How the sugar stacks up

Do we know how much sugar is actually in soft drinks and fizzy drinks??

 I was surprised, I knew it was high but not this high! Even the tiny box of ribena which you might think is slightly healthier that the coke has 5 teaspoons of sugar in it.  If anyone said they took 5 teaspoons of sugar in their tea or coffee you would probably grimace but each drink ranges from minimum 3.9 teaspoons to a whopping 19.5 in the rockstar energy drink!! 

First off, let’s bring to light what sugar can do to your body. This sweet substance can bring on a multitude of health problems, a few of which are major issues common among those who like to over indulge. The big two would be diabetes and obesity. In truth sugar can definitely make things seem to taste drastically better but there is a toll for it in the long term.

Obesity is rapidly becoming more common.  The problem is that instead of treating sugar as a “treat” we instead ingest it all day everyday like it’s common place and normal to do so. From a young age children are exposed to sugar as this holy treat full of goodness. From there it can just snowball into a mound of unwanted effects or conditions. Everyone is different but no one is invincible to the effects of sugar.

Dr. Robert Lustig, author of the book Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar claims that 75% – 80% of all obesity stems from insulin which is created from sugar intake. Your body can handle some sugar spurts but when it is routinely consumed it's a completely different story.

20 Common Foods With High Sugar Levels

Now some of these are surprising and some are not. Something to keep in mind is that even when you think you are eating something “healthy” it very well might be packed with extra sugar. It’s smart to check the nutrition facts or even the ingredients on the back of the packaging yourself. You might be surprised to see some things like dried fruits and sugar listed as the first ingredient instead of fruit!

1. Sugar/Sweeteners (Stop or loosen up on adding this to everything!)
2. Soft drinks
3. Dried fruit (look for unsweetened instead)
4. Flavoured yogurt
5. Cereal
6. Flavoured Porridge
7. Spaghetti
8. Fruit juice
9. Ready Meals
10. Sports Drinks
11. Salad Dressing
12. Ketchup (along with many other sauces)
13. Low Fat/Fat Free Sweets
14. Energy Bars
15. Granola
16. Fruit Smoothies
17. Frozen TV Dinners
18. Canned Baked Beans
19. Jam/Spreads
20. Apple Sauce

Sugar Is a Drug

Drugs alter your mind, are addictive and usually toxic. So is sugar! Imagine if a food company laced your meals with morphine so that you’d buy more? The public would go nuts. So they use sugar to get people hooked.

Most of the items commonly consumed that are clearly treats also don’t offer any nutritional value. This is a massive concern especially when it comes to children.  The worst thing you can do is have your children hooked early. It’s extremely easy to eat sugary foods and gain weight but it’s quite the opposite trying to lose the sugar and weight. 

13 Side Effects Of Sugar Intake

1. Obesity
2. Diabetes
3. Heart failure/disease
4. Cancer
5. High blood pressure
6. Restrain the immune system
7. Poor memory
8. Acne
9. Tooth decay
10. Learning disorders
11. Depression
12. Headaches and migraines
13. Yeast infection

Reduce, limit or avoid as much sugar as possible. A lot of foods even thought to be healthy already have sugars. Fruits in particular are a huge source of sugar. Teach the world that sugar is a treat and not an everyday pleasure. Check out the nutrition facts and ingredients on the back of consumables to make sure sugar isn’t the first and highest rated item.