Watch out for sneaky sugar if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends we aim to keep our sugar consumption to below 6 teaspoons (25 g) a day for health benefits. “This refers to monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates,” according to WHO.
There’s a few obvious ways we can reduce our sugar intake (cut out sugary things, like pop, for example).
But, sometimes it’s a little more sneaky. Here’s a list of 5 of the top offenders in the hidden sugar department. My patients (and family and friends) are often shocked that these are on the list.
Juice:
Watch out! Even freshly squeezed juice contains sugar. These naturally occurring sugars from fruit juice or fruit juice concentrate still count towards your daily sugar intake! Be smart. Switch to water. If you need some flavour, try cutting up a lemon or other fruit to infuse the water that way.
Flavoured yogurt:
That low fat yogurt that still tastes delicious – be careful! It might have loads of sugar. A spot-check of my colleague’s 100 g yogurt this morning revealed it had 12 g of sugar. Food labels don’t distinguish between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars.
Yogurt has other health benefits, but just limit your intake and try to choose low sugar options.
Cereal:
Yes, we know that the “sugary cereal” brands should be avoided – but watch out for health-branded cereals too. Granolas often contain lots of sugar (think upwards of 30 grams per 100 gram serving).
“Healthy” sweeteners:
There seems to be a move toward “healthy” sweeteners like honey, agave and maple syrup. These taste delicious. But they are still sugar.
Ketchup:
Yup, this kid favourite is packed with sugar. So, limit Junior’s ketchup intake or make your own at home!
How’s your sugar intake? Are you doing anything to cut down?
