How much sugar should we eat?

The answer to this question is simple: much less than we are at the moment.

Research shows that people around the world are consuming more and more sugar and sugary foods. This is associated with a global increase in chronic diseases of lifestyle. And according to Discovery Vitality’s Health Active Kids South Africa report card, our kids are eating much more sugar than is good for them.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently reduced the recommended amount of sugar that adults should be eating due to the serious diseases that it is directly linked with. These include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, inflammation, dental cavities, and malnutrition because sugar does not have any nutritional value. In fact, it has been shown that people who have one or two sweetened fizzy drinks a day have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Adults should be consuming no more than 3.5 teaspoons of sugar a day; children should be eating even less.

The problem is that sugar isn’t only found in products that are obviously sweet, like chocolate and sweets. A tub of low-fat drinking yoghurt contains around six teaspoons of sugar, a medium-sized muffin has 2.5 teaspoons, a tablespoon of tomato sauce has almost two teaspoons of sugar, and a cup of muesli has more than six teaspoons of sugar. In the average day, most people eat far more sugar than they should, mostly because they are unaware for how much sugar their pre-packaged foods contain.

So what’s the solution?

Purging your diet of all that excess sugar can be quite difficult, but in the end, you’ll see and feel the benefits.

Here are some easy ways to dramatically reduce the amount of sugar in your and your kids’ diets:

• Buy fresh, whole foods like fruits and vegetables instead of pre-packaged foods.
• Instead of fruit yoghurt, choose plain, fat-free, sugar-free yoghurt.
• Avoid fizzy drinks, sports drinks, flavoured waters, iced teas, and fruit juices. These all contain lots of sugar. Opt for fat-free plain milk and plain water instead.
• Curb your craving for sweets by eating unsalted nuts or popcorn instead.
• If you feel like a healthy, sweet snack or dessert, eat a fruit. This is nature’s sweet, and even though fruits do contain sugar called fructose, they also contain lots of essential vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, so the sugar in fruit is not as bad for your health as added sugars. Choose fresh fruits for the best results.

Be rewarded for making healthy choices with Vitality

To help you stop eating too many empty calories from unhealthy added sugars, activate the Discovery Vitality HealthyFood benefit and get up to 25% cash back at Pick and Pay or Woolworths for buying HealthyFood! This benefit makes it easier to spot healthy options when you shop and also rewards you by making a healthy diet more affordable. Plus, you can earn up to 1000 Vitality points a month for buying HealthyFood and meeting your family’s nutritional needs. Activate the HealthyFood benefit here or visit www.discovery.co.za for more information.

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