This morning GMTV featured this which I thought might be useful for those of you questioning sugar and low fat diets !!
According to Food Doctor Ian Marber many of us are unwittingly eating much more than the recommended daily amount of sugar, as a result of unclear food labelling and a general misconception about "diet" foods.
So if you're looking to shed the pounds, be wary of foods that sell themselves as "healthy" as they may contain hidden sugar.
How does sugar make you fat?
To put it simply, the body converts sugar to energy - but whatever it doesn't need is stored as fat. As a rule you should limit your sugar intake to around 6 teaspoons of sugar a day on a diet of 1,600 calories; 12 on a diet of 2,200 and 18tsp on a diet of 2,800.
Are some sugars better than others?
Not really - all sugar (white, brown, icing, maple syrup, honey, molasses etc etc) is from the same source, whichever form it comes in. So don't be fooled into thinking that raw cane sugar is better for your than the white stuff!
Sugar in disguise
The following are all terms for sugar: sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, corn syrup, sorbitol, lactose, maltose, mannitol, invert sugar, fruit juice concentrate, galactose, polydextrose, maltodextrin...
Sugar content in "healthy" foods:
low fat yoghurt: 125g pot contains 16g sugar = 4tsp
Tin of baked beans: 415g tin contains 24.8g sugar = 6tsp
Can of tomato soup: 400g tin contains 21.4g sugar = 5tsp sugar
Healthy oat bar: average 35g bar contains between 8 and 31g sugar = between 2 and 8 tsp sugar
Low-fat ...vs full-fat
Average chicken tikka masala (350g serving): 4g sugar, 25g fat
Low-fat chicken tikka masala (350g serving): 14g sugar, 8g fat
Greek-style yoghurt: (100g): 3g sugar, 11g fat
Low-fat yoghurt: (100g): 16g sugar, 2g fat
Digestive biscuits (100g): 17.8g sugar, 22.1g fat
Reduced fat digestives (100g): 20.7g sugar, 16.3g fat
Pain au chocolat breakfast pastry: (100g) 17.8g sugar, 22.9g fat
Typical "breakfast bar" (100g): 31g sugar, 8g fat
How do you work out the sugar content?
Look at the Carbohydrates column in the Nutritional Value table - it usually says "Of which sugars - Xg".
A teaspoon of sugar is roughly 4g, so if you divide X by 4, you can find how many teaspoons of sugar are in that food product. For example, a popular health bar contains 11g of sugar - so 11 divides by 4 is almost 3 teaspoons. That's nearly half the RDA for someone on a 1,600 calorie daily diet.
Syndrome X
As well as risking heart disease and obesity, many doctors are now warning of a new illness to strike those who over-indulge - Syndrome X.
Syndrome X - Metabolic Syndrome - is the name being given to a type of diabetes that affects young people who eat too much sugar.
It can lead to blindness, kidney disease and limb amputations and also causes heart disease and strokes but has few initial symptoms.
Researchers estimate that it affects about five million people in the UK, most of whom are unaware that anything is wrong.
But we can all do something about it, in my case I need to stop smoking, take 20 minutes exercise three times a week, and lose a couple of stone.
Learn more about Syndrome X - or type 2 diabetes - on the Diabetes UK website.
Tips
Don't add sugar to foods - an obvious one, but you'd be surprised what a difference it makes
Don't fall for "healthy sugars" - brown sugar, raw sugar.. it's all the same as far as your body is concerned
Beware the low-fat trap: just because a product says low-fat/healthy option/diet option/fat-free doesn't mean it's low in fat.. and your body will still store excess sugar as fat
Watch out for hidden sugars - learn the other names for sugar and read the label carefully
Add it up: divide the "total sugars" by 4 for the number of teaspoons of sugar in that product.
Then try to stick within the recommended daily amount.