So, I was reading SELF and I think this is some valid information to share with you all....The subject is sugar. Sugar can be in alot of places we do not even notice and it can have many code names...."Since 1970, the amount of sugar in processed foods has nearly doubled, largely because sugar is cheap and readily available. Today it's pumped into pretty much everything to make food products more enticing—even ones that are already sweet, such as fruit juice. As a result, the average American gobbles up 43,800 more calories from added sugar (meaning sweeteners, like high fructose corn syrup and honey, that are added to packaged foods) per year than we did in 1977."
Trouble is, our body isn't equipped to handle this amount. If a woman's intake of added sugars increases by more than 20 percent, her body-mass index rises 2 to 3 points, which is enough to shift from the normal weight to the overweight category or from overweight to obese, a 27-year study from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has found. Research has also linked increased sugar consumption to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome. Though you want to strive to cut out sugar completely it is nearly impossible and not necessary. Just keep your sugar intake to a minimum and try to curb those cravings. Instead of reaching for that chocolate candy bar settle for something a little more healthy like a granola bar with chocolate chips in it...
Another article related goes on to talk about "how much sugar is too much?" .....
It's complicated. To function, our body relies on natural sugar in vegetables and carbs (glucose) and dairy products (lactose, which converts to glucose as it's digested). Glucose is the body's main fuel source and the brain's only one. As for the sugar in fruit, "the body uses fructose only in energy crises—like running a marathon," says Robert Lustig, M.D., a spokesman for the Endocrine Society. "It's really nature's way of tempting you to eat fruit to get the nutrients." The liver can easily dispose of such a small amount. (An apple has 11 grams.)
Added sugars are the issue: Most consist of about half glucose, half fructose: Table sugar is 50-50; high fructose corn syrup is 45-55. Both glucose and fructose get turned into fat when we eat too much of them. (This is also true of natural sugars in healthful foods like fruit, but would you ever scarf five apples in one sitting?) Excess glucose can up your risk for hypertension and metabolic syndrome; and when the liver can't handle more fructose, the remainder converts to triglycerides, a type of fat that can build up around organs. "This prevents the liver from processing insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, so your pancreas makes more," Dr. Lustig says. "High levels can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes."
The USDA groups together added sugar and solid fats such as butter (both have empty calories) and advises you to get less than 15 percent of your daily calories from them. The experts SELF polled say to aim for less than 10 percent of calories from added sugar. If you're eating 1,800 calories, that's 180 calories, or a can of soda and four Life Savers. Tally your splurge calories and enjoy them to your sweet tooth's content!
Stay Sweet ;)
XOXO
Jenna Lyne
