Nutrition
Take care with your sugar intake!
Did you know?
Fruit juice can contain a similar amount of sugar per 100ml as a fizzy drink.
No one is saying never eat sugar – how dull would that be? And it appears some of us may actually have a sweet tooth gene, making it even harder to resist. But eating sugar in excess is not healthy. High sugar = 15g or more per 100g food, low sugar = 2g or less per 100g food.
Foods high in sugar can ‘displace’ more nutritious foods from your diet, and add to weight gain, leading to heart disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sugar, like salt, hides in much of the processed foods we buy, so we can consume too much without even knowing it. Another trap is the high sugar content of juices and soft drinks – often juice will have more sugar than fizzy drink - so save all these for a treat.
Tips to drop sugar intake
- Aim to keep sugary foods and drinks to a minimum.
- Cut your sticky slice in half and offer it round, or save it for the next day!
- Read food labels to find ‘hidden’ sugars.
- Choose water over juice (or dilute: 1 part juice to 10 parts water).
- Try to cut back on sugar in your tea and coffee - small steps may hurt less than cold turkey.
- Think twice before you surrender to that great ‘2 for 1' deal or ‘good value’ chocolate bar offe where you pay slightly more for a great deal more sugar, fat and kilojoules!
- Remember, high sugar = 15g or more per 100g food, low sugar = 2g or less per 100g food. (Write it down and pop it in your wallet to retrieve when you're grocery shopping, or bookmark this page on your cell phone)
- Reach for a piece of fruit first, before you open the packet of biscuits!
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