Sweet drinks - the daily dose of sugar you don't see. Episode 76

Monika Rachtan
Hi Monika Rachtan, I'd like to welcome you very warmly to the next episode of Po Pierwsze Pacjent and right from the start I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my channel. If you want to stay up to date then ring a bell and we'll be in touch. Today we're going to talk about sweeteners, because I don't know if you know, but the average Pole eats 400 kilocalories and actually drinks 400 kilocalories by drinking sweetened drinks every day. And it is about these sweetened drinks, but also about other unhealthy things we take in, that I will be talking to Kasia Kręglicka today. Doctor You are in the field of human nutrition and you are a nutritionist. Hi. Well, that's right, we drink these sweetened drinks. And it's not just the fizzy products that we have in bottles, in the shops, but also different kinds of juices, for example. And we think it is healthy. But it is not necessarily so, because of the sugar.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Yes, of course, it all depends on the quantity and frequency. If these drinks, juices, nectars, carbonated or non-carbonated beverages appear sporadically in our diet from time to time in large quantities, there is not really a problem. However, the problem arises when they are quite regularly present in our daily diet and, in addition, are somehow the main source of hydration by the way, because some people also think that if I drink a juice, I have many other ingredients besides water. It should also be said that in this case, we also have sugars, simple sugars. And then it is easy to exceed such a safe amount and it becomes problematic for our health.

Monika Rachtan
I was still talking about that average, those 400 calories, which is, as we agreed before the recording about 20 teaspoons of sugar every day consumed through just sweetened drinks. But I also thought about the fact that this average is just the average, and, for example, me or I assume you too. I very rarely reach for such sweetened drinks, so it could be that someone drinks 40 or even 60 teaspoons of sugar.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
As much as it depends on such habits, there are some people who mainly drink these sugary drinks and can really drink large quantities. I also have the impression that many consumers are unaware of how much sugar there may be in these drinks and how much energy they can actually consume from such a source. And I have the impression that this lack of awareness most often contributes to the fact that we do not perceive these products as being really high in calories.

Monika Rachtan
I've thought about it now and calculated in my head that, all in all, you could just drink sugary drinks all day and not eat anything and you would already have the calorie value you should consume each day taken care of, so to speak. So it's actually worth paying attention to that. But tell me, on average, how many of these sweetened drinks do you think you need to drink to reach those 20 teaspoons a day?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
In one glass of sweet drink we have 4 teaspoons. Well 4 5 depends on the drink, so I think a litre to a litre and a half is really enough to just eat, consume that amount of energy from that source.

Monika Rachtan
So it turns out that de facto not much, well, because I'm thinking of the kind of juice for children, for example, which is popular, there's probably about 400 millilitres of that drink, so.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Half of this dose is already taken in this form, and it can actually cause us to exceed the safe amount of these so-called simple, added sugars recommended by the World Health Organisation or many scientific societies, sugars that we should nevertheless limit for a number of reasons.

Monika Rachtan
Recently, it has been reported on breakfast TV that aspartame is such an evil of our times and that it causes cancer and various other diseases. What is it like with these sweeteners? Tell me please, is there a safe dose of sweetener? Is one better, the other worse? Is one you prefer more as a nutritionist?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
In fact, we have a great many of these substances, so-called low-calorie sweeteners, or what are commonly known as sweeteners. There aren't. We are not talking about one particular sweetener, which would be, which would be suitable for everything, because we need different ones, because they have different properties, including technological ones, because the fact that they are very intense sweeteners translates into the fact that you only need to add a very small amount of them to a given product or beverage and get this high sweetness of it. So that's what gives us this low calorie, this so-called gain when using them. And, of course, each substance can be slightly different and, therefore, each substance has to have this safe dose labelled. For us, which will not cause any negative effects on our health. We are no longer talking about life, but even for our health. And every sweetener has its own limit, the so-called ADI, which is the safe daily intake. And as long as we do not exceed this limit, in the light of current research, of which there is a great deal, sweeteners are among the most researched food additives.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
That's why there's so much controversy around them and a lot of research is also being done. So it really is being monitored. The amount of consumption of various products is also monitored, especially in the European Union countries, so fortunately in our country, too, and in this area we can really feel safe, that by habitually consuming various products, we are still a long way from these safe daily amounts.

