Sugar is the enemy in the gut: Why your gut doesn’t like sugar
Sugar is the new bogeyman among foods. What today is called the “white poison” was in the Middle Ages the “white gold”. At that time sugar was very rare. Today you not only get the so-called granulated sugar cheaply, but it hides in many foods that you would not believe. Our society eats sweet. Expressed in sugar lumps, this means that we eat about 29 pieces every day. Hard to believe, isn’t it?! That is almost four times more than the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as a daily requirement. No wonder we have to struggle with obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. But, what does sugar have to do with the gut ? Many digestive problems such as diarrhoea, constipation or flatulence are also caused by too much sugar.
Sugar and gut? With sugar you feed harmful fungi in your gut
Ketchup and sauces, but also muesli and bread have it in them. Industrially produced foods in particular very often contain sugar. Sometimes there are other terms on the packaging such as sucrose, glucose or glucose syrup, fructose, milk sugar or lactose and maltose. Fructose is used instead of normal sugar, especially in so-called light products. But this fructose is no better, especially if you eat too much of it. Everyone who suffers from lactose or fructose intolerance will notice this: Diarrhoea, flatulence, constipation. Very unpleasant! By the way, fungi are to blame for this. Several of them live in your intestines and they are real sweet fans. If you feed them sugar, they reproduce uninhibitedly. Normally, the beneficial bacteria ensure that the harmful fungi do not get out of hand. But if you eat sweet too often, the little sugar junkies will have a wild party in your intestines and the useful bacteria won’t be able to clean up any more. This causes them to leave their guards on the intestinal wall. This makes your intestinal wall permeable and undigested food components or pollutants can cheat their way into the bloodstream. They can damage your organs and make you sick.
Sugar and gut – Does that mean no more chocolate?!
Don’t panic! Your body needs sugar, it draws energy from it. However, nutrition experts recommend covering your sugar needs with natural carbohydrates. You will find these in fibre-rich foods such as pulses, wholemeal products, fruit and vegetables. If your intestinal flora is already out of balance, then you should completely do without sugar for a while.
The intestinal test will tell you if you are prone to intolerances. With a change in diet you strengthen the beneficial bacteria in your intestines and bring the intestinal flora back into balance.
