Sugar everyone loves it and we actually needed is a normal part of any healthy diet or lifestyle. The unfortunate thing is that sugar is actually a silent killer which can lead to many forms of disease including obesity and diabetes.

Back in the 90s there was a big push by food manufacturers to remove fat from foods as a result of all of the research at the time which indicated that fat was the main cause of many health problems. As a result of these findings many food manufacturers decided to remove fat from the foods they processed and add more sugar.

You may not know this but one single teaspoon of sugar actually contains about 4 g of sugar. When we read the labels on the side of processed foods you will see the sugar content is usually displayed in grams this can be as much as 40 g or 10 teaspoons of sugar. Soft drinks contain very high concentrates of sugar and this has led to a growing concern at the amount of sugar that we are actually consuming.

The world health organisation recently updated its recommendations on daily sugar intake for children and adults as a result of the growing incidence ease of diabetes across the planet. In their recommendations they suggest nutritional labelling, consumer education and the regulation of marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages that a high in free sugars. There is also a growing concern about the inclusion of saturated fatty acids and trans-fatty acids in modern processed foods. Click here to read the guide.

Not all sugars at the same.

There are various forms of sugar including the ones that occur naturally in foods such as fruit. Fructose which is the sugar that is present in fruit is processed by the body differently and results in a much healthier response by the body mainly the pancreas when it comes to processing sugars. The pancreas over time can become stressed as it tries to process more and more sugar eventually leading to pancreas disease or in the worst case scenario diabetes.

Diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease that is becoming one of the biggest killers and major health problems in our modern society. Obesity often leads to diabetes. Diabetes requires a lot of self-care once it has been diagnosed and can also require self administration of insulin via means of injection. Diabetes can cause other serious conditions such as stroke, heart attack, kidney disease and limb amputation.

Prevention is better than cure.

skin-healthy-food-150x150By eating a healthy diet that consists mainly of plants and fruits you can lower your risk of developing such a serious disease like diabetes. Also reducing your sugar intake can significantly reduce the risk of developing serious health complications related to diabetes. It’s a good idea are to check the food labels and work out exactly how much sugar you are having on a daily basis. The recommendation is 10 g of sugar per day per adult. That is about to half teaspoons. And if that is not sweet enough well maybe the thought of leading a longer healthier life is!