November 11, 2015
FDA Places A Cap On Daily Sugar Intake
It is no secret that health professionals have been trying to get us to kick our sugar habits for years. Added sugars carry some frightening health risks and The Food and Drug Administration has decided to put a cap on daily consumption for the first time in history! Serious business!
They recommend that Americans limit added sugar to just 10% of daily calories. For someone over the age of 3, that means just 12.5 teaspoons, or 50 grams of it a day.
Easy right? Not so much.
Sweeteners like sugar, honey and high-fructose corn syrup exist in obvious places like soda and candy but it can also pop up in places you might not expect. In fact, they can be found in a lot of healthy foods like low-fat yogurt, granola and whole grain breads. They also appear in things like ketchup, pasta sauce, canned fruit and prepared soups, salad dressings and marinades.
[bctt tweet="Added sugars are no longer something we can afford to ignore!"]
“There is a lot of hidden sugar in our food supply, and it’s not just in sweets,” said Dr. Frank Hu, a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard.
The way food labels currently read only total sugars are included. It does not distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugars. The FDA hopes to change this. “When you see a yogurt with pictures of blueberries and strawberries on the label — right now there could be a teeny tiny amount of real fruit in there and an awful lot of added sugar, or lots of fruit and dairy and little added sugar, and the consumer cannot distinguish between the two,” said Susan Mayne, the director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the F.D.A.
Many critics of this change say that new labels will confuse consumers and that overall calories are the most important thing to track since our bodies don't actually distinguish between the two sugars. And while overall calories are important, it is worth noting that added sugars are empty calories that offer no nutritional benefit. Milk and fruit contain natural sugar but they are also nutritionally dense and can provide calcium, protein, vitamins or dietary fiber.
While sugar reduction has been encouraged for some time to help with weight loss, it is now evident the it can also prevent several health risks. Most recently, a high sugar diet has been linked to an increase in cardiovascular disease related deaths. A study by Dr. Hu found that adults who consumed 25% of their calories as sugar were nearly three times more likely to die of heart disease than those who had a sugar consumption of under 10%.
It is becoming abundantly clear that we should all be at least trying to meet this recommended cap. But what exactly does 50 grams of sugar look like? If you are having a hard time picturing it, you aren't alone. Below are some images that break it down for you. The following items all contain at least 50 grams of added sugar!
Both coming in at 52 grams, it is frightening to think that you can not only meet but surpass the limit in a single beverage!
One of these healthy snacks gets you halfway to your total. What a waste! It is safer to stick to plain, Greek yougurt which has 14.5 grams of protein and just 4 grams of sugar.
Okay, so most of us don't eat 5 bowls of cereal for breakfast but one serving can contain a 5th of your recommended intake. It is also important to remember that most of us don't follow the suggested serving size either. Add in orange juice, fruit and some toast and you are taking a major sugar hit right out the gate!
Who doesn't love toast and jam or a little PB&J? But the jam will get you to the limit before you even factor in the peanut butter or bread.
This may be your post workout go to but one 32 oz bottle contains 54.4 grams of sugar which not only puts you over the limit, it can undo so much of the hard work you just did at the gym!
Who hasn't had a bad day and found themselves elbow deep in a pint of ice cream? Just a half-pint contains 52 grams of sugar and all of the FDA's recommended daily saturated fat total. A health disaster to say the least!
Most people aren't going to eat 4 donuts. But, when you consider that one donut gives you a quarter of your limit, add a coffee or some icing to that donut and it is far from a good breakfast option!
Are you willing to reconsider your sugar intake? What foods will you have to do with out or cut back on?
Source: The New York Times, Business Insider
[caption id="attachment_117241" align="alignnone" width="100"]
@BodyRockOfficial[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_117242" align="alignnone" width="100"]
@BodyRockTV[/caption]
Many critics of this change say that new labels will confuse consumers and that overall calories are the most important thing to track since our bodies don't actually distinguish between the two sugars. And while overall calories are important, it is worth noting that added sugars are empty calories that offer no nutritional benefit. Milk and fruit contain natural sugar but they are also nutritionally dense and can provide calcium, protein, vitamins or dietary fiber.
While sugar reduction has been encouraged for some time to help with weight loss, it is now evident the it can also prevent several health risks. Most recently, a high sugar diet has been linked to an increase in cardiovascular disease related deaths. A study by Dr. Hu found that adults who consumed 25% of their calories as sugar were nearly three times more likely to die of heart disease than those who had a sugar consumption of under 10%.
It is becoming abundantly clear that we should all be at least trying to meet this recommended cap. But what exactly does 50 grams of sugar look like? If you are having a hard time picturing it, you aren't alone. Below are some images that break it down for you. The following items all contain at least 50 grams of added sugar!
Both coming in at 52 grams, it is frightening to think that you can not only meet but surpass the limit in a single beverage!
One of these healthy snacks gets you halfway to your total. What a waste! It is safer to stick to plain, Greek yougurt which has 14.5 grams of protein and just 4 grams of sugar.
Okay, so most of us don't eat 5 bowls of cereal for breakfast but one serving can contain a 5th of your recommended intake. It is also important to remember that most of us don't follow the suggested serving size either. Add in orange juice, fruit and some toast and you are taking a major sugar hit right out the gate!
Who doesn't love toast and jam or a little PB&J? But the jam will get you to the limit before you even factor in the peanut butter or bread.
This may be your post workout go to but one 32 oz bottle contains 54.4 grams of sugar which not only puts you over the limit, it can undo so much of the hard work you just did at the gym!
Who hasn't had a bad day and found themselves elbow deep in a pint of ice cream? Just a half-pint contains 52 grams of sugar and all of the FDA's recommended daily saturated fat total. A health disaster to say the least!
Most people aren't going to eat 4 donuts. But, when you consider that one donut gives you a quarter of your limit, add a coffee or some icing to that donut and it is far from a good breakfast option!
Are you willing to reconsider your sugar intake? What foods will you have to do with out or cut back on?
Source: The New York Times, Business Insider
[caption id="attachment_117241" align="alignnone" width="100"] @BodyRockOfficial[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_117242" align="alignnone" width="100"] @BodyRockTV[/caption]