Healthy Eating… Added Sugars are your worst enemy…

Hello and welcome I am going to republish/update a selection of my Healthy Eating posts some of you may have already seen them before but for my new followers or if you want to recap… I hope you enjoy them… the aim of these Tuesday posts is to help you make the right choices for a healthy diet and a body that is a healthy weight that can also fight or help keep many diseases and illnesses at bay naturally.

One that has a healthy immune system however that doesn’t mean eating foods that taste like cardboard and it doesn’t mean never ever letting that piece of cake or chocolate ever past your lips again it means learning what food you need to be healthy and knowing that you can have the occasional treat …

It is about moderation, about enjoying those 2 squares of chocolate even more than when you demolished a whole bar and then felt guilty about eating it, so almost certainly you then starved yourself or ate those cardboard things called rice cakes for two days…I mean how tasteless are they???

But is that good for you?… Certainly not…

SUGAR…..Do we need it?

 

Yes…Your body does need carbohydrates, which are broken down into sugar in your body. This sugar is essential for your body to create energy to survive. However, it is not necessary to include sugary foods or added sugars in the diet in order for your body to make energy.

If we know our sugars and know how much we should be consuming in a day then that is the first step.

UK NHS guidelines:

  • Adults should have no more than 30 gm of free sugars a day, (roughly equivalent to seven sugar cubes).
  • Children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than 24 gm of free sugars a day (six sugar cubes).
  • Children aged 4 to 6 should have no more than 19 gm of free sugars a day (five sugar cubes).
  • There is no guideline limit for children under the age of 4, but it’s recommended they avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and food with sugar added to it.

Free sugars are found in foods such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and some fizzy drinks and juice drinks. These are the sugary foods we should cut down on.

It is not referring to the sugars which are naturally occurring in foods although some foods do have a naturally occurring high amount of sugar so it is knowing which food you can eat almost as you like although that word which I love does creep in here…Moderation!

But… eating a sensible amount as many foods with naturally occurring sugar are also packed with lots of fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Therefore it makes sense to know your foods…Know which ones are high in sugar and which ones are lower in sugars…It means reading the ingredients on the packet and if sugar is in the first three ingredients then put it back!

 

Manufacturers I just love to hate are sneaky people and love to fool us… So if you see a label and don’t see the word sugar DO NOT think it is sugarless because those sneaky manufacturers have used another word like simple carbohydrates, honey, rice syrup, organic dehydrated cane juice, agave nectar, barley malt syrup, corn sweetener, fructose, invert sugar, high fructose corn syrup and it goes on… PLEASE check those labels carefully.

It is knowing what you can substitute for those high in sugar foods… It means making an informed decision about the food YOU eat and feed YOUR family.

You can still eat great food, tasty food so don’t think you are going to be deprived …You won’t..

I am now going to give you a little list of foods which are high in sugar and foods which are lower and also some suggestions as to an alternative…A healthier alternative.

Foods High in Sugars.

Cereal, Cereal Bars, Ketchup, Sauces, Flavoured teas, Fruit Juices, Soda’s, Flavoured yoghurt, Dried fruits… I think by now you should have got the gist… These are all processed foods…

Now just looking at that list what small adjustments can you make or do you make already??

Porridge Oats.

 

 

I love porridge oats..although I haven’t eaten it in a while with some homemade fruit compote or just fresh fruit, a lovely breakfast will keep you going until lunchtime.

Muesli

Honestly not for me..maybe if I made it…No…I have never been a fan but I know many people who just love it! ( At least) I am honest…lol

Shredded Wheat

Now, who can eat two shredded wheat???

Bran flakes

These I do like with a sliced banana…very nice.

Cereal bars…again why would you? But no accounting for taste and many of my friends and family love them…Check the labels.

It is as I have always said it is about eating the food …You like!

Ketchup…Homemade ketchup is far better and also less sugar.

Sauces… Sauces come in jars and packets and almost certainly are packed full of preservatives, salt and sugar…What can I say I have always made my own gravy and sauces…even if you just use the meat juices in the pan and add a dash of wine …

I have six children all grown up now but with me and hubby that was 8 to feed and that was without the kid’s friends …etc, etc…To buy packets and jars I would have needed a trolley just for that for a month… No brainer I made my own … It is amazing what spurs you on to do that…Isn’t it???

Fruit Juice…

Again with all my lot …I learnt to buy fruit in season, make juice and top it up with sparkling water…I will also add that was a treat… Water was the drink of choice …Pure and simple…WATER!

Sodas…

I was a mean mum… Soda’s were a treat at Christmas…

Now I know how much sugar is in them… 39.2 grams of sugar per serving, which is almost 10 teaspoons of sugar… I don’t feel mean at all…

Flavoured yoghurt.

