long-article
The Sweet Truth About Sugar
Discover the hidden truth about sugar's addictive power and learn practical ways to identify, measure, and find healthier alternatives.
Your Relationship with Sugar
You may be able to take it or leave it, or it may have been your first true love. If you have a sweet tooth sugar is a natural fix when you're feeling tired, or in need of comfort. Or you may associate it with enjoying yourself and having fun.
Whatever your relationship and the associations you have with the sweet stuff, we now know just how powerful sugar is. Research shows that its affects are as powerful and addictive as cocaine, yikes!
What I find helpful to know is how much sugar I'm eating, so the first tip is...
Measuring Sugar Intake
Read the Label
Look at the 'carbs as sugars' on the nutrition panel - this includes both natural and added sugars; less than 5g per 100g is low, more than 15g per 100g is high.
Here are some examples to give you a picture of what we're talking about here:
- A large single biscuit with 18g of sugar is equal to 4 1/2 cubes of sugar.
- A medium sized chocolate bar with 24g of sugar is equal to 6 cubes of sugar
- An 8.3oz can of energy drink with 27g of sugar is equal to 7 cubes of sugar
- One pint of vanilla ice cream with 84g of sugar is equal to 21 cubes of sugar
- A litre of fizzy drink with 124g of sugar is equal to 31 cubes of sugar
- A glass of white wine can contain anything from less than 1g of sugar (less than a quarter of a teaspoon) up to 6g (one and a half teaspoons) per glass.
Daily Sugar Allowance
There are two types of sugar - naturally occurring sugars and added sugar. The recommendations from the World Health (WHO) are that only 5% of your daily calorie intake should consist of added sugars. This equates to approximately five-six teaspoons (25g) for women and seven-eight teaspoons (35g) for men. And many health professionals think this is a little too high for most of us.
Hidden Sugars
How to recognise sugar in ingredients:
Sugars ending in -ose include: Sucrose, Maltose, Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Galactose, Lactose, High fructose corn syrup, Glucose solids
Regardless of how they sound, the following are all sugar: Cane juice, Dehydrated cane juice, Cane juice solids, Cane juice crystals, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Dextran, Barley malt, Beet sugar, Corn syrup, Corn syrup solids, Caramel, Buttered syrup, Carob syrup, Brown sugar, Date sugar, Malt syrup, Diatase, Diatastic malt, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Dehydrated fruit juice, Fruit juice crystals, Golden syrup, Turbinado, Sorghum syrup, Refiner's syrup, Ethyl maltol, Maple syrup, Yellow sugar.
Top 4 sweeteners that are shown to be unhealthy:
aspartame, aceslufame-k, sucralose, saccharin. For more info www.nhs.uk search artificial sweeteners
Healthier Alternatives
Try this: Naturally Green Stevia Powder, Natural Sweetener, from a South American plant, contains no sugars just naturally sweet tasting. Low GI so doesn't mess with your blood sugar levels.
Try this: Xylitol Natural Sweetener. Found in fibrous fruits and vegetables, naturally low GI.
Try this: Organic Coconut Sugar. Naturally nutritious and low GI. There is a question about sustainability with this one - there are ones that are labelled 'sustainable', though be warned, labels are like the media, they don't always tell the truth!
