The Evils Of Sugar

There are lots of traps out there for those of us trying to substitute junk food with ‘healthy’ food.

I’m not talking about simply cutting out junk and eating natural , raw, unprocessed goodness, I’m talking about food products labelled as healthy.

Here’s an example.

A couple of weeks ago I reached my 3pm snack attack and retrieved my Ski D’lite yoghurt from the fridge. I felt strong, I felt focused, I felt good about making a good choice; until I checked out the nutritional info to see just how good I was being – turns out, not very.

This little pot of silky yummy fruitiness was packed, yes PACKED with sugar, twenty-seven grams of it to be precise.

But, it’s a diet yogurt?

It’s a healthy food.

I can’t have twenty-seven grams of sugar in a single tiny pot, that’d blow my sugar allowance for the day by almost double.

So, I swung into reconnaissance action.

I stood in the kitchen and read the back of each chocolate bar that were in the communal snack box.

Mars Bar – 30 grams of sugar.

Crunchie – 30 grams of sugar.

Snickers (which I remember as Marathon Bars from 1980’s England) – 26.8 grams of sugar

My healthy pot of yogurt had more sugar than a snickers bar.

In saying that, obviously the yogurt would be lower in fat and other naughtiness, but, the percentage of trans fats to good fats was still high.

The sad thing is, I found the same in supermarkets. Healthy foods, low fat foods, they’re all packed with either sugars or salt to enhance the flavour. High quantities of either of these things is bad for you, and inhibits weight control and weight loss. Even fruit, as natural as it is, is packed with sugar – yes it’s naturally occurring sugar, but it’s sugars all the same.

Now I’m not trying to scare people off fruit, god no, but they vary in sugar levels – the humble banana is one of the worst culprits, with berries being among those best for us (plus they have antioxidants).

But, why am I so focused on sugars and not fats? Or overall calories?

Well, I am, I do care about those things and I do make an effort to be aware of them, but sugar, and variants of sugar are rife within the food industry – and they can stop you feeling full, perpetuating binge eating of the very products designed to make you think they’re healthy.

I read an extremely well written and thought provoking article that I think about on most of my trips to the supermarket. Why Our FoodIs Making Us Fat is, in my opinion, an article everyone should read. It’s quite informative, and will certainly have you thinking twice before stocking up on lean cuisines and low fat biscuits.

I think the key to eating healthily and making better choices is awareness and education. There are some people out there who go to extremes in terms of their diets, and I’m not condoning that – but moderation and information are so powerful, and empowering.

Until Next Time

Mz Clarie

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