Our daily allowance come from two types of sugars
- Natural occurring – found in fruit and milk
- Refined processed sugars – adding sugar into tea/coffee.
The instant lift we get from one intake of sugar is the reason we turn to it at times of celebrations and comfort, however we may be eating more than we realise! We don’t know there are HIDDEN sugars in processed foods, breads, pastas, and soups and drinks. Although sugar is not all bad! Sugar is found in natural foods from lactose which is in milk and fruit. We need some of these sugars to gain energy for our muscles and brain. The problem that patients must be aware of is processed sugars that form in calories and very little else. This means our body draws on the nutrients from the rest of our diet in order to process it, this can affect our health including our immunity- leaving us more prone to colds and bugs. This can become a very vicious cycle that may be contributing to out weight problems as well as health concerns such as diabetes.
Dons Top tips
- Check the label for ‘carbs as sugars’ – this includes both natural and refined sugars.
- Anything ending with ‘ose’ e.g. glucose, sucrose, fructose are all forms of sugars.
- Gradually reduce the sugars we add into hot drinks.
- Avoid ‘low fat diets’ they tend to be high in sugars.
- Balance your carb intake.
- Swap your white bread, rice and pasta for wholegrain versions.
- Replace sugars with spices to boost flavour and taste