Monika Rachtan
You said about the consequences for health, for human life, when it comes to consuming sweeteners. Well, exactly, but we, for example, when we buy chewing gum. Of course, the sweeteners appear there too, and it says that you must not use too much of this gum, because it can end in vomiting or diarrhoea. So how much gum do I have to eat a day for me to have these negative symptoms?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, the sensitivity here is also individual. However, xylitol in large doses can cause adverse symptoms, usually diarrhoea. However, I think that it would be necessary to consume several packs of gum during the day in order to absorb such an amount of xylitol. So again, is it recommended for other reasons to consume or chew such a large amount? Well, not either. So these are very extreme cases, also described in the literature as case studies, i.e. exceptional cases in medicine. And we also know that it can happen that people who. Probably also a little bit with some kind of mental disorder, choose excessive amounts whether from stress or other reasons, for example, this chewing gum and decide to chew it in such quantities that it causes this very diarrhoea. On the other hand, if we really do consume, use a few gums during the day or after each meal, even if as may be recommended by dentists, for example, well, this sweetener from this source should not and most often does not pose any problem to our health.

Monika Rachtan
People also often say that they don't want to consume sweeteners because they are chemicals. But there is sugar, there are natural plants, then there is processing, and then there are crystals in our sugar bowl. However, when it comes to sweeteners, they are chemicals of some kind, they are created in a laboratory, someone produces them, and people say that even though they eat two doughnuts afterwards, they do not necessarily want to eat the sweetener. Are these fears right?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
I would say yes. In these principles of healthy eating, we do not encourage, we do not encourage the consumption of products that will contain this sweetener. So if anyone has concerns about the use of these low-calorie sweeteners, and they still consume a lot of sugar, the alternative is to limit the intake of those products that contain this sugar. When it comes to drinks we just drink mostly water. We can add a slice of lemon or cut up some fresh fruit and then we have some fruit flavouring, for example, or mint leaves, basil leaves and so on, for an aftertaste. But without sugar and that will be the best thing we can do for our health. But if, despite the fact that we are aware that sugar can be harmful to us, that it contributes to the fact that we consume too much energy and that we gain weight, or that we have some kind of glycaemic disorder, i.e. we have high blood sugar or some kind of insulin resistance, then we are still suffering. More and more Poles are also suffering from this condition, and we should limit these simple sugars, which can actually be harmful to us. And it is difficult for these people to give up that sweet taste.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, then, a much better alternative would be to choose products that have these sweeteners added to them. However, I would also like to add that just because sugar is natural, it does not mean that in this processed form, added sugar does not harm us because we consume so much of it, and that it is also very common in these foods, especially processed foods, because these are not just drinks, they are often also fruit versions of dairy products, desserts of some kind, fruit yoghurts, but also ketchup, ketchup. I'll even admit that I still happen to read labels and I've found glucose-fructose syrup in cold cuts, so it's probably harder to avoid that sugar in our diet than it is to just find products that are free of that added sugar. And we don't quite think about it that way either and realise how harmful it can be to us, to our health.

Monika Rachtan
Another very important and serious problem I see in our society is that we do not treat the glucose-fructose syrup you mentioned, for example, as sugar at all, and we are not aware that we are looking for sugar on the label under the term sugar, but it turns out that it can be hidden in various substances which are listed on the label.

