You'd be surprise as to how much sugar we consume on our diets on a daily basis. Studies suggest that a typical person consume about ¼ to ½ of a pound of sugar every day; even if you don't know it.
Excess sugar in our diets can be linked to obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer's disease, Cancer and many other illnesses.
Sugar is a silent killer, one that in time will creep on you.
How to detect it? Well there are some obvious stuff you know has added sugar in them; such as candy, sodas and cake. But did you know you will find it also in so called "healthy foods" like granola bars, cereal, salad dressings and in many unhealthy foods that use added sugar for taste?
Be on the look out! Don't be fooled with the many labeling tactics. Companies use alternate names of sugar in their labels to trick the consumer. Alternates names for sugar are:
- Barley Malt Extract
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Corn Sweetener
- Dehydrated Cane Juice
- Dextrin
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Maltodextrin
- Sucrose
- Rice Syrup
- Sorbitol
- Xylose
My challenge to you is try to go a full week without consuming foods that include added sugars.
- Drink water and green tea in place of sodas (sweetened or unsweetened), fruit juice (unless squeezed and juiced by you) and high energy drinks.
- Eat fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts over package foods, boxed or frozen.
- Limit or avoid entirely process foods.
Though it may look simple, cutting out food with added sugar is not an easy task.... That's why its a challenge.
The benefits are so high it is worth it. It's not only about weight loss, rather being healthier, having more energy, looking and feeling better.
So there it is, take on the sugar challenge for 7 days and let me know how it goes. Would love to hear your thoughts and how it plays out during the week.
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