We consume sugar in more ways than just foods that we think of as “sweets.” We know that soda, candy bars and cake are made of sugar. We know that these are treats, these are things we don’t eat on a regular basis. These things are obviously low in nutritional value. But in today’s world many foods that are marketed to families and even directly to children are deceptively loaded with hidden sugars.
With this huge amount of sugar hiding in foods we commonly eat every day it is no wonder that so many of us are addicted to sugar.
The first step to tackle an addiction to sugar
The first step is simple yet cannot be emphasized enough. You must raise your OWN awareness of how much sugar you are consuming each meal or snack.
1. Look for SUGAR on the label and IGNORE all the other information there for now
2. Do some mental math…add up the grams in all the items you’ll be consuming for breakfast or a snack, in total
Did you know?
a teaspoon of sugar is 4.2 grams!
So if something contains 20 grams of sugar that is almost 5 TEASPOONS of sugar in that one serving! And pay attention to serving size. How many times do you actually drink just the 8 oz of orange juice?
What does this mean? How can we give ourselves a sugar reality check?
Back in the day when our grandparents were eating mostly whole foods and before packaged foods became the norm, their average sugar consumption was between 9-20 grams each day. Now the average American is averaging somewhere between 50 to 80 and 120 grams of sugar EVERY DAY. By comparison this is about 12 or 13 times our Grandparents consumption! And much of this is by accident. We’re consuming most of our sugar first from drinks {juices as well as the commonly known culprit soda and fancy coffees} and secondly, from hidden sugars in our foods.
{Have you noticed that diet mayonnaise, diet salad dressings and even spaghetti sauce has SUGAR as an added ingredient? It pays to read ALL labels to discover all the hidden sugar sneaking into our foods!)
No wonder we are sicker and struggling with so much chronic illness today! Sugar causes inflammation and wears down our immune system. The most current research even points to inflammation as the basis for most of our serious and troubling diseases including cancer, heart disease and even dementia & Alzheimer’s.
Before you panic that you no longer get to enjoy food…take it just one step at a time!
Start breaking up with our addiction to sugar
Today you’ve made a great start at becoming aware of how much sugar you and your family are consuming each day. You’re empowered to read labels and add up the math, along with a reality check about how things have changed in just a couple generations…since our Grandparent’s time.
Here’s a helpful tool to start tracking your sugar grams…
Download your own copy of the PDF by clicking on the picture! Track for 5 days and see what you find – then you can start reducing the sugar-laden foods where you see trends.
