Halloween marks the start of what I call the season of sugar.
Many of us kick off the holiday season with Halloween and allow our kiddos to fill bags full of pure sweet candies of all types, shapes and sizes. From here, we move to Thanksgiving and all the wonderful pies and creative desserts associated with giving thanks. Then off we go to fudge, cookies and all the most wonderful sugary treats of Christmas. Yes indeed, it’s that time of year!
Here is a bit of information to ponder as we swim into all the mind-numbing, mood-altering and waistline-changing sweetness. Did you know that on average, people in the U.S. eat 152 pounds of sugar in one year. This is roughly three pounds a week and surprisingly, Americans are not the biggest consumers of sugar in the world.
Sugar and sweeteners are in much of what we consume and often we are not even aware that the foods we are eating are loaded with sweeteners or sugars. If there was doubt that sugar in all its glory is a health problem, that doubt is long gone. Over the years, science has confirmed the constant demands metabolizing sugar puts on our pancreas and endocrine system is driving an epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes, metabolic disease and many other health-related issues. Sugars and other sweeteners are extremely addictive, causing over consumption, leading to so many negative health and toxic effects on the body it’s hard to list them all.
Most nutritionists recommend your sugar intake should not exceed 6 to 7 percent of your daily calories, a percentage I personally believe is too high. With that said, I don’t want to take all the sugary joy away, so let’s look at what they recommend. For example, if your calorie intake is around 2,700 per day, you should limit your sugar to 47 grams. So just consuming two or more of the more popular sports drinks and you will have exceeded the daily recommended amount and then some.
Source: cdapress.com