Monika Rachtan
We are even taught complicated chemical formulas at school, which later come in handy for some and not for others. I cannot say that they are absolutely useless. On the other hand, we are not taught substances that would allow us to differentiate between products, that would allow us to eat consciously. A lot of people, when they turn the label over, are able to read, because everyone says read the labels, but I read one E, second, third, e and I cannot decipher it all at all. Then some complicated names. So unfortunately this education is lacking.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Oh, we are definitely lacking. And it's sad, too, that it's always left up to the consumer himself, that it's up to us as consumers to educate ourselves. The usefulness of such classes from the early stages of education would be enormous. I am also in favour of teaching people how to eat healthily, how to choose healthily. As far as sugar is concerned, it really can also hide on the label under various names, because it can simply be sucrose, it can be glucose, it can be fructose, it can be this glucose-fructose syrup or sugar cane syrup, or some agave syrup. Also.

Monika Rachtan
Sounds good.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
It sounds good, but sugar beet shouldn't sound bad either, and it provides us with precisely the simple sugars we say it does, but in a much reduced quantity. It certainly provides us with less than the average Polish diet, so it really is worth reading the labels. In a table like this, where we have nutritional and dietary information, we can also see how much sugar there is, because we need to know how much total carbohydrates we have, meaning all carbohydrates, both simple and complex.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Including sugars. And if we don't know whether this product contains and under what name this simple sugar is hiding in the composition, just look at it in this sugars. If there is a higher value there, I think that if it is on this 250 ml package, these 25 30 grams, it is already a lot.

Monika Rachtan
It is stated in 100 grams and in 200 g, so in 100 grams the safe sugar value is yes.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
5 to 7 I would give yes already, so that it is not so bad.

Monika Rachtan
7%.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
This would still be acceptable. Of course, we also look at how many of these different products we consume every day, because if it is just one product, that's fine, but if we multiply these products during the day with every meal, then we also look at the total. And if ladies manage not to exceed, let's say, five teaspoons of sugar from all sources, even those which we add ourselves when we make ourselves a cup of coffee or tea, and put it all together and it doesn't exceed five teaspoons a day, then that's acceptable. In the case of men, it will be two teaspoons more, because men expend more energy, so their limits are slightly higher. Or I would also add that if we like and want to eat more, there is also a way to do it, namely to move more than the average. So if we are also more physically active, we can also consume a little more of these sugars. But if I don't, or don't have the time or space, or am such an average inhabitant of the so-called western world, then remember those five for the ladies, seven for the gentlemen, teaspoons from various sources, whether processed or such own teaspoons added to a drink.

Monika Rachtan
What you said about men being able to sugarcoat more. It seems to me that this is also a bit of a throwback from the old days, because we associate these men as heroes who do hard physical work. And the truth is that all of us today, and this is also referring to what you said about movement, we are mostly sitting all day long. And even though I emphasise in this programme that you should take 8,000 10,000 steps a day, I myself sometimes have a problem with this, because working as a journalist, as an editor, I sit on the sofa, I often sit for a long time at the computer, and I actually catch myself when I think about what I ate during the day, somewhere I try to add up the calories, remind myself of all these products, but then I also say hey, but you didn't burn anything at all today? But a 30-minute walk would really help to balance the calories a bit.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
That is exactly right. And movement has a huge number of benefits and actually we could say that on every prescription, in addition to all kinds of specifics, this movement should be written down and every patient, every one of us, regardless of our age, this information should be obtained from the doctor or any just representative of the health system. So it is absolutely important. And indeed, it is also worth remembering that these do not have to be heavy workouts at the gym, but just such a half-hour walk is also ok. It is, but let's remember that it shouldn't be the slowest walk, but more like a sub-march, because it gives huge changes to our organism and such benefits that result from it cannot be overestimated. And actually I would say unmatchable in any other way.

Monika Rachtan
I recommend having a dog, because that is the best motivator to get those steps done whatever the weather.

