As with most people, I can't imagine a life without sugar. It seems to be in all my favorite things!
A little sugar here, and a little sugar there…how bad CAN it be?
I totally expect sugar to be in desserts, or added when the food is sour (lemons and rhubarb) but WHY is there sugar in so many other products? Sugar is in SO many foods. Crackers, pasta sauce, pasta, bread, vitamins – IN FACT 68% of packaged foods have added sugar – on top of the natural sugars. When I have sugar, I would RATHER it be in pastry or cookies - not pasta.
To be real, sugar itself is not bad – well, I haven’t heard of anyone dying the minute they ate it. For most people, the major issue is the amount of sugar that they consume. And then the tiny fact that sugar has changed over the centuries – it isn’t only made from sugarcane or beets. Many of the products that are consumed daily contain sugar derived from corn (high fructose corn syrup or dextrose) or marketed under another name so if you scan the label, you may not notice the product has added sugar.
So… How much sugar IS enough? I have read a few reports that say we should NOT consume ANY Sugar! Sugar is held accountable for major health issues – diabetes, heart conditions and obesity to name a few.
I decided to use the guidelines from the Heart Associations as they have made it easier to understand the quantity of daily recommended sugar intake (they have done the math). The American Heart Association states that men should have no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is 36 grams or 150 calories. Women should have no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is 25 grams or 100 calories. In Canada, the Heart & Stroke Foundation states that our daily intake of sugar should be no more than 10% of your calories, but preferably 5%. Based on a 2000 Calorie diet, 10% would be 12 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is 48 grams. This seems quite generous to me – yet MANY people consume more than that EVERY day. Some reports reflect that many people consume 3 to 4 times the daily recommended maximum.
Being that many people are not even aware of how much sugar they consume, it shouldn’t be a surprise that so many people don’t think sugar is “really” bad for you in moderation. I once worked with someone who drank 8 cans of Pepsi per day, with each can of Pepsi being 150 calories and containing 41g of sugar/glucose-fructose. When you do the math, he was drinking 1200 calories and consuming 328g of sugar! He had no idea that his Pepsi addiction would contribute to getting gout at an early age.
I think the best way to figure it out is to LISTEN to your body! Are you sick all the time?
Is sugar affecting your body? Do you crave sugar? Do you feed into your cravings and then crash?
Do you often feel like you are on a never ending sugar roller coaster?
I personally am super curious about how food affects my body! Every year I do a Sugar Free Challenge for a minimum of two weeks. Let me know if you are curious and want to join in for the next one.
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