This week, we’re talking about sugar. Most people who are trying to lose weight or eating healthily will try to avoid sugary drinks and sweet snacks because you know that they won’t help and provide very little nutrition. What you may not have realised, however, is that even foods that are marketed as ‘diet products’ or ‘healthier choices’ can still contain lots of sugar.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) currently recommends sugar intake to be no more than 10% of your total calorie intake a day, with 5% being the desired target. 10% of the recommended daily calorie intake is approximately 50g of sugar, which sounds like quite a lot, right? We’ll take a look at what that actually looks like in real food shortly, but first of all – why is sugar ‘bad’?

When we talk about sugar I’m including all sugars added to our food, as well as sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit. The average sugar intake for adults is 11.6% and for children is 15.2%.

Eating a diet high in sugar has been linked to obesity and can cause type 2 diabetes as well as tooth decay. Although sugar does not directly cause obesity (there are several other factors that influence your weight), those who consume a high sugar diet on a regular basis tend to put on weight more easily – perhaps because it doesn’t make you feel full and you then overeat.

Let’s have a look at how much sugar you might be eating – it’s quite shocking!

Food

Portion

Calories

Sugar

Special K with ½ cup skimmed milk 1 cup (31g) 160 kcal 4g Added sugar
Tropicana Orange Juice 200ml 96 kcal 20g Naturally occurring sugar
Starbucks Cappuccino made with semi skimmed milk Grande size 120 kcal 10g Naturally occurring sugar in the milk
Apple 1 medium size (93g) 95 kcal 10g Naturally occurring sugar
Ginsters Chicken Salad sandwich 1 pack 389 kcal 4.3g Mostly from the mayonnaise
Diet Coke 250ml can 1 kcal 0g Contains artificial sweeteners
Twix 50g bar 248 kcal 24.4g Added sugar
Tea with milk & 1 tsp sugar 1 cup 30 kcal 4.8g Added sugar
Tesco Beef Lasagne ready meal 450g pack 669 kcal 9g Added sugar
Muller Light Strawberry yogurt 175g pot 90 kcal 12.4g Added sugar & sweeteners

Totals

  1,898 kcal 98.9g sugar

Please note this is not the diet I recommend you eat on a daily basis, I’ve just tried to include typical foods that the general population may consume, however, if that looks similar to your daily diet then it may be time you made some changes for the benefit of your health and your waistline. Here are my suggestions for reducing your sugar intake:

  1. Limit consumption of chocolate bars, cake & biscuits
  2. Dilute fresh juice with water
  3. Cook from scratch, with fresh ingredients, so there is no hidden sugar
  4. Swap a cappuccino for coffee with a splash of milk and reduce added sugar in hot drinks or swap for green tea
  5. Opt for savoury snacks where possible e.g. rice cakes or carrots with hummus dip so you can change your taste preferences