MAKE THIS BAIRAM ‘SWEET’ WITH NATURAL FOODS

The experts strongly suggest opting for natural foods when it comes to consuming sweets, candies at this Sweet Festival (a.k.a Sugar Feast). They say that we need to stay away from desserts made out of refined sugar which increases blood sugar quickly and cause hunger immediately. They also point out that the body turns excess glucose into fat.

Prof. Dr. Nazan Turhan, Dean of IUE Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Food Sciences, mentioned that dessert consumption would spike due to bairam visits, and she said, “Consuming pure sugar is very unhealthy. Using refined sugar (in tea-coffee) increases obesity and diabetics. The refined sugar, which increases blood sugar quickly and cause hunger immediately after, is the main ingredient of desserts.  Especially, people, who are genetically prone to heart diseases, are over-stressed, inactive, smoking, have risk factors such as obesity, diabetics, and hypertension, with imbalanced diets, need to consume minimum level of simple sugars.”   

Prof. Dr. Turhan indicated that fruits contained fructose, milk contained lactose which was unrefined simple sugars, but the sugar we used for teas, coffees, which was refined, was added to foods later, and it did not provide energy because it did not contain proteins, vitamins, and minerals together. Prof. Dr. Turhan, who pointed out that the body was not able to turn blood sugar into energy at once, said, “When the blood sugar level is above the normal limits, it will be taken to sugar reserves in muscles and liver via insulin. The body will turn the excess glucose into body fats. Therefore, we need to consume products such as jams, marmalades, honey, cakes, pies, pastries, sweets, candies, carbonated beverages, concentrated fruit juices, cookies, etc. which are called ‘empty calorie sources’ in moderation. The sugar, which is identified as poison by many scientists, needs to be consumed in considerable amounts in order to avoid its counter effects.”

Prof. Dr. Turhan stated that the human body did not crave sugar, it satisfied that need through natural foods, and eating dessert only served to satisfy the sweet tooth. She said people with inactive life styles needed to avoid heavy desserts. Prof. Dr. Turhan, stated the following:

“Milk desserts satisfy our sweet tooth as they provide the calcium, protein, and vitamin B necessary for the bones. Also, home-made fruit juices satisfy our need for water and sugar naturally. For example, you can serve watermelon slush to your guests this bairam. Simply put ice and watermelon in a blender and serve. Or home-made lemonade with fresh mint might be another healthy alternative.”