How Much Is Too Much Of Sugar?

[icyfroth]

More than half of Australians are exceeding the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended daily intake of added sugars, new research shows.

Key points:

• 76 per cent of teenagers exceed WHO guidelines for daily sugar intake
• Little change in the eating habits of Australians and in their consumption of sugar in 20 yrs
• Key sources of sugar have not changed in diets
• Slight diet improvements among young children and the elderly

The alarm-raising research by Sydney University, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, found especially bad habits in children and adolescents, with 76 per cent of teenagers exceeding the guidelines for daily sugar intake.

The research indicated that in the past 20 years, there was little to no change in the eating habits of Australians and in their consumption of sugar, despite the higher level of awareness around portion control and warnings about sugar-enriched foods.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-21/australian-sugar-intake-remains-high-research/7263200

So how's your Diabetes going?

[amber-eyed-girl]

Fine, thank you...I eat a block of chocolate a day. Low sugar, dark chocolate. Eat lots of butter, too...that's been cleared of evil-doing.

Same as a teenager. But I had no liking for candy or Coke. Balances out.

If one is sensible, a little bit of everything is healthy enough.

There's habits (what the family eats) and inclination. 

One mother I know, her children first tasted sugary stuff at another child's birthday party.

They then went mad for sugar. I wonder if it has been treated as natural, a little here and there, whether it would have been better.

[icyfroth]

Professor interviewed on radio this morning.

Asked what he recommend we don't eat to avoid Diabetes.

He said 'Well less of everything, really. If we eat less of everything we eat, we won't be in danger of consuming to much of anything".

Make sense?

[amber-eyed-girl]

That's a version of eat a little bit of everything in sensible moderation.

Also, I see that your points say that intake has remained more or less the same for 20 years for sugar.

WHO has recently halved the recommended daily intake. So, by simple math, more people will be consuming more than recommended, even if they consume only what has been the previous recommendation...interesting huh?

But it's obvious that fads come and go, unfortunately with sugar "too much" can lead to people demonising everything, including otherwise healthy things like fruit.

High-anything in the diet can cause problems. There's personal metabolism too...some people can get away with more of something than the next person can.

[donnashuggy]

People eat too much, I love looking at photographs from last century and before.

Nobody knows what it is like to be hungry any more

[amber-eyed-girl]

Unless one can't afford it.

Can be a sign of an affluent population. Over-consumption of food and other things.

[azureline**]

Yes, it seems the more we have the more we want. I am about to embark on lowering the sugar in my food, coupled with my thermomix adventure. My eldest daughter gave up refined sugars about a year ago, she looks fabulous, her skin is beautiful, she has lots of energy and no headaches or lethargy.

[amber-eyed-girl]

That's great azureline. Friend has headaches if no coffee in the morning. She has a lot of sugar in it but could be the caffeine doing it, too.

[***super_nova***]

The problem is that everything processed has sugar in it.  I only put sugar in my coffee, which I drink for breakfast, and I only put in tip of the teaspoon to take some of the bitterness off.  There was a time I would have 2 teaspoon in my coffee, now if somebody put a 1/2 a teaspoon I cannot drink it.  I found it very easy to reduce my intake by using less and less  over few weeks. 

Soft drinks are the real disaster, they have something like 16 teaspoons of sugar, and no nutritional value.  They should be banned to give to children like alcohol is.  Tax them!  Tell poor families to give their kids tap water instead, and they will save heaps on dental care in future too.

[azureline**]

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@***super_nova*** wrote:

The problem is that everything processed has sugar in it.  I only put sugar in my coffee, which I drink for breakfast, and I only put in tip of the teaspoon to take some of the bitterness off.  There was a time I would have 2 teaspoon in my coffee, now if somebody put a 1/2 a teaspoon I cannot drink it.  I found it very easy to reduce my intake by using less and less  over few weeks. 

Soft drinks are the real disaster, they have something like 16 teaspoons of sugar, and no nutritional value.  They should be banned to give to children like alcohol is.  Tax them!  Tell poor families to give their kids tap water instead, and they will save heaps on dental care in future too.

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Yes, everything does have sugar in it but the answer is to look at sugar content as well as the type  of sugar in it.I am doing better at it now but added to that, my daughter has recently been diagnosed with coeliac, ((my grandaughter has as well but we knew this almost from birth) so, reading labels has  lengthened my shopping trips!