EMANTHI-NEWSBLOG: HEALTH TIP

Friday, October 28, 2016

HEALTH TIP

In our modern and fast-paced lives, it can be difficult to keep a healthy balance of nutrients in our food. Sugar is one of these nutrients, and the cells in our body would die without it.
Consuming too much sugar, however, raises the risk of several problems, including poor dental health, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

To keep control of sugar levels, it helps to know just how much sugar there is in the food we eat. Here, we have listed the sugar content of numerous everyday foods, both processed and natural ones.

What is sugar?

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that belongs to a class of chemically-related sweet-flavored substances. It comes in many different forms. The three main types of sugar are sucrose, lactose, and fructose.
Even though our cells need sugar (glucose) to survive, consuming too much of it can cause numerous different health problems. Added sugar contains no beneficial nutrients and in excess only contributes to tooth decay, diabetes, and obesity.
The American Heart Association (AHA) have said that added sugars "contribute zero nutrients" and are just empty calories "that can lead to extra pounds, or even obesity, thereby reducing heart health."
Being aware of the existing and added sugar contents of the foods and drinks we consume is vital for our health - even more so today because so many products have sugar added to them.
In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published new guidelines recommending that adults and children alike reduce their consumption of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake, with further reduction to below 5% associated with additional health benefits.
The term free sugars includes to glucose, fructose and sucrose added to foods and drinks, as well as sugars naturally present in syrups, honey and fruit juice. The term does not apply to sugars found naturally in fresh fruit, vegetables or milk, as to date there is no evidence associating the consumption of these sugars with adverse effects.
A single teaspoon of sugar is around 4 grams (g). The WHO state that reducing daily sugar consumption to 5% of daily energy intake would be around 6 teaspoons of sugar.

Sugar content in common foods and drinks

To help you keep track of how much sugar you're consuming we've listed some common everyday foods and drinks, together with their sugar content. Some of these may surprise you:

How much sugar is in a chocolate bar?

With high sugar content, chocolate should always be viewed as an occasional treat.

Snickers bar (52.7g) - 6.75 teaspoons of sugar
Milk chocolate bar (44g) - 5.75 teaspoons of sugar
Milky Way bar (58g) - 8.75 teaspoons of sugar
3 Musketeers bar (60g) - 10 teaspoons of sugar
Butterfinger bar (60g) - 7 teaspoons of sugar
Dove chocolate bar (40.8g) - 5.5 teaspoons of sugar
Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar (43g) - 6 teaspoons of sugar
Twix bar (50.7g) - 6 teaspoons of sugar

In our modern and fast-paced lives, it can be difficult to keep a healthy balance of nutrients in our food. Sugar is one of these nutrients, and the cells in our body would die without it.
Consuming too much sugar, however, raises the risk of several problems, including poor dental health, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
To keep control of sugar levels, it helps to know just how much sugar there is in the food we eat. Here, we have listed the sugar content of numerous everyday foods, both processed and natural ones.