Sugar itself is not bad. What is hazardous to our health is the quantity. The recommended amount of sugar is 6 teaspoons a day for women and 9 teaspoons for men. But Americans are consuming an average of 30 teaspoons per day, adding up to 3 pounds of sugar per week and 130 pounds of sugar per year. The incidence of obesity, diabetes and many cancers in the US has escalated parallel to the rise in sugar intake. So let’s dial it back to 6 to 9 teaspoons per day.
By reducing the amount of sugar we consume, we could reduce the risk of chronic disease (such as heart, cancer, and diabetes). Excessive sugar can literally kill us. It damages our heart and may be linked to cancer. It has a similar toxic liver effect to alcohol and it saps brainpower.
Cutting back on sugar also gives us the ability to taste the flavors of food and being to lose the sweetness craving.
Sugar risk is complicated by corn syrup, known by various names (high fructose corn syrup, dextrin, fructose, glucose and more).
The Standard American Diet is primarily composed of processed foods.
What to Do?
Avoid corn syrup. The best way is to eat less processed foods. Try the 10-Day Pledge from 100 Days of Real Food. If the Pledge seems impossible, three places to reduce sugar are breakfast, drinking habit and salad dressing (because we want to eat a salad a day for health)
Replace packaged breakfast cereals or prepackaged oatmeal with homemade. By planning ahead overnight oats or crock-pot oatmeal can become part of your routine. A couple of hours on the weekend can produce delicious, nutrient rich muffins and breakfast breads easy to pull out of the freezer on busy weekday mornings.
Replace store-bought salad dressing with your own; it takes 5 minutes to make
Change our drinking habits.
Instead of sodas, let’s keep a pitcher of “nature-flavored” water – slices of lime, fresh mint, sliced cucumbers etc – on hand. Iced herbal teas are another a refreshing option. We don’t need to give up juice forever, just reduce the amount – it could be a glass after a full meal. Or a Saturday dinner treat. Find a way to reward your kids, and yourself for changing drinking habits.
Reduce the amount of sugar added to coffee/tea, baking. The quantity of sugar in recipes these days is alarming. I always reduce the amount in recipes by at least one-fourt
Avoid artificial sweeteners; there are serious reasons to question their safety
Get moving. If getting to the gym regularly doesn’t fit in your schedule, parking far from the entrance to work, to the grocery store etc and let’s try to talk 10,000 steps a day.
For more health empowerment, check out:
What Does Sugar Do To Our Health?
Research from the World Health Organization has found that sugar, particularly in sugar-sweetened beverages can lead to an unhealthy diet, weight gain and an increased risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
Sugar consumption has also been linked to diabetes and heart disease in children. Sugar has also been linked to cancer.
5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You
Sugary drinks linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide
Consumption of added sugars or sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancers
Should Sugar Be Regulated Like a Drug?