The Food and Drug Administration definition: added sugars include sugars that are added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (such as table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. They do not include naturally occurring sugars that are found in milk, fruits, and vegetables.
Sugar has many different names:
Anything ending in OSE High Fructose Corn Syrup Corn Sugar Dextrose Fructose Glucose Honey Maple syrup Agave Syrup Maltose Sucrose Evaporate Caine Juice
These are just a few of the most obvious.
Americans are consuming to many added sugars through the standard American diet (SAD). Too many added sugars can lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity, weight gain, and heart disease. To live healthier, longer lives, most need to move more and eat better including getting fewer calories from added sugars (https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/added-sugars.html).
Sugar Facts: Sugar otherwise known as sucrose is a disaccharide made up of glucose and fructose. Has been a part of our society for years. According to Dr. Mark Hyman (The Institute for Functional Medicine) The Biology of Food Addiction.pdf there has been an increase in sugar consumption:
10 pounds in 1800
40 pounds in 1980
Approximately 152 pounds currently
4 grams of sugar equals 1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of sugar equals 15 calories
1 tsp of corn syrup equals 20 calories
A 12 oz. can of pop has roughly 40 grams of sugar. This equals 10 tsp of sugar
The American Heart Association recommends:
3 tsp of sugar per day for kids
6 tsp of sugar per day for women
9 tsp of sugar per day for men
1 gram of sugar equals 4 calories, so our 12oz. can of pop has160 calories in it.
The average American consumes roughly 88 grams or 22 tsp of sugar a day. This equates to an extra 352 calories a day.
Some of the biggest contributors of sugar are pop, fruit drinks, flavored yogurt, cereals and processed food. But sugar can also be found in items that you may not think of as needing sweetened. Such as soup, breads, ketchup, cured meats, steak sauce, spaghetti sauce, barbeques sauce, granola bars, peanut butter, pastries and salad dressings.
Action Steps to Reduce Sugar: to reduce or remove sugar from your lifestyle you must become a detective and proficient at reading labels. Most individuals are scared when it comes to label reading I know I was but it's pretty simple when all your looking for is added sugars and the word OSE in the ingredients. It's fun to watch my kids who are teenagers now read labels in the store before they put an item in the cart. They usually put it back if they see it has added sugars and look for an alternative. Below are three ways to start removing sugar from your daily routine.
Read Labels - Spend a few days going through the food in your refrigerator and panty reading the labels. Take note of the items that say added sugar, you want to avoid these. Make note of any food item that surprises you. Next time you go shopping look for alternatives that do not have the dreaded added sugar.
Decrease caffeine - The ups and downs of caffeine include dehydration and blood sugar swings, which may cause sugar cravings.
Spices - Add spices to your food. Such as coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom which all naturally sweeten your food.
The above are just a few steps that I explore with you as your health coach. We will also look at food substitutions and how food effects your body. If you are interested in finding a health coach to guide and hold you accountable as you improve your health. Consider filling out the appropriate healthy history form which can be found on my website https://www.7bhealthwellness.com/forms then we can schedule your free health consultation.
I hope you found this information on sugar helpful and eye opening. Till next time have fun reading those labels and leave a comment to let me know how it went.
Dee
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