Monika Rachtan
And to count those steps. And it's actually worth using apps that measure steps, because we're not able to verify. I, too, remember when I moved from one place to another and I thought I had a long walk with the dog and I say bank 4,000 steps is one lap. It's manageable and I'll only have to do two laps a day to have the steps done. And then I look and here's two and a half thousand, one lap.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, because whenever we change places, we think it's a longer distance than it actually can be. But yes, it is actually very useful. We have the possibility of just different kinds of watches, which don't always have to be expensive, sometimes cheap ones are enough too. Phones can count in apps and we really don't need a value every step, just somewhere around those values. I would even say that these 8,10 thousand is already a fantastic result. However, as we are also talking about such minimal, but already noticeable benefits for our health, a meta-analysis of this kind, if I remember correctly, was published last year by Polish authors, so I like to promote Polish scientists.

Monika Rachtan
Anyway, one of them was a guest on my show, so yes.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, this is 4.5 thousand as a very, very big minimum, but one which will already give us noticeable, beneficial effects for our health. So if you are such a total couch potato and maybe the 10,000 or 8,000 seems to be such a hard result to achieve, you could even start with 4,500. And maybe with progress, with getting used to the movement, you could also increase it by another 500 or 500, until, in a kind of evolution, you reach the 8,000 or 10,000.

Monika Rachtan
Well, that's right, because it's not all at once. It's the same with limiting sugar, introducing more sweeteners into your diet, if of course you can't switch straight away to products that don't contain sugar. You have to have common sense in all of this and also moderation to feel ok about it. Because to take it all away at once is difficult. And that's what I wanted to ask, because we like the sweet taste, we suck it out of our mother's milk.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
I would even say that we are born with a preference for sweet taste. As it turns out, even in foetal life we are able to perceive the intensity of the sweet taste at adult level. In contrast, the perception of other tastes, such as sour, bitter and salty, develops even up to the age of six. So we are born perfectly equipped to recognise these sweet products and this preference is indeed strong. There's an evolutionary rationale for this, of course, because those products that are sweet were mostly just safe in the early stages. Well, mummy's milk itself is sweet, so it's also sort of a natural process. So now the question is: are we going to stay with this natural preference, or are we going to strengthen it by consuming these sweet products of various kinds? Well, if these sweet products, including drinks and sweets and other products which contain sugar are so often present, it may turn out that we enter adulthood with an even stronger, very strong preference for a sweet taste. And then, for example, there is the problem of whether it is this high sugar or some kind of overweight, or whether we are already becoming obese and need to reduce the calorie content of our diet, but also by looking at different habits, we can indicate to the patient whether this sugar is a big problem.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
And now the question is well, the ideal situation is to limit it from these different sources to these safe amounts. But when we have information from a patient, because they trust us and they will tell us that it's going to be terribly hard for them to limit that sugar from their diet, that from these drinks or from sweetening their coffee. Coffee that's not sweet, that's a day ruined for that kind of person. And that you also have to be able to offer an alternative. Well, because where? What will be the usefulness of those advice we give, those recommendations we make, those fantastic menus we make? If they are super ideal, but the patient will not be able to follow them, and yet when she tells us about it, it would be, I think, unfair for us not to give that alternative that will make that day easier to get through, that those other, for example, whether restrictions or other lifestyle changes, that is, in diet and in physical activity, to make. So this is where these sweeteners come to the rescue. I would also say that there are so many of them on the market that you can really choose the one whose level or type of sweet taste suits you best.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Because we are all different and different ones will taste more or less to us, or mixtures of different substances, these sweeteners. So you can really try them all. If we have such table-top sweeteners, i.e. sweeteners to buy and to use on their own. This information about these safe amounts is certainly on the packaging and it is worth observing this, because sometimes there are various other additives that make this tiny amount of sweetener have to be suspended in something in order to be usable in such kitchen measures.

