The Not So Sweet Truth About Sugar

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If you’€™re making the choice to have something sweet, choose wisely.
As we’€™ve discussed, sugar is the new transfat/salt/evil ingredient according to the latest reports. It’€™s been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers. This week, Rose Riesman was on Toronto’€™s Breakfast Television sharing the shocking news about how much sugar we’€™re currently consuming.

According to her report, the average Canadian ingests 130 pounds of sugar per year. This number was shocking to me. We are eating our body weight in sugar-enhanced foods, not to mention the naturally sweetened ones we consume, like fruit. The good news though, is that with just a few simple changes to our shopping and eating habits, it’€™s possible to reduce our consumption dramatically, while still enjoying the occasional treat.

Rose compared some popular snacks and take-out foods with some slightly less sweet counterparts. Here are the results of her study:

Dairy Queen Lemonade Raspberry Chiller = 48 teaspoons of sugar VS.
Dairy Queen Small Raspberry Sundae = 14 teaspoons of sugar

Cinnamon Caramel Pecan Buns = 19 teaspoons of sugar VS.
Country Style Raspberry Filled Donut = 5 teaspoons of sugar

Baskin Robbins Large Vanilla Shake = 30 teaspoons of sugar VS.
Baskin Robbins Two ‘€“Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream Cone ‘€“ 13 teaspoons sugar

Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (1 bowl) = 7 teaspoons of sugar VS.
Twinkies (2) = 7 teaspoons of sugar

Skittles (1 small package = 11 teaspoons of sugar VS.
M&Ms (1 small package) = 4 teaspoons of sugar

One Large Coke (from movie theater) = 33 teaspoons of sugar VS.
One Small Cokes (from Movie Theater) = 10 teaspoons of sugar

Another shocking statistic I learned from this segment is that 1 out of 3 kids born after the year 2000 will have sugar-induced diabetes.

Were you surprised by any of these comparisons? Are you concerned about your family’€™s sugar intake?

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