FOOD for THOUGHT: Everything in Moderation – Especially Sugars

(Dietary changes should be discussed with a health care provider.)

How did your veggie adventure go?  Please share your experiences, surprises and favorites.  Try to keep up the new vegetable frontier exploration through the summer to mid fall while there are so many fresh choices in season, and try to keep eating the rainbow all winter.  Now that we have increased something of which we weren’t eating enough, lets balance things out by decreasing something of which we consume too much.  You’ve probably already guessed where we’re headed.  Because life is so sweet this one’s a multi part-er (though the parts will not necessarily be consecutive).  PART I: Become a sugar sleuth.

Life is short; enjoy dessert on occasion.  A little sugar never killed anyone; however, a little + a little + a little + a little adds up to a lot, and a lot of sugar causes other health problems, that do kill a lot of people – every day.  So, if you are going to have your cake, make sure that you have not already eaten a dessert’s worth of sugar in your meal too.  Sugar gets added to just about everything these days – not just desserts, junk foods and sweet snacks.  You might be surprised how quickly added sugar adds up.  This week’s example was originally geared toward parents, but I think it does a sweet job of making the point:

Hypothetical, seemingly healthy brown bag or picnic lunch:

NATURALLY Occuring Sugar in NO Sugar ADDED Version

(Units: grams per serving)

Sugar Not Uncommonly Found in SWEETENED Versions

(Units: grams per serving)

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends an upper limit intake of added sugars of 36 g for men, 20 g for women and grams ranging in the teens for school aged children.  If you don’t pay attention, this lunch can exceed the day’s upper limit for a GROWN MAN.  Even without chocolate milk (16 added g of sugar), it can easily exceed the WHOLE DAY’S allowance for children, and this is JUST LUNCH.

CHALLENGE #3 of 50:

Take two or three days and keep track of how much added sugar is in your breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner and dessert per day – don’t forget beverages, sauces and condiments.  Decide on which things you are willing to use up your sugar allowance in order to have them on the sweeter side and decide which other things you are willing to give up the sugar in in order to afford those choices.

FYI: A teaspoon full of sugar weighs a little over 4 grams.  It may help the medicine go down now, but it may also cause you to need medicine for some much more serious conditions later.

PS Please don't take this as encouragement to buy things sweetened with fake sweeteners.  (We will discuss those later.)  Lets just try to Lower the sweet taste threshhold altogether.

FUN TASK: Everyone loves a quick quiz.  Take this one and see how high your sugar awareness score is.  On this list of foods that you would NOT expect to contain ADDED SUGAR, check off all the foods that OFTEN DO:

Apple Sauce

Bread

Canned Corn

Canned Vegetables

Diet Foods

Dried Fruit

Frozen Veggies with Herb Flavors or Sauce Pouches

Guacamole (especially at restaurants)

“Healthy” pre-made main dishes

Hot Dogs

Instant Mashed Potatoes

Juice

Low Fat Versions of Most Foods

Marinades

McDonalds (all but 4 foods; all foods if you use the accompanying dressing or dip)

Oatmeal

Peanut Butter

Salad Dressings

Salty Snacks (Chips & even Nuts)

Sandwich Meats

Savory Sauces

Seasoning/Herb Packets (for flavored rice, pasta or vegetables)

Soup

Soy Milk

Sport Drinks

Taco Kits

Tea (bought as a liquid drink)

Tomato Sauce

The more items you checked, the higher your score, if you checked everything on the list, congratulations, you are very sugar aware.

QUOTE of the WEEK:

Man may be the captain of his fate, but is also the victim of his blood sugar.

Wilfrid G. Oakley