FitSugar

10 Ways to Cut Back on Sugar

FitSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:45 -0700

Americans are consuming way more sugar than they should - 22 teaspoons a day. It's clear we need to cut back, but it's hard to break old habits. The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging people to aim for no more than 100 calories of sugar a day (six teaspoons). Here are some easy things you can do to lighten up on the white stuff.

Cut back slowly. If you give up sugar cold turkey, you'll probably end up going into shock and consuming every kind of dessert you can get your hands on. So make the change to less sugar in your diet gradually.
Try to ween yourself off of the sugar you add to foods. Stir less sugar into your cup of joe and sprinkle less sugar on your cereal or oatmeal.
Choose your sugar vice for the day. If you can't live without sugar in your coffee, M&Ms after lunch, or an after dinner bowl of ice cream, then don't, but be sure to limit your sugar intake for the rest of your day. Keep in mind that one soft drink, a small candy bar, a few plain cookies, or a small portion of light ice cream or frozen yogurt is equal to 100 to 150 calories of added sugar.
Don't be fooled by natural sugars. Brown sugar, molasses, Sucanat, and turbinado sugar are still sugar.

To see the last five tips, read more.

Avoid liquid sugars. A 12-ounce can of coke contains 40 grams of sugar, and a 20-ounce bottle of Vitamin Water contains 32 grams. You'd be better off drinking plain water with lemon or lime, sparkling water, 100 percent fruit juice, milk, or tea instead.
Buy plain yogurt instead of flavored yogurt. Either sweeten it with fresh or frozen fruit, or mix half plain yogurt with half fruit yogurt.
Don't be fooled by healthier versions of treats. An oatmeal raisin cookie and strawberry ice cream are still made with sugar. So are many energy bars.
Get fruity.To satisfy your sweet tooth, choose naturally sweet foods like fruit, dried fruit such as dates or apricots, fruit smoothies, carrots, sweet potatoes, and homemade popsicles.
Check labels on fruit products. Fruit is naturally sweet enough, but some companies choose to make it sweeter by adding sugar. Choose jams and juices that are sweetened with nothing but fruit.
Check labels on other foods and look for hidden sugars. If a label says sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cane juice crystals, evaporated cane juice, dextrose, molasses, or malted barley extract, it contains sugar.

Source: Flickr User Mykl Roventine

Guess Which Contains More Sugar?

FitSugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:30:28 -0700

Many processed foods are loaded with added sugar these days. Since you want to limit your added sugar intake to 40 grams a day, it's important to know the sugar content in the foods you eat. Are you sugar savvy? Take this quiz to find out.

Question 1 of 6

Which yogurt flavor contains more sugar?

America's Sugar Lovers Need to Cut Back

FitSugar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:00:00 -0700

I have a huge sweet tooth, and it looks like I'm not alone because a new report shows that Americans are consuming tons of the white stuff - an average of 22 teaspoons a day! That's about 355 calories from sugar, which is equivalent to two cans of soda and a chocolate bar. No wonder America has an issue with obesity.

The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging people to cut way back and recommends that women get no more than six teaspoons (100 calories) of sugar a day. No, they're not talking about the natural sugars found in fruit, veggies, or dairy products. The AHA wants you to cut back on added sugars found in soda, artificially flavored fruit drinks, cookies, candy, sugary cereals, and the like.

Sometimes it's tough to tell how much of a product is natural sugars and how much is added sugars, since nutrition labels list sugars in one lump amount. So look at the ingredients and try to limit foods containing sugar, corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, molasses, or evaporated cane juice. Sugary foods don't offer you a sustained amount of energy and they also don't satisfy your hunger, so soon after eating a sweet treat, you'll find you're hungry again. That's why eating sugary foods contributes to weight gain, so if you're trying to lose weight, take a look at how much added sugar you're consuming.

Laid Out in Cubes: Sugar Alert!

FitSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Sometimes we all need a visual reference to help understand exactly how many calories we are actually eating. While the website This Is Why You're Fat has covered the territory of crazy fast food splurges, Sugar Stacks lays out the sugar content of foods in the easily identifiable measurement of sugar cubes. One sugar cube contains about a teaspoon of the sweet stuff and 11 calories. Take a gander at how much sugar is in a medium chocolate shake from McDonald's:
I particularly like the Sugar Stacks comparison of shakes, since I am on a kick about watching liquid calories, but I also appreciate the photos of the sugar cubes and sauces.

Glycemic Index: Where Do Sweeteners Fall?

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

If you don't know much about the glycemic index (GI), it could be affecting your health. The GI ranks specific carbohydrates from zero to 100, based on how they affect your blood sugar levels after eating them. Typically, eating foods that have a high GI (such as white bread and soda) causes a spike in blood sugar levels. When you consume these foods, you may feel a surge of get-up-and-go at first, but will have an energy crash soon afterward. High GI foods have also been linked to an increased risk for cancer, type 2 diabetes, acne, Alzheimer's, and weight gain. Foods that are low on the GI have been associated with feeling full, which can prevent you from overeating.

Sweeteners are a type of carbohydrate that are tough to avoid since many people crave sweet foods such as chocolate, cookies, candy, and ice cream. All these treats are made with different types of sweeteners, so when cooking or choosing foods, it's good to know how they compare. To see where different types of sweeteners fall on the glycemic scale, read more.

Sweetener	GI
Glucose	96
Fructose	22
Lactose	46
Sucrose (white sugar)	64
Brown sugar	64
Barley malt syrup	42
Brown rice syrup	25
Raw honey	30
Agave syrup	15
High fructose corn syrup	62
Stevia	less than 1
Sugar cane juice	43
Evaporated cane juice	55
Maple syrup	54
Black strap molasses	55

Sweeteners don't need to be completely avoided, though, since both the type of food and the amount you consume affect your body's glycemic response. If you know you're the kind of person who can't eat just one homemade cookie, then you may want to make them with agave syrup instead of white sugar.

