Part II of The Not So Sweet Side of Sugars!

Part I of The Not So Sweet Side of Sugars centered on the American Heart Association's recent recommendations of added sugars.  The guideline suggested that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (about 25 grams) of added sugars a day and no more than 9 teaspoons (about 37.5 grams) of added sugars daily for men.

I also posted a video clip from the Dr. Oz show on my previous post.  Since I would like to stay in that recommended guideline, I have begun to look at the labels on the products I consume on a daily or weekly basis.  You may wish to do the same when you have the time.  I no longer use white sugar but I do sprinkle brown sugar about a teaspoon or less on my sweet potato.  I use one teaspoon of honey on my half English Muffin.  I would like to use more honey in items where I use artificial sweetners.  I want to look into the new product "Stevia".   These are two areas that I can work on in the future.  There is so much to be said about "substitution" in the quest of building a healthy overall eating plan.  We just have to keep working on it little by little.  Small changes here or there add up to huge differences over time. It's the same with exercise.

Here's why eating too much sugar matters and why we must pay attention.  The American Heart Association says that a high intake of added sugars is implicated in numerous poor health conditions, including
obesity, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. 

They further state that added sugars and solid fats in food, as well as alcoholic beverages are categorized as "discretionary calories" and should be eaten sparingly.  Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one source of added sugars in the American diet.

I went grocery shopping yesterday and our store, like many, has certain items upfront on sale as you walk in just to make you stop and check them out.  I'm a sucker of course and I stopped, as always, to check out some of the items.  I picked up an innocent looking six pack of apple sauce with cinnamon.  I thought that would be a great addition to my area of healthy snacks.  Since I had the recent recommendations concerning the added sugars from the American Heart Association on my mind, I decided to check out the sugar content on the label.  You are not going to believe what it was for one serving of that apple sauce.  Remember, as women, we're supposed to have 6 teaspoons or 25 grams of added sugar a day.  This one small serving contained 26 grams of sugar!  That's why "Ignorance is Bliss."  If you don't educate yourself, you have no idea what could hurt you in the long run.  I know this, because this is exactly how I got fat and stayed fat over the course of two decades.  I do want this knowledge now and I want to take responsibility for knowing my overall limits because I never want to be in that seemingly helpless situation again.  I now have the knowledge and you do too!

Can you believe 26 grams!  I couldn't.  That one little container of hidden sugars was already over my suggested daily limit.

So, this made me want to check out other areas of hidden sugars in many of the items I eat on a daily or weekly basis.  Check out these everyday seemingly low sugared items.  Some of them are fairly low but in some cases, you wouldn't even think that sugar would be in the item.  That's the tricky part for most of us.

Barbecue Sauce:  2 Tablespoons = 12 grams
Reduced Wheat Thins: 16 crackers = 4 grams
Ketuchup: 1 Tablespoon  = 4 grams
Healthy Bran Cereal: 3/4 of a cup - 5 grams
Pork & Beans:  1/2 cup = 12 grams
Organic Animal Crackers: 13 crackers - 6 grams
Ken's Lite Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette:  2 Tablespoons = 7 grams
Edy's Fruit Bars (Splenda added) (no sugar added) 1single type bar = 1 gram
Edy's All Natural Fruit Bar (double the size of single bar) = 20 grams
Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter Creamy: 2 Tablespoons = 1 gram

Remember what many experts state about low fat products?  They said to watch out for them because they may lower the fat but they may also up the sugar to make it palatable.  Check out the low content of sugar in Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter; that's a great example of a low amount of sugar in a natural product.

I don't believe in an all or nothing attitude. I like sugar.  I don't wish to banish any one thing from my eating pattern since I do eat healthfully 95% of the time.  I do believe in possessing the knowledge and taking responsibility for staying within my limits as recommended by highly regarded associations such as the American Heart Association.

Most of us know all of these things are true. Sharon and I wrote "Tame Your Inner Octopus" after we, as baby boomers lost every pound we had put on over the course of a few decades. We wrote the book so that people our age as well as people younger or older could benefit from a book based on knowledge, experience, compassion and understanding that takes you by the hand and shows you exactly how to set up a healthy eating and exercise patterns for life.

We couldn't find one such book with all of the information we so greatly needed. After we achieved our goals, we took all of our research and experience and wrote it down to benefit millions of others who greatly wish to do the same.

It is never too early or too late to set up a healthy eating pattern for life.  Sharon and I are proof that you can turn your life around at any time and construct a healthy eating and fitness pattern for life.  It is all in our forthcoming book, It's Never Too Early or Too Late to Lose Weight and Get Fit!  "Tame Your Inner Octopus!" In 30 days or Less! 

Have a great day!