The truth about sugar

Some Scary Facts About Sugar

Some people are eating their weight in sugar each year.  The average person consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar every single day.  Sugar is sweet, but it is actually poisoning us and most of the time we don’t even know just how much sugar we are consuming.  If you eat too many of those empty sugar calories, you tend to skimp on the food that has the nutrients your body needs.  Too much sugar may increase your risk of many different diseases that affect your body and mind.

The 3 Primary Dangers of Sugar

1. Sugar can cause vitamin B deficiency

Sugar can deplete the body of B vitamins.  If you are deficient in vitamin B it can cause many different symptoms such as heart palpitations, chronic fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, difficulty focusing, indigestion and rashes.

2. Sugar can wreak havoc on the digestive system

Sugar can make your digestive system acidic, removing any vitamins and minerals from your body. Sugar can also take away potassium and magnesium—both essential for cardiac health.

3. Sugar can suppress your immune system

Sugar can suppress your immune system causing an overproduction of digestive enzymes, putting stress on your pancreas.

Consuming too much sugar can cause:

•          Insomnia

•          Hair loss

•          Dizziness

•          Allergies

•          Manic Depression

•          Cardiovascular Disease

•          Obesity

•          Tooth Decay

•          Diabetes

•          Breakouts/ Skin Irritations

•          ADD/ADHD

•          Hypoglycemia

There’s Sugar in that?

Below are some foods that are shockingly high in sugar:

•          Salad dressings

•          Yogurt

•          Pasta sauces

•          Barbecue sauce

•          Cereal

•          Bread

•          Ketchup

•          Granola bars

•          Hotdog and hamburger buns

•          Mayonnaise

•          French fries

•          Peanut butter

General healthy eating recommendations have traditionally included limiting sugary foods and drinks. This is because free sugar is deemed an ‘empty nutrient’ – it provides calories but no nutritional value.

Eating or drinking too much free sugar can contribute to increased body weight and may lead to high cholesterol and triglycerides, and type 2 diabetes.

What are 'free' sugars?

‘Free sugars’ is defined by the World Health Organization as:

“Sugars added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer. It also includes sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.” this also Includes monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar)

Free sugar in foods or drinks adds extra calories to food but no nutrients. It’s easy to have too much because it doesn’t satisfy hunger. Based on the evidence about the detrimental impact of a high sugar diet, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends people should reduce their intakes of ‘free sugars’ to around 5 per cent of total energy, to gain health benefits. This equates to about six teaspoons for adults and five teaspoons for children.

'Added sugar' refers only to the sugar added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer.  They are extracted, concentrated and refined from sources such as sugar cane, fruit, sugar beet, or corn.

What is 'natural' sugar?

Natural (or 'intrinsic') sugars are the naturally occurring sugars found in whole, unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, honey and some grains. However, just because a sugar is 'natural' doesn't always make it a healthy choice. The World Health Organization classifies natural sugars such as honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates as 'free sugars' - the ones we should limit in our diet. These foods are high in kilojoules and provide few vital nutrients and typically little fibre.

Remember there are naturally occurring sugars in nutritious foods like fruit and plain milk and yoghurt, which do not have the same effect as free sugar. We encourage people to include these as part of a healthy eating pattern.

Names of sugar

Sugar can be called many different names.

Look out for these common forms of free sugar on the food label

•          Agave nectar

•          Coconut sugar

•          Dextrose

•          Fructose

•          Fruit juice

•          Glucose

•          Honey

•          Maple syrup

•          Raw sugar

•          Rice malt syrup

•          Sucrose

•          Sugar

•          Treacle         

What can you do to cut back on free sugars?

Rather than focusing on single nutrients, we recommend you enjoy a way of eating that focuses mostly on whole and less-processed foods, as part of a healthy diet.

Look at what you drink - water is the best drink and it's free. Your taste buds might need a bit of re-educating if you're used to only drinking sweet drinks, but they do get used to the change.  For something a bit more exciting than tap water, you could try bubbly water and add some hints of flavour e.g. lemon or lime slices, mint leaves, or chopped up fruit. 

Keep foods or drinks that are high in added sugar for special occasions only e.g. cakes, biscuits, sweet bakery items, juices, lollies, and muffins. Try cutting back on these and replacing them with healthier options like fruit, unsweetened yoghurt, nuts.

Use fruit for sweetness instead of adding sugar. 

Check the sugar content on food labels, and choose options with less sugar in them. 

Choose mostly minimally processed foods with low levels of added sugar. Remember that the ‘per 100g’ information on food labels includes naturally-occurring and added sugar. The ingredient list will show how many types of sugar have been added. Also consider the whole food, as low sugar doesn't necessarily mean healthy overall.

It is recommended that for general healthy eating and for heart health, adults and children limit the amount of free sugar they eat or drink. In particular, cut back on foods or drinks that are high in free sugar, such as soft drinks or cordials, lollies, cakes, biscuits, and similar foods or drinks.