Keeping an Eye Out for Added Sugars
In this day and age there are not many foods which are not processed in some way. All foods in the grocery store have been processed to some degree- though some have been processed more than others. For example, an apple at your local grocer has undergone the following processing: harvested, washed/sized/sorted, refrigerated/stored. Yes, even just an apple has been processed to some degree.
However, foods can be processed a great deal further than this, depending on the product. An example of a food which has been processed much more than an apple is ketchup. One tablespoon of the average ketchup (which is probably a lot less than I’d put on my French fries) has 3 grams of added sugar; for perspective of how much sugar that is- 4 grams of sugar is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar. And the American Heart Association’s recommendation is that men eat no more than 36 grams (9 tsp) and women eat no more than 24 grams (6 tsp) of sugar per day. It may not seem like the ketchup is breaking the daily sugar intake budget, so to speak, but when you think of that as just a condiment and consider all the other sources of added sugar for the day you may want to be more mindful and aware of where you are getting your sugar from in your daily intake and how much sugar each food item offers.
“But why does it matter how much added sugar you get in your diet”, you may be wondering. Excessive added sugars in the diet can lead to increased health risks such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
What are some sneaky sources of added sugar?
Condiments (like ketchup mentioned above), BBQ sauce, teriyaki, hoisin sauce, salad dressings
Breakfast cereals (as a rule of thumb look for breakfast cereals with 10 grams or less of added sugars)
Yogurt (try swapping out vanilla yogurt for plain yogurt and sweeten with fresh fruit or even a scoop of your favorite protein powder)
Beverages (in the place of sweetened beverages, try unsweetened teas, water, or as we do in my household replace 1/2 of your 100% juice with water)
So remember to be mindful of the added sugars in the foods you consume on a regular basis. The sugars can really add up to some major health concerns down the road!
