Where is sugar lurking?
Sugars in
your diet can be added or naturally occurring. Naturally occurring sugars are
found naturally in foods such as
fruit (fructose) and milk (lactose). Added sugars are syrups and sugars that
are added to foods during processing and/or preparation. Remember when the “low fat craze” hit America?
Ironically, that was about the time when America started to gain a lot of
weight. Why is this? Basically, once
companies started removing the fat, they replaced it with sugar and salt.
The American
Heart Association recommends a drastic cut in the amount of added sugar we
consume. The current average intake of
added sugar is 32 tsp per day (per the Federal Department of
Agriculture)! The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 tsp
for women and 9 tsp for men (which equates to 24 grams and 36 grams). Added sugars contribute ZERO nutrients and
MANY added calories that can lead to unwanted pounds or even obesity. A study in the Journal of the American
Medical Association associated added sugar with decreased HDL (good)
cholesterol, and increased triglycerides. Those are two important risk factors
for heart disease. Most of us know that desserts and soda are often guilty
of being high in sugar, but do you know just how much is in them? Do you know
where else sugar is lurking? To figure out if a packaged food contains added
sugars, you need to be a bit of a detective. Look at the list of ingredients. Ingredients ending in “ose” such
as maltose and sucrose are forms of sugar. Other names for sugar include: high
fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrups, honey, or
fruit juice concentrates.
Here are
some examples of high-sugar foods and beverages.
High-Sugar
Drinks:
A bottle of
regular soda (20oz): 18 tsp
A can of
Energy Drink (15 oz): 13 tsp
A bottle of
regular iced tea (20oz): 10 tsp
A can of
regular soda (12 oz): 8 tsp
A bottle of
vitamin water (20oz): 8 tsp
A small iced
cappuccino (12 oz): 8 tsp
Examples of
other High-Sugar Foods:
1 cup of Ben
& Jerry’s All Natural Chocolate
ice cream: 10 tsp
A Kit Kat
bar: 5 tsp
Yoplait
Whips yogurt (4 oz): 5 tsp
A cup of
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal: 4.5 tsp
Burger King
Whopper: 2 tsp
The
bottom line is that it makes sense to cut down your sugar intake. Be aware of
what you are eating and where added sugars are lurking. There is nothing wrong
with using a small amount of sugar to enhance food flavor, as long as it is a
reasonable amount. Most people add 1-2 tsp to their cup of tea or coffee, which
is better than the 13 tsp you will find in soda!
-Lauren
Aeh, Dietetic Intern
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