Posted on April 21, 2009 in Latest News
Added sugars are the refined sugars which are added to foods or beverages during preparation or processing. While naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, milk etc. are healthy, added sugars can increase your daily calorie intake and may keep you from being fit and healthy. In fact, unknowingly , you can consume high amount of added sugars in your daily diet in the form of soft drinks, cakes, cookies, biscuits, desserts etc.
Why Should You Limit Added Sugars?
Added sugars have ‘empty calories’ or contain no nutrients, unlike naturally occuring sugars in fruits and vegetables. Moreover, added sugars do not give us a feeling of fullness even though they are high in calories. This makes people to consume excess calories without realizing it.
Consuming excessive added sugars primarily causes obesity, due to increased calorie intake. This may even negate your efforts on the treadmill, cycle etc. High amount of added sugars in diet also causes type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and certain cancers
Forms of Added Sugars:
There are several forms of added sugars and food products list the sugar forms on the food label. Few forms of added sugars are corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, honey, brown sugars, syrup, molasses etc.
Recommended Amount of Added Sugar in Your Diet:
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting your added sugars to 6-10% of your daily calorie intake. For a 2000 calorie diet, you can have up to 30 gm of added sugars a day. (A teaspoon contains about 4 gm of sugar). Hence, count the calories when you would like to have a soft drink or a coffee.
How to Limit Added Sugars?
Here are few tips to limit added sugars:
- Decrease the amount of sugar you add in drinks
- Read the labels to know the amount of sugar in the food products.
- Instead of consuming sugary snacks such as cookies, desserts etc. have fresh fruits
- Switch to low-fat milk, water instead of soft drinks
- Try artificial sweeteners, but avoid consuming more of it
Added sugars not only increase your calories but can keep your from being fit. Reducing them will help you to be healthy and have a proper diet. Hence, make sure you limit your daily added sugar intake
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