With Diabetes too much added Sugar can be DEADLY!
Why is added sugar specifically dangerous for people with diabetes?
Heart disease is the number one killer for people with diabetes. Studies show that extra-added sugar can increase the risk of dying from
Heart disease.
Over the course of the 15-year study on added sugar and heart disease, participants who took in 25% or more of their daily calories as sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as those whose diets included less than 10% added sugar. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/eating-too-much-added-sugar-increases-the-risk-of-dying-with-heart-disease-201402067021
What is added sugar?
Per USDA, www.choosemyplate.gov,”added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in milk and fruits.”
Sugar is everywhere!
It is difficult to get away from it. No wonder it is tough to break away from it. I remember I wanted to clean up my diet and go without any added sugar for 12 weeks. Let me tell you, that was a challenge. Reading the food labels ingredients I often saw sugar in the ingredients. Not only did I need to look if there was cane sugar in there, which most of us think of when we think of sugar, but there are many different names for sugar. Added sugar is hiding in 74% of packaged foods. http://sugarscience.ucsf.edu.
There are more names for added sugar but these are the most common.
Where Does Added Sugar come from?
Source: CDC, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–06.
Soda/energy/sports drinks42.2%Grain-based desserts11.9%Fruit drinks8.5%Dairy desserts5.5%Candy5.0%Ready-to-eat cereals2.9%Sugars/honey4.1%Tea3.8%Yeast breads2.3%Syrups/toppings1.4%
How much sugar should we get a day?
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting calories from added sugars to no more than 10% each day. That’s 200 calories, or about 12 teaspoons, for a 2,000-calorie diet.
More specifically, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are: Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons), Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).
Think of it this way. Every ounce of regular pop has about 1 teaspoon of sugar. If drinking a regular 12 oz. soda there is over 10 grams of added sugar, far bypassing the amount in teaspoons a person should ideally have a day per AHA standards.
The average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every day.
It may be difficult to determine added sugars. “On May 20, 2016, the FDA announced the new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect new scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.”https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm385663.htm?utm_source=msn
Sugar on the food label now is all combined- natural and added sugar-Added sugar (such as from dextrose- cane sugar) and from natural sugar (such as the sugar from milk and fruit).
Currently there are many products with the new food label. All companies need to comply with the new Nutrition label as of January 1, 2021. There are many more improvements to the Nutritional facts food label including addition of added sugar.
What can you do?
Three steps to reduce the amount of added sugar in your meal plan:
Restrict your sweet intake during the week. As Michael Pollen suggests in the book, Food Rules, Eat sweets on S days only. They are Saturday, Sunday and special occasions.
Do not drink beverages with added sugar which includes regular soda (Coke/Pepsi/Mountain Dew) or any other sugar sweetened beverages (Iced tea, lemonade, etc.) Good idea also to avoid juice. (Eat the whole fruit instead).
To reduce your overall consumption of added sugar, Read the food ingredients of the food label and look for the word sugar or other names of sugar. Look at comparable products when shopping. Choose the product that has no added sugar.
The more sugar you have, the more you will want. Besides increase risk for heart disease sugar, has no nutritional value and it is a big risk factor for weight gain. Try cutting out all added sugar for 1 week. I bet you will lose weight!
Let me know if you tried the no added sugar for 1-week challenge. You can do this!