More About Sugar

In the last weeks, sugar has caught my attention and what I notice is most people don't realise that they actually consume lots of sugar everyday. I see many commercials who claim as healthy products and people just buy them without think further. For example, there's yoghurt commercial says it is good for your digestion. What it doesn't tell you is the yoghurt product contains bunch of added sugar. Sad to see that many people think they are eating something healthy but it's not.

Also, when you stress or tired you crave more for something sweet.

There are many types of sugars, some are added to foods and some occur naturally such as in fruits and milks. The main difference between added sugars and natural sugars are in the nutrient value. Natural sugars tend to be high nutrient and low calories, while processed foods or drinks are the largest sources for high calories and low nutrients.

So, how much sugar do you need in a day? Unfortunetely no recommendations have been made for total sugar intake in a day, therefore there is no daily reference value ( % Daily Value ).

If you are trying decrease your sugar intake, your focus should be in added sugars. These sugars are mainly found in processed foods and drinks such as candy, soda, cakes and, flavoured yoghurt, pastries, jam, canned fruit, even sport drinks.

Oh yeah, don't trap yourself with label "low fat", " fat free" or whatever, because they tend to be high in sugar as well.

Here are the tips that I've done and might work for you :

• Go natural with your meal or drink. Try to enjoy different taste instead of sweet.
  
• Read food labels. This is a must, at the end I usually put the food/drink back to the rack and go back to the fruit stalls.
  
• Drink water instead of sweetened juice,tea , juice or something like that.


• Choose plain yoghurt and mix with fresh fruits instead processed fruit yoghurt.


• Since I'm a commuter and often stuck in traffic, I always keep healthful snack like strawberries and nuts.
  
• Spare your time to prepare your own food.

Anyway, after reading this post, please don't make sugar as your enemy. Consume sugar moderately and sensibly and read the labels are the important key.