Blog Post #4
I decided to conduct more research before I developed my curriculum. I had not gone into much depth about artificial sweeteners, and natural versus refined sugar, and wanted to know more about these topics.
I decided to conduct more research before I developed my curriculum. I had not gone into much depth about artificial sweeteners, and natural versus refined sugar, and wanted to know more about these topics.
I learned
that “refined sugar” is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. These
ingredients are processed to extract the sugar, which is called sucrose.
Refined sugar is digested quickly, causing a spike in insulin and for you to
feel less full (causing you to eat more.) “Natural sugar” is the sugar that is
in fruit and dairy products. The sugar in fruit is called fructose,
whereas the sugar in dairy products is called lactose. Natural sugar, which has
vitamins and minerals in the fruit or milk, is better for an individual and
does not need to be reduced as much as refined sugar should
be. However, the body digest both refined and natural sugar the same way. Both
types of sugar end up either as fat or glycogen. This is an important
distinction that I plan on explaining in my curriculum.
I also
learned that artificial sweeteners are often sweeter than refined sugar. For
example, sucralose (a type of artificial sweetener) is approximately 600 times
sweeter than sugar. This clearly shows the problem with artificial
sweeteners. Even if an artificial sweetener has zero calories, your body
will still crave sweetness (sugar). Instead, to reduce calories or sugar
intake, one should slowly put less sugar in the foods they make. This way, their body will slowly become
less dependent on sugar and will crave less.
Some tips
I have found for reducing sugar intake include the following:
- Drink less soda and more water.
- Reduce the amount of sugar you add to foods and drinks, such as coffee or tea.
- Eat more fruit (fresh, frozen, or canned).
- To avoid most of the food with added sugar, shop the perimeter of the grocery store.
- Read the labels and choose products with less added sugar.
- For sweetness in your cereal or oatmeal, add fruit instead of sugar.
- Add less sugar when baking cookies or brownies.
It's a good idea to get a better sense of the information before making the actual curriculum. I like the tips that you put near the end. I didn't realize that the food with most added sugar was in the middle of most grocery stores! Can't wait to hear more about this sugar epidemic.
ReplyDelete-Shereen
It's good that you want to keep researching, and if there's anything I've learned with the 20 time project, it's that changing the field of study works very well. For instance, you can have the project to just develop a basic curriculum about sugar, which you would present to the class, and then use all the extra time to research and get really deep into the subject.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you gave tips at the end was a very nice touch. It makes me really think about what I have been eating and what I thought were some healthy foods, actually aren't. It's good to know that the healthier foods with less sugar are located on the perimeter of the store. This is an interesting topic and I am excited to see what the end looks like!
ReplyDeleteWow, I like how you defined the different types of sugars! It's interesting to know that sugar from fruits and sugar from candy both turn into fat/glycogen and this leads me to think that maybe eating too many fruits is not healthy as well (which ties in with the idea that too much of anything isn't good). Good luck with the curriculum and I can't wait to see it! :)
ReplyDelete