Monika Rachtan
I see. And tell me what about the children? How do you introduce this diet to children? Is it really this model, which has been fashionable and is still fashionable, I think, for several years now, to limit sugar to practically nothing, to apply to children such a rather restrictive, I don't want to say diet, but a way of eating, and is it good, or is it a risk that later, when they turn 15 or 17, these children will start, for example, overeating sugar because they have never had any contact with it, so now they can.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, paediatric guidelines, worldwide guidelines especially, indicate that the later we introduce these sweet products into the diet of an infant, a baby or young child, or a child in general, the better, definitely. So the longer we succeed as parents, as carers, in avoiding typically sweet products in our children's diets, the better, of course. And that's what comes from this reinforcement of preference as well, because it's reinforced most strongly in the early stages of life. And it may turn out that we are just succeeding. These few, a dozen or so are a fantastic result in general. If you avoid sugar in a child's diet, then even if they already have access to it, they won't be as keen to reach for large quantities, or they won't have the mechanisms that, for example, it's some kind of reward. This is the mechanism of reward or, on the other hand, of consolation, because when we introduce these products quite early on, they are often linked to the fact that this is some kind of reward for something.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Or consolation, because there is a child who is sad well then some lollipop, candy and he already felt better and it is, well yes, very unfavourable if we treat these types of products with emotions.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
We combine this sugar with emotions and with coping, sometimes with stress. And later, as adults, we reward or comfort ourselves in this way and it's difficult to get out of this circle. So if we don't want to avoid the subject altogether, we can of course introduce dark chocolate, or even just plain chocolate, not as a reward, but as an element of every day, even in small quantities, as something natural. We can also bake the biscuits ourselves, involve the children in this fun, and then it's also the case that we have a limited amount of this. We have made it ourselves. We do it, for example, once a week and it's super fun and it's like a preparation for that week, when they're done, well then we wait until the next one, for example, the next weekend, when we have this ritual of at least baking together. And then you don't have this, this mechanism that it's so easily available, because there's also this problem with products that contain this sugar, that they're everywhere and that we really have to be super brave to avoid them.

Monika Rachtan
Exactly right.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Because there are such traps virtually at every turn.

Monika Rachtan
But do you sometimes feel that the consumer market, the food producer market has made us a little bit addicted to that sugar? That it's a little bit like when you go into a chain store and the first thing you meet on your way in is just some cakes there. Then you come out of that shop, there's sweets lying around too. And of course, once I realised that it's all about making money, then that's what we should do too.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Maybe it's easier to break free a little.

Monika Rachtan
That we should realise that it is not that this shop is so well-equipped because it wants to give us such a great choice and makes sure we have orange juice, grapefruit juice and freshly squeezed apple juice. It's just that it's all a question of just getting us somewhere even more.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
I would approach this subject from the other side, because these food producers, too, are responding to our needs, so they are fulfilling our wishes in this area to a certain extent. If we, as consumers, choose more often these healthier versions, these less processed versions of products, the market will probably change very quickly, because there will then be in the most visible places the type of products which we, as consumers, most often desire. And if we, as consumers, like these bars to be available so quickly, or these sweets or salty foods, because we have different preferences as consumers, then it's no surprise that retailers or manufacturers will come out ahead. So I would say that it is more designed for our consumer preferences. And this is where we have to do a little bit of work, too.

Monika Rachtan
Being assertive in the shop?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Yes, but it's also, but it's also like maybe you can talk to yourself about it. Do I really need that? If I compose these meals better for myself, will it be easier for me to avoid such temptations? Because often this reaching for a quick snack or a sweet snack is also a consequence of our other various lifestyle choices and actions. The fact that we do not get enough sleep, we often forget about it, but we go to bed late, we sleep for a short time. This also translates into our brain craving products that are high in calories, high in so-called carbohydrates and fat. So what goes well with this? Well, all sorts of sugary products, snacks that are readily available, or we don't take anything with us for a second breakfast for lunch, so we don't have the opportunity to prepare for ourselves at work or university or school. So what's the easiest thing to do? Well, to buy such a yeasty snack or just some bar there, or we don't take it with us, water, and it's also easy for us to choose something colourful, which looks nice, is attractive, so we have to prepare for that as well.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
To have this sandwich with me, for example, or to give the child this sandwich, so that there is no such temptation, because I don't have anything else, and hunger will certainly arise.

