The Villains and Girls of Your Food

Sugar: The Big Villain: Do  you know the large amount of sugar you insist on putting in the body of milk? She is totally expendable. This is because the ingredient has no nutritional value and still decreases the absorption of other nutrients. Very harmful to the body, sugar is quickly digested and goes into the bloodstream in the form of glucose. The pancreas produces insulin which helps glucose enter cells, producing energy. Excess of this ingredient accumulates in the body, turning into fat. There are four types of sugar:

• Glucose:  Obtained from various fruits and plants and, industrially, from starch
• Fructose: Present in fruits and honey
• Sucrose: From sugar cane and beetroot
• Lactose: Found in milk

Carbohydrates: Sources of Energy:  After being absorbed in digestion, carbohydrates are transformed into glucose, producing the energy that regulates the functioning of the brain and central nervous system. They still act in the metabolism of fats and are fundamental for the work of the intestine. Indispensable for the organism, they are divided into:

• Monosaccharides and disaccharides:  These are simple, digested carbohydrates that are quickly absorbed by the body.
• Polysaccharides: These are complex carbohydrates, digested and absorbed slowly by the body.

As much as they are essential, you need to be careful, as excess carbohydrates can raise blood sugar, leading to diabetes and obesity . But be careful, because completely excluding them from the menu is a mistake: “The substance is fuel for the brain, nervous system and blood, and its lack can cause tiredness, irritability, dizziness and depression”, warns Alice. Choose complex carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa and chickpeas, which provide a greater feeling of satiety and help with weight control.

Sodium: Less, Better:  Have you tried tasting the dish before salting it? This can help reduce the amount of substance ingested daily. The orientation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is that the daily consumption does not exceed 2.4 per day. This is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of salt. It may seem little, but it’s not! We need to remember that sodium is present in the vast majority of industrialized foods, such as instant noodles and ready-made sauces.

In excess, these foods can alter metabolism, causing that unpleasant swelling that prevents us from putting on tighter clothes. Ingested in optimal amounts, salt is essential for the absorption of nutrients and works to regulate the amount of fluid within the cells. Its deficiency can lead to weakness, nausea and low blood pressure. Therefore, use table salt sparingly and, when seasoning, invest in garlic , onion , lemon , oregano and other natural spices.

Fat: Learn How to Choose:  Essential for the body, fats help regulate hormone levels and are divided into five types:

• Unsaturated:  They are present in foods of plant origin and in fish. They have two subgroups:
• Monounsaturated: Found in olive oil and avocados
• Polyunsaturated : Sources of omega 3 , 6, are present in walnuts, fish and flax and sunflower
• Saturated:  These are in foods of animal origin, such as meat and milk.

Trans: Chemically produced by excess hydrogenation, it has the purpose of accentuating the flavor and providing durability to industrialized foods, such as snacks, cookies and ice cream.

We can classify fats into white, which is bad and accumulates in the body, and brown, which is good, produces heat and maintains the body’s temperature. Saturated, excess, and trans are white fats; the saturated ones enter the brown team.