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Sugar has been connected to plenty of diseases, including diabetes, cancers, and heart disease, and is known to be a primary cause of tooth decay. Yet even though we know how bad sugar is, it’s a fact that people eat three times the amount of sugar today than our parents and grandparents did 50 years ago. Have you noticed how some races look slimmer and healthier than us in western countries? Here in Australia we eat an average of more than 50 kg of sugar each every year. In China, sugar consumption is only 6.5 kg per head.
You may not know it, but you are addicted to sugar. A study in 2007 showed that sugar is more addictive than cocaine: the more you eat, the more you want to eat. Food manufacturers know this, which is why they have doubled the added sugars in processed foods in the last 30 years.
Weaning yourself off sugar
Clearly, to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle you’ll need to cut out the sugar. How you do that is the trick we all need to learn. Some would say simply cutting out all sugars immediately is the answer, but only a few people manage this trick. Cold turkey is not easy.
More successful is to tackle your secret sugar addiction slowly but surely.
Your secret sugar intake
We all have favourite foods, but don’t realise just how much sugar we’re ingesting. It’s recommended that an adult should only consume 12 teaspoons of sugar per day, yet a single tin of beans contains the equivalent to 4 teaspoons. If you enjoy peanut butter on toast, a single slice is nearly 20% of your daily sugar intake.
Even the foodstuffs we are told are good for us – especially when we’re trying to lose weight – contain huge amounts of sugar. For example, fruit juice contains the same amount of sugar as Coca-Cola, canned vegetables and soup are high in sugar, and low fat yoghurts, too.
Avoid sugar and cook at home
The best way to cut down on your sugar intake is to cook your food fresh at home. Using Stevia or Xylitol as a sugar substitute is a great way to ensure your home cooking tastes great yet doesn’t have any unnecessary sugar, calories, or carbohydrates. Just because your food doesn’t contain copious amounts of sugar, and is made with a natural sugar substance, doesn’t mean you’ll need to forego on taste. We post recipes for all occasions, whether a special treat, Christmas, or an ordinary lunch or snack.