Monika Rachtan
Yes, it mainly takes time and commitment from us to change these eating habits too. I also have to confess to one thing, when you were talking about that sweet taste, I absolutely have not had the urge to eat sweets at all throughout the day. And I absolutely will not even think about eating a biscuit, or I would like to eat yeast, because the sweet taste makes me nauseous. But the moment I come here to the studio, to the programme, and I need such, you know, such a boost, such a shot, I think that this sugar will wake me up so much, I just reach for drinks that are not sweetened with sugar, but sweetened with sweetener.

Monika Rachtan
And you know, you know the brain is fooled anyway, that it's so interesting, that well that's the mechanism.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Liberated, liberated it is, too, so it can also be a better alternative to sugar. If we find it difficult to give up the sweet taste, or if we see in it additional benefits in the form of feeling more energetic or having more strength to continue working, and we are aware that, well, maybe this sugar will not be the happiest classical sugar choice in our case, well, this change will give us this benefit, and many studies show that it actually makes it easier for us to normalise our calorie intake during the day, as if we were getting this pleasure. Well, because let's agree a sweet taste gives us the feeling of this pleasure, which is additionally free of this energy cost and free of this sugar simply in itself. And yet these sweeteners that are present in these drinks are in really minimal quantities. What's more, it's common to combine several different sweeteners together so that you can add even less, because they, with each other, give us, they give us just such a more developed this sweet taste. That is to say, they are simply more like regular sugar.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Because this is sort of the standard, the gold standard, the ideal. So the producers also take advantage of this, of these possibilities, precisely by adding various sweeteners, the minimum quantities that are required and needed, so that we as consumers, in inverted commas, can be fooled about the taste.

Monika Rachtan
I remember once, when I was still starting out in cooking and the kitchen, I bought myself some xylitol and wanted to pour it in. Well, I didn't prepare myself. I was 19 years old, I wanted to put it in just like I put sugar in some cake and that cake was impossible to eat because it was so sweet. Well, because what you're talking about is the concentration of the sweet taste in these sweeteners is much higher than the sugar that we know.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Even a few hundred times compared to if you took 1 gram, 1 gram of sugar and 1 gram of this substance, this substance is so terribly sweet that you would be completely unable to consume it. So it's broken down into such very, very tiny portions, just to imitate the sweet taste of ordinary sugar with a very small amount of this sweetener. Hence the low calorie content of these substances.

Monika Rachtan
Autumn is upon us. I associate autumn above all with winter tea and I drink it very often, even every day. But I don't add sugar or any sweeteners, because I've got used to the fact that I can sweeten it with dried apple, for example, but also in small quantities. Tell me, what about honey? Because this autumn and winter period it's the tea with honey, the pumpkin latte, which has honey. Is this honey as dangerous as regular sugar?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
It has to be said that in honey the largest amount is fructose, which is simply this simple sugar. So it is one form of these simple sugars. Of course, we talk a lot about the benefits of honey, because there are indeed all sorts of proteins there which can also modulate our immunity, but let us remember that they are still combined with this sugar. This is what I would say about our possibility of using these 5 teaspoons of sugar per day very wisely. If we can, let's say, incorporate that amount somewhere in our meals. But we also know that hot honey is not the best, because all that is left is the sugar without the beneficial proteins and the effects of these other compounds. So, for example, we add it to our breakfast cereal with some natural cheese or yoghurt to make it taste better. However, if we are talking about these teas, well, first we have to wait until the temperature drops to around 50 degrees maximum, so that we can possibly add this teaspoon of honey and obtain these benefits from it. However, if we put this teaspoon in a hot tea, we only add sugar.

