80% are simple free sugars such as glucose, sucrose and maltose. The rest is water
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For the purposes of health and glucose metabolism, adding honey equals 80% sugar and 20% water. In other words, five teaspoons of honey are equivalent to four of sugar. In addition, the sweetening effect will also be reduced
Does this mean that sweeteners are the best? Its use is safe and does not cause problems in the metabolism directly. But if it is abused, the body gets used to sweet flavors, which increases the consumption of this type of product. Therefore, the most effective would be to get used to food with a lower level of sweetness.
The Conversation These are just some of the food myths that surround us all the time. Fortunately, science has the key to unveil them.
Miguel Herrero, Senior Scientist (CSIC), CIAL-CSIC Research Institute in Food Science
This article was originally published in The Conversation Read the original.
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