88 pounds. That’s the average annual sugar intake of Canadians. 88 pounds!!! And it’s not just people with a sweet tooth who need to be worried. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently drafted guidelines on how much added sugar we should be consuming. Don’t confuse this with naturally occurring sugars found in things like fruit and milk. Rather, it’s the added sugars that manufacturers load into the majority of food items at the grocery store you need to be wary of.
There are some pretty obvious sources of added sugar in our diets that shouldn’t surprise anybody: namely, desserts and regular pop. One chocolate bar can contain about 25 grams of sugar, and one can of pop around 42 grams. What might surprise you are the many other hidden sources of sugar, including some sauces, cereals, yogurts and salad dressings. Who knew what you top your pasta with could contain the same amount of sugar as a chocolate chip cookie?
According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian consumed about 26 teaspoons of sugar daily from all sources in 2004. About half that amount comes from added sugars. The WHO is now recommending we cut that amount in half, with even more health benefits possible if we can cut our daily added sugar intake to about 6 teaspoons per day.
So how do we get there? Watch the video to hear one Sunnybrook expert weigh in on the best approaches that have worked for her patients. Also, she advises on whether or not artificial sweeteners can play a role.