Monika Rachtan
In fact, I think we broke the hearts of all the autumners who watch us. But that's what we're here for, to talk to the experts, to pass on that sound knowledge. And have you noticed that older people, for example, have this tendency that they can go the whole day without eating anything, but they have to eat something sweet during the day? That this sweet taste is simply the most important necessity for them. Yes, have you noticed that too?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
There are those who are more likely to be women. We also have such a preference for this type of products more and indeed. And again, if it's just one small piece of homemade cake, nothing will happen, we can even combine it with the proverbial coffee and have a nice day somewhere, where this nice element appears, it's OK, but if we look for other sources, or drink, for example, those flavoured coffees and syrups of various types, and there are, for example, several of these coffees a day, they can really translate into our real daily intake of these sugars, so I would be much more careful here. I would also add that our brains do not always fully register the sugar that comes from the drinks we consume. And there are some studies that show that it tricks us a little bit, because to our brain this product is still more like water, so water has no calories, it doesn't count those calories. And this means that we don't, for example, eat less with our next meal after such a sweet drink, because, for example, we drank a glass of sweet drink, there were 100 kilocalories in there, so our next meal will be 100 kilocalories less.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
That satiety will show up. It turns out that's not quite what happens and we still eat very close to it, as if we were drinking water with that meal. Plus that super energy from that sugary drink, so again it's easier then to have that positive energy balance. Well it could be 50 kilocalories a day, it could be 100 over what we expend. Generally speaking, it's not a lot, but if you add it up over the course of a year, you may think that, yes, I'm eating the same amount of food, nothing has changed, and suddenly I'm gaining weight from nothing, or extra kilos have appeared. Where did this come from? And then we look for reasons, often external, because my metabolism has certainly dropped a lot, or there must have been some illness. And it's nice if we diagnose it, check it out, well, because you never know. But often it's the effect of these unconscious, these calorie spikes, these calories.

Monika Rachtan
And do you think sugar is addictive?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
In such a mechanism of addictive substances? As the research shows? No, we cannot say that. It is food, however, and to say that food makes us addicted, well, is very debatable, I would say. On the other hand, through this preference, it may be that they are so intensified that we may have a greater desire to consume them regularly and daily. However, I would not say, in the light of the studies I have read and the analyses, that we are addicted to sugar. I don't think we associate, for example, I don't know, various dramas, as with other addictive substances, not with the classic mechanism of addiction. However, through this preference or through the creation of these mechanisms with emotions, that we positively associate these sweet products with our emotions, with mood improvement, well, there can be a problem. However, in the treatment of any kind of insulin resistance, diabetes or obesity, we will never say cut out sugar completely, because no, sugar comes in different forms. Well we would have to.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Well, you can't say that's the classic mechanism of addiction. Well, because we have sugar in different forms, simple, complex, and if we were really addicted, the treatment is to stop altogether. You can't do that here, because it is a nutrient. Our brain needs sugar, including glucose to function properly. It is such a basic, the best source of energy for our brain, for the erythrocytes, the red blood cells. So I wouldn't say that we can become addicted to sugar.

Monika Rachtan
We always talk about sugar reduction, or at least in this programme we often talk about sugar reduction in the context of obesity and the fight against obesity, which in Poland, well, you could say, is already a bit of an epidemic. When you look at what Polish children look like, how do you look at the fact that 80% children have exemptions from physical education in schools? How do you look at the fact that one of the most common foods that children consume just during this longer, lunch break at school is salty and sweet snacks. Although they were supposed to disappear from the shops, they are still there, or parents are putting these snacks in their children's backpacks. What are you most afraid of? What is your vision of Polish society in 10, 15, 20 years' time?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Is it likely that this vision will not be so interesting and so rosy? Because just as we have been dealing with the most common, these diseases of civilisation after either the age of 40 or 50, that the increase in cardiovascular diseases and the consequences of these cardiovascular diseases or diabetes or many types of cancer, Well, we have tended to observe it in these older population groups, unfortunately, this trend is already starting to become apparent, that we are, for example, experiencing these lipid disorders, atherosclerosis and even heart attacks much earlier. So we are already talking about the fact that people in their 30s really should be getting themselves examined quite regularly. So I'm afraid that if we don't stop this madness a bit today, younger and younger people will become seriously ill. And it's going to be a drama for those people themselves. Because it's never cool to be young and it's never cool to get sick, but I think it's particularly sad if we're in our twenties or thirties and we're affected by very serious illnesses, illnesses that unfortunately arise in response to our choices, both dietary choices and those related to physical activity.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
As a specialist in this area of lifestyle, I, too, must of course speak about smoking cigarettes, because whether they are the traditional version or these e-cigarettes is irrelevant here, they are just as harmful. So we are talking today, so as young people we should educate and make this trend reverse a little bit, so that it is fashionable at a young age to apply this healthy lifestyle, so that it is fashionable to go to P.E., so that it is fashionable to bring a good second breakfast with you and show what you have and I have something else and it is also cool. Or we could.