A quick tip: Natural or plain full-fat yoghurt will contain about 4.7g of sugar per 100 gm, but this is lactose, not fructose. Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar in dairy and doesn’t affect the body in the same way that fructose does.

Some fruit flavoured yoghurt has as much as the equivalent of 7 tsp of sugar…

From where I am standing you would only need a can of soda pop or a pot of yoghurt and you would be over your recommended daily guidelines.

Buy natural or Greek yoghurt or make your own …I think Yoghurt needs to be a separate post…Don’t you??

Fresh Fruit…Who doesn’t love fresh fruit there is so much choice and it is a good choice but fruit also has sugar and although it is naturally occurring sugar some fruits are better than others.

Dried fried has a higher concentration of sugar but eaten in moderation it is also high in fibre and vitamins so when choosing also look at that…

Which fresh fruits have the highest amount of sugar??

Grapes, lychee, Figs, Mango, Cherries which are all fruits I love but I still eat them just apply some common sense and although I love figs and they are high in sugar I couldn’t or wouldn’t eat that many anyway… They also have a laxative effect.

A few of each…I could just dive in now.

 

Olives( Yes) it is a fruit, avocado, rhubarb, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi are all fruits which are lower in sugar and all fruits which I absolutely love…

 

That’s all for this week’s healthy eating… I do hope you have enjoyed it I am looking forward to your comments  ….Thanks, Carol xxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

67 thoughts on “Healthy Eating… Added Sugars are your worst enemy…”

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  5. allysnotebook

    Thanks Carol for another excellent post. I do love my rolled oats with Blueberries or Apple and a drizzle of honey. I agree with you about cardboard rice cakes 😂. It doesn’t take much to exceed the recommended daily amount of free sugars. Xx

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Nice to see you here, Ally and yes the sugar soon mounts up…I love blueberries but as they don’t grow here they are a rare treat an expensive one plus the carbon footprint…sigh xx

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      4. CarolCooks2 Post author

        I think we have , Jim my neighbour has just given us some of his lovely mangoes his first crop of the year and they are beautiful …Enjoy your blueberries 🙂 x

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Sowmya

    Great post on healthy eating Carol. Totally agree that a lot of packed foods have high sugar content that people are not aware of. Its all hidden in the additives and the manufacturers do not list them.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. OIKOS™-Editorial

    I think the UK is really having a fundamentally healthy breakfast with porridge. It is always smiled at here, but it is the best thing I know personally. Otherwise I have only been paying attention to the type of sugar I eat, for a good five years. But it also helps with holding the weight. :-)) Thank you for the information, Carol! Enjoy a beautiful week! Michael

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. Joëlle

    Hi Carol!
    Any -ose ending word (such as glucose, fructose, dextrose…) means sugar. Besides, sulfites are sometimes used to kill bacteria when manufacturing these sugars. My husband has become sulfite intolerant as a result of his ingesting this sort of product, which has led me to completely banish them from my table!
    Thank you for an informative post. Let’s spread the word!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      Thank you very much Dolly…I hope you get a few more visits to your blog and maybe sell book or two I will be including some of your other tofu recipes and maybe you would like to give a little talk about Tofu on my blog…Let me know 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Carol Post author

        That would be great as I really as you know don’t use tofu so know little about it but I know many do and I am sort of interested to try it…I am wavering now …lol..Instead of just saying no to it…I think you would be a good choice to encourage trying tofu and I need to offer all choices not just mine to my readers 🙂 x

        Liked by 1 person

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  29. Doctor Jonathan

    I would phrase it, “ADDED sugar” is your enemy” (if we’re going to assign the title “enemy” to a processed substance.) Although I agree with you when you use the term “moderation” as an acceptable frequency and quantity, most people do not have a clear understanding on how to IMPLEMENT this concept. Education is VITAL for the average consumer even though they don’t realize just how important nutrition is (as a component) in achieving and maintaining quality health. Hopefully, your readers open their eyes and minds to this reality and discover the true benefits!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Carol Post author

      Thank you for that Dr J..I will change it I should have thought more about the title..I do hope it resonates with a few as added sugar is so easy to eat/drink and quickly adds up 🙂 Thank yoy for your advice 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Carol Post author

      Ahhhh I wish I had that problem ..chocolate is a rare treat for me here…All I can suggest is break it up and have two squares a day…Maybe start having an early morning drink of Apple cider vinegar in hot water with a little honey and grated ginger it helped cure my sweet tooth…Good luck I hope my posts help you somewhat 🙂 x

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    1. Carol Post author

      Thank you, Teagan our season for strawberries is coming to an end unfortunately..Enjoy yours when it starts I love the small strawberries the best the flavour is awesome…Have a brilliant Wednesday 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

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