Sugars: Become an Expert Sugar Detective

The media has been full of articles about the massive amount of sugar that children and adults are consuming. Most of this added sugar consumed comes from sweetened beverages -- soft drinks, energy drinks, bottled green tea and ice tea, sweetened bottled water, and water with added vitamins. Special coffee drinks such as lattes, iced cappuccinos are full of sugar. Shocking Amounts of Sugar The American Heart Association (in a survey conducted between 2001-2004 -- Added Sugar in the Diet) concluded that on average, Americans were consuming 22 teaspoons of sugar per day.  I suspect that it is much higher today. A more recent report by Statistics Canada (2011) -- Sugar Consumption among Canadian of all ages, concluded that adults and teenagers consume on average 26 teaspoons per day. In a recent YouTube video, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth," by Robert Lustig, M.D., reinforces our understanding of the toxicity of added sugars in our diets. The recent documentary film Fed Up is a must-see film about the food industry and the sugar in our foods. All this excess sugar is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic, which, as you know, is a leading cause of diabetes, heart disease and various cancers. Be Mindful, Read Labels, and Pay Attention to Sugars Interpreting food labels is not always easy, but one simple tool will suddenly make grams of sugar more meaningful and will probably shock you. The simple tool:  4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar Beverages How much sugar in...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news