Monika Rachtan
Replace.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Swap, or even treat each other. Not necessarily the sweets themselves can have fruit with each other. This is a great source of sweet taste. Very natural. This is one of the more important reasons. Lack of or insufficient fruit intake in our diet. As these studies indicate, such a global burden of disease as a significant factor in diet-dependent premature deaths practically right after excessive consumption of salt and products insufficient, insufficient consumption of cereal products. Right in third place. Too little fruit in our diet and we forget that in this form we can also consume this sweet taste, get this pleasure too. That's right.

Monika Rachtan
Because we don't eat that fruit, because we reach for those sugary snacks, chocolates, candy bars, yeasty foods and things like that. It's already the end of the year. If our listeners thought that after today's talk they have decided that from January though any time is a good time, they are limiting. They're cutting back on sugar from November onwards, please tell me where to start, what to think about and how to prepare to do it wisely?

Katarzyna Okręglicka
If you drink a lot of classic drinks, you can try replacing them with low-calorie drinks with sweeteners as a first step. The next step is to reduce the amount of sweetened drinks in favour of water and to build a good habit of hydrating oneself with water on a regular basis throughout the day. Water also helps to reduce the need for a sweet taste, because a well-hydrated brain means well-functioning hunger and satiety centres and those centres in our brain which determine thirst. So as a first recommendation two as we need that sweet taste, let's remember fruit first. We will now be starting the season with the best of the year. Citrus. Two oranges, three tangerines instead of some other sweet choice in the form of this natural one. Let's peel, eat in chunks. And that will be a great alternative too for when we need that sweet taste. We have this pleasure, the best of the year now and a huge benefit not only in terms of taste, but also because of the composition of these products. And we will tick off one point on the list that we have made against just getting sick and dying prematurely.

Katarzyna Okręglicka
Let us be more aware. Let us also look for this information on labels, as we mentioned. Let us be aware that many dairy products, for example, can have this sugar hidden in them as well. If we prefer fruity versions, for example, various types of yoghurt or cheese. Buy the natural version with this lower fat content. Add all sorts of seeds, seeds, nuts and fruit, and even a teaspoon of honey won't hurt, and we have a great product that we can be 100% sure of its nutritional value and quality.

Monika Rachtan
I then reach for frozen fruit. A great alternative to oatmeal with frozen fruit. I actually make it so that I prepare it in the evening and it is ready in the morning.

Monika Rachtan
Listen my dear friends. It follows from this conversation we've had that there's probably nothing to go crazy and take everything away. I'm talking here about sweet taste. Sometimes, if we decide to cut down on sugar, as Dr Katarzyna Kręglicka said today, we can turn to sweeteners, to drinks sweetened with these sweeteners, and at least try to consume less sugar. I hope that you will succeed in reducing sugar. I am keeping my fingers crossed! I am keeping my fingers crossed too. Thank you very much for our conversation, Kasia. Thank you for your attention. I encourage you to subscribe to my channel and I'll see you next week. Thank you very much. Monika Rachtan.