Читать книгу Sugar Addicts’ Diet - Nicki Waterman - Страница 15
How Much Sugar Should We Eat?
ОглавлениеThe UK government and the World Health Organization recommend that starchy carbohydrates such as bread, rice and pasta should constitute 55–75 per cent of our daily food intake. Free sugars or ‘non-milk extrinsic sugars’ – sugar added by us or, more significantly, by the manufacturer – should comprise 10 per cent or less. In other words, no more than one-tenth of our daily calories should come from added sugar.
If the average woman’s recommended daily calorie intake is 1,940 (less if you are overweight and want to shift some pounds), that means no more than 194 calories should come from added sugar. But, as we have seen, the average Briton is already on 65 grams, or a huge 260 calories, of these added sugars per day, 30 per cent more than the recommended maximum. A can of cola contains just over 10 teaspoons of sugar (200 calories) so you can see how easy it is to go over the advised amount. Have a think about how many cans of soft drink, biscuits, cakes, sweets and bowls of cereal you eat in any one day and you’ll probably find this is way more than one-tenth of the food you eat, and far in excess of 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Nicki’s Tip
Want to work out how much sugar there is in a food? Take a look at the label. Where it says ‘carbohydrates’, it generally says ‘of which sugars – Xg’. A teaspoon of sugar is around 5g so divide X by 5 to find out how many teaspoons of sugar it contains. So if it says ‘of which sugars – 15g’, divide 15 by 5 and you’ll know it contains 3 teaspoons.
| THE SUGAR CONTENT OF FOODS | |
| Food | Rounded Teaspoons of Extrinsic (Added) Sugar |
| 1 digestive biscuit | ½ |
| 1 chocolate digestive | 1 |
| 1 slice (45g) of jam-filled sponge cake | 4 |
| Mars Bar | 7 |
| 1 milk chocolate bar (50g) | 5½ |
| 1 scoop of ice cream | 1½ |
| 1 bowl of cornflakes | ½ |
| 1 teaspoon of jam | ¾ |
| Half a tin (200ml) of cream of tomato soup | 1 |
| Half a tin of baked beans | 2½ |
| 1 glass of Lucozade | 6 |
| 1 glass of Ribena | 4 |
| 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup | 1 |
| 1 tablespoon of sweet pickle | 1 |
| 1 tablespoon of salad cream | ½ |
| 1 can (300ml) of cola | 7 |
