Sugar and obesity

Reading the Sunday Times yesterday was a bit scary – according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 23% of adults in the UK are obese, (in France its 11.2%) and this is being partially attributed to the amount of sugar that we are consuming – sometimes without even knowing that we are. The recommended maximum amount of sugar for a woman is 90g and for a man 120g – a bit of context for you – a teaspoon of sugar is 4g. So, how about that Large Costa Red Berry fruit cooler? 97.1g ! - OK – lets go for a Starbuck’s Skinny Lemon and Poppyseed muffin – 44.4g of sugar Right – a healthy choice then? A strawberry Muller Greek style Youghurt Corner – 24.2g combined with glaceau Vitamin water – another 15g – even that is nearly 4 teaspoons of sugar! I guess you wouldn’t put 4 spoons of sugar in your tea – but pop it in a ‘healthy’ drink and we will swig it down. Think of the sugar high, the insulin rush and the blood sugar dip that is sure to follow. Think weight gain and diabetes risk – we know that there is a high correlation between waist measurement and type 2 diabetes. So, what can we do? Well, avoid the obvious and check the unsuspecting – the information we need is on the tub, the packet, the wrapper – try to envisage a pile of sugar – and if you wouldn’t eat that – then leave the coffee frappucino and give your waist line a break!