I talked recently about the dangers of sugar – the ingredient that is single handedly killing us!

Well, lo and behold, the American Heart Association (AHA) stood up to the food industry earlier this month and essentially made eating and drinking a lot of items in the supermarket off-limits.

FINALLY!  

Sugar has earned a spot on the AHA’s black list — basically a "negative nutrient" that needs to be limited for your heart’s sake (and, really, every other organ in your body too).

Keep in mind that when we say "added sugars" — these are sweeteners that are used primarily in processed packaged foods and beverages—think sodas, fruit drinks, cereals, and desserts.  That doesn’t mean fruit, dairy, and veggies, which all have natural sugars.  So don’t take this as a suggestion to stop eating fruits and veggies.  That’s taking smart guidelines and applying them to what you may want to hear.

The AHA recommends that added sugar intake be limited to 100 calories (25 grams, or 6 teaspoons) per day for women, and to 150 calories (about 37 grams, or 9 teaspoons) per day for men.

Keep in mind that now, the average American eats over 350 calories each day in sugar alone (about 22 teaspoons,or nearly 3-12 oz cans of soda)!  Talk about a way to make sure you gaining belly fat and ruining your health!

Here’s the deal.

Adding sugar to your diet is like pouring mud down your throat.  Gross, right?  Yeah, they have about the same amount of nutrients — actually, the mud probably has more!

The study I’m referring to was published in AHA’s Scientific Journal, Circulation … and they talk about the link between high sugar intake and insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and type 2 diabetes.  Of course we can also point to the increase in belly fat from eating too much sugar, which can lead to basically every other disease known to man.

Very simply, we are OVERFED YET UNDERNOURISHED!!!  And added sugars need to go.

In fact, the AHA has a very strong conclusion in their study: "There is sufficient evidence to link excessive sugar intake to the pandemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease."

Scary stuff.  That is, unless you’re not "in the know."

Tricks to limit added sugars

This is what I do to limit added sugars and make sure I don’t throw my overall "diet" in the toilet.

• Eat whole foods with a max of 5 ingredients each (preferably just 1 ingredient) — fruits, vegetables, raw nuts, grains, & fish, as each are void of added sugars.
• If it comes in a package, leave it on the shelf (think snacks, pastries, cookies, most breakfast cereals, etc)
• Leave a food on the shelf if it has any of these as the first few ingredients: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, sugar (dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, malt sugar, molasses, raw sugar, syrup.

And just to give you an idea — here are a few of the major culprits of added sugar in Americans’ diets.

• Regular soft drinks: 33% contribution to total added sugar intake
• Straight sugar and candy: 16%
• Cakes, cookies, pies: 13%
• Fruit drinks and “-ades” (not 100% fruit juice): 10%
• Dairy (watch out for sweetened yogurt and ice cream): 8.5%
• Grain-based foods (watch out for most breakfast cereals, waffles, and other similar foods): 6%

Kudos to the American Heart Association … most governing bodies haven’t stepped it up and made such a bold move.

Xylitol (Malitol, and anything else ending in "…ol")

These sweeteners are known as sugar alcohols.  Xylitol is found naturally in a few foods, like beets and corn.  It is also used to as a sweetener in many low sugar, "low carb" items … sugar free gums and many "energy bars" come to mind, but also some beverages and other products as well.

So what’s the deal?  Is THIS the best sweetener that’s out there?

Xxylitol does have a few calories (about half that of sugar).  It’s almost as sweet as sugar and is only partially absorbed by the body.  Most packages suggest you can substitute for half the sugar in a recipe if using it as a replacement.

There are some solid data suggesting xylitol prevents bacteria from causing plaque to stick to teeth (hence its use in gums).  On the downside, too much of this stuff will make you a very unpleasant dinner guest as you’re running to the bathroom.  Remember, it’s not digested well by the body — good for calorie control, bad for, well, causing gas, bloating, and diarrhea.  Not sure those few extra calorie "savings" are worth it — just eat a little less to save the calories!

This last negative effect shouldn’t be an issue if you’re chewing some sugar free gum, but be careful eating too many "sugar free" type bars or other products, as they may have a pretty good amount of this stuff.

Whey Low

This one is a new kid on the block.  Many may not have even heard of it.

Basically it’s a unique combination of different naturally occurring sugars — fructose (fruit sugar), sucrose (table sugar), and lactose (milk sugar).

While that doesn’t sound that "special" — the unique combination of sugars is supposed to make them interfere with each other so they’re not fully absorbed, meaning less calories, but the same sweetness.  

It can be used as a sugar substitute in cooking since its flavor and texture are so similar; the problem is it’s a bit more difficult to find.

Whole Foods and similar stores often carry it.  Let’s see if it makes it a little more mainstream …

…to my knowledge, there’s no research using Whey Low vs. other sweeteners, but the concept is good.  I like "real" ingredients vs. the artificial stuff.

So that’s a wrap on the sweeteners — from sugar to xylitol and most in between!!! 

Take home points?  Eat real foods and if you can’t pronounce the name, keep it on the shelf!