When I first started my nutrition practice in 2007 a journalist asked me what type of ‘diet’ I followed.

 

I replied. The right diet for me and that’s a no added sugar diet.

 

For me.  Sugar is a roller coaster – it sends me up and down.

 

If I have added sugar every day (e.g. chocolate brownie) well honestly, over time I don’t feel very happy.

 

So how does one manage sugar?

 

Firstly, it’s impossible to be completely sugar free because sugars are in healthy foods yes that’s right.

 

Sugar is a general term for types of carbohydrates that are found in nearly all the plant foods we eat.

 

Don’t believe me?  Go and look at nutrition panel of Brazil nuts and you will see a number next to carbohydrates of which sugars per 100g.

 

The reason for this is because the human body prefers carbohydrates as an energy source.

 

Now sugar beet and sugar cane, are plants that have sugars available for extraction that we can use to add to other foods and drinks.

 

So the tip for today is to know this:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT’S A NATURAL VERSUS AN ADDED SUGAR TO THE FOOD.

e.g. Brazil nuts have natural sugar but a Brazil nut wrapped in dark chocolate has added sugar

e.g. tomato puree has natural sugars but tomato ketchup has added sugars

 

BUT when a natural food is processed without any added sugar e.g. apricots that are dried or pulped into natural apricot juice, you will get a much higher amount of natural sugars per serve than if you just ate an apricot.

 

AND it’s the effect within the body that all of the sugars (processed and unprocessed) have that is what we need to become aware of for our health.

 

Here’s a sugar beet plant:

 

 

Katie’s advice:

Let go of the belief that sugar is bad – you have to become sugar wise and understand the effect of processing and concentration on the human body 🙂

 

Eating too much added and natural sugars from processed foods won’t help you if you:

-have high body fat levels and want to lose weight

-have type 2 diabetes and want to get healthy blood glucose control

-have tendency for dental issues

-have mood swings or PMS

-have a fatty liver

-suffer with depression

 

Be respectful and eat sugar wisely.  I’ll have more blogs on label reading for spotting added or natural sugars so stay tuned 🙂

With healthy wishes,

p.s if you liked this blog post, please share it with people you know 🙂

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