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Food provides us with both natural and/or added sugars. Sugar is a non-essential nutrient. Sugars when consumed as added sugars or used to process foods as a food additive then we need to be concerned about it. Should one need to be worried or panicked? Does it affect our happy or healthy meal planning? For a normal and healthy person, excess and limited or no sugary foods may make him or her vulnerable to malnutrition as it may promote or inhibit the consumption of not only sugars but also other nutrients of that foods. In the case of a person with a disease, one needs to consult with a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist before consuming or avoiding sugary products or adding sugar to the meal. Similarly, several factors like the kids’ age are also deciding factors. So, recommendations about added sugar or sugary foods intake should not be generalized but need to be individualized.

Sugars and dental caries (who.int)

*Featured image credit goes to https://www.pexels.com

By Md. Khurshidul Zahid, Ph.D.

Md. Khurshidul Zahid Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science (INFS) of The University of Dhaka (DU) of Bangladesh. He has completed his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Texas Tech University (TTU), USA. He was a finalist in the Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Competition organized by the American Society of Nutrition (ASN), Experimental Biology (EB) meeting held in Boston in 2015. He was also awarded a gold medal by “Professor Dr. Quazi Salamatullah trust foundation” of INFS, DU in 2005.

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