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Healthy Eating Tip: Limit Your Added Sugar Intake to 40 Grams

FitSugar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:45:00 -0700

I have a huge sweet tooth, so I can relate to your cravings for cookies, chocolate, and the like. The problem is, too much sugar can lead to weight gain, metabolic disorder (a precursor of type 2 diabetes and heart disease), and possibly even certain cancers. Added sugars should make up only six to 10 percent of your daily calories. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet that adds up to between 30 and 50 grams. I'm not talking about naturally occurring sugars in fruits and veggies though. I'm talking about foods made with white sugar, so keep your intake to about 40 grams. If you're a label reader, it can be hard to discern how much of the white stuff you're getting though, since all sugars are lumped under the "sugar" category. So the best thing to do is limit the amount of foods you eat that have sugar, brown sugar, or high fructose corn syrup in the list of ingredients.

To see how many grams of sugar are in some common sweet foods read more.

Food	Amount of Sugar
Slice of chocolate cake	30 g
1 oz. Dagoba organic dark chocolate	12 g
1 chocolate chip cookie	7 g
6 Oreo cookies	20 g
1 Starbucks chocolate hazelnut biscotti	10 g
1 Krispy Kreme glazed donut	13
20 plain M&Ms	9 g
1/2 cup serving of vanilla ice cream	21 g
10 oz. Coffee with 1 packet of sugar	2.8 g
12 oz. Coca Cola	39 g
12 oz. ginger ale	32.4 g
12 oz. Sprite	38 g

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Is Agave Nectar Healthier Than Sugar?

FitSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

Natural sweeteners are gaining popularity since people are trying to avoid overly processed white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. You may have seen Truvia and PureVia on store shelves, which are both made from the stevia plant. Another plant-derived sweetener is agave nectar, which comes from the agave plant. It's sweeter than honey but not as thick in consistency.

I often use agave nectar in place of white sugar when baking. To see which one is healthier to use, read more.

	One tbsp sugar	One tbsp. agave nectar
Calories	46	60
Total Fat	0	0
Carbs	12	16
Fiber	0	1
Sugar	12	15
Protein	0	0

While it may seem that sugar contains less calories, carbs, and sugars, agave nectar is sweeter than granulated sugar, so you end up using less - about 40 percent less. Not only that, but agave nectar has a lower glycemic index (GI) rating, which means it won't cause a spike in your blood sugar levels the way sugar does. High-GI foods like white sugar tend to make us feel hungry sooner since they are digested quickly. So foods made with agave nectar may keep you feeling fuller longer than foods made with the white stuff, which translates to eating less. Also, did you see that agave nectar contains some fiber? We can always use more of that in our diets. Although both come from plants, agave nectar is less processed and closer to nature, so for all these reasons, you can feel good about using it in place of sugar. But beware: you'll need to fiddle with recipes when baking with agave nectar, since it is a liquid and not a dry ingredient like sugar.

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Do Take Your Coffee With Sugar?

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0700

When I was working on losing my baby weight I learned to live without a few things. One of those things was sugar in my coffee. When I was able to get back on the bean post-breastfeeding, I learned to love my coffee without adding any sweetener. I heated up the milk and started to drink my coffee cafe-au-lait style.

This habit hasn't gone away since I think of it as a great way to save calories. I'm wondering: how do you take your coffee?

Fittingly Mad: "Natural" Foods That Really Aren't

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:30:00 -0700

Starting this month, Pepsi is rolling out a new drink called Pepsi Natural that's made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The soda company is touting the drink's "all-natural ingredients," including natural caramel and kola nut extract; the glass bottles will even be stocked in natural foods aisles.

Despite the ads from the Corn Refiners Association trying to position HFCS as a "sweet surprise," the New York Times reports that more and more brands are using real sugar as a selling point. Other examples include Pizza's Hut's The Natural pizza, with a crust made with honey, and Healthy Choice All Natural frozen entrees. Both claim to be free of preservatives, but how do we really know what "all natural" means? (Not to mention, it makes me wonder how unnatural Pizza Hut and Pepsi's other products must be.) For my two cents, read more.

In this photo I found on Keacher.com of Pepsi Natural's ingredient list, it appears that the soda also contains "caramel color" and "natural flavor," two vague terms that I'd bet aren't natural at all, and whether it's made from sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, soda still isn't good for you. In the NYT story, Pat Crawford of UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health, points out that it used to be sugar that was demonized:

Even though overall consumption of caloric sweeteners is starting to drop, Dr. Crawford says an empty calorie is still an empty calorie. And it does not matter whether people think sugar is somehow "retro," a word used to promote new, sugar-based versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew called Throwback.

"If people really want to go back to where we were, that means not putting sugar in everything," she said. "It means keeping it to desserts."

Well said, good doctor. Now that I'm done with my rant, tell me: What do you think of these new natural products?

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Do You Avoid White Sugar in Foods?

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Sometimes you can't avoid eating white sugar, because it's a pretty common ingredient in some healthy foods such as yogurt, cereal, and energy bars. I definitely try to look for foods that contain natural sugars though, such as fruit juice, barley malt, honey, or agave. The thing is, since I have quite a sweet tooth, some foods like ice cream and chocolate just taste better when made with real sugar, so I don't avoid the white stuff completely, I just don't overdo it. I definitely prefer white sugar over artificial sweeteners, though, and I guess many companies such as Snapple and PepsiCo feel the same. They're switching ingredients in some of their products from high fructose corn syrup back to sugar because they feel it's more "natural." So how do you feel?