By the year 2000, the average American consumed 31 tsp. of added sugar a day. This refers to ALL forms of sugar added in the processing or preparation of foods but not to the sugar that is found naturally in foods such as fruit or milk. Added sugar alone accounted for 496 calories! (Iowa State University, CARD, 2005) Are you average? I suspect you are NOT average or you wouldn’t be reading this article. However, you may be consuming far more sugar than you realize even if you avoid adding sugar to the foods you eat.

Fortunately the year 2000 seems to have been a turning point for Americans and added sugar consumption. Even so, total sugar consumption remains very high. This may be because much of the sugar consumed is not obvious. It is “hidden” sugar. Sugar you are simply not aware you may be eating.

Sugar is just a form of simple carbohydrate. As such it is neither good nor bad. Sugars associated with so-called “empty” calories or more specifically empty carbohydrates offer little food value other than calories (for example, candy and soda pop). Healthy carbohydrates on the other hand, are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and possibly antioxidants and other healthy substances we have yet to discover. Does that mean you should forgo eating Halloween candy or sugary desserts? No, but it is a good reason why you are far better off limiting this sugar to small amounts for special occasions.

The 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting added sugar to no more than 8 tsp. per day for the average reference woman eating 2000 calories. That would mean only 6 tsp. a day for 1500 calories or about 5 tsp. for a 1200 calorie diet. Wow! That’s next to impossible. Added sugar is in so many of the foods we eat whether we know it or not.

Image via WikipediaTo put this in perspective, a tsp. of sugar is equivalent to approximately 4 grams. Go grab a box of breakfast cereal from your kitchen and look at the Nutrition Facts panel. Unless you grabbed a box of Fiber One by General Mills, I’ll bet your box of cereal has 5 grams of sugar or more per serving and that’s on the low side. Sugar is added for a good reason, it makes the cereal taste better and we’re more likely to eat it. But if you are watching your calorie intake and doing your best to eat healthy on a low calorie diet, there isn’t much room for the added sweetness.

4 grams of Sugar = Approximately 1 tsp. of Sugar

So what do you need to look out for? The source of most added sugar in the diet of Americans is from soda pop and other soft drinks, candy, dairy desserts such as ice cream, cakes, cookies, pies, and sweetened cereals. I would imagine you are already aware of these.

There are many sources of added sugar, however, that may not be as well known as the ones I just listed. This is the hidden sugar. Energy bars often have a lot of sugar. Nature’s Path Optimum Energy Bar has 19 grams of sugar! Ketchup tastes as good as it does because of the added sugar. A tablespoon of ketchup might have 4 grams of sugar, the equivalent of 1 tsp. Van Camp’s Pork and Beans has 7 grams of sugar in only 1/2 cup. That’s almost 2 tsp of sugar! Many salad dressings, spaghetti sauces, and yogurts, especially fruit-flavored yogurt have a significant amount of added sugar.

If a food product is labeled as sugar-free or no added sugar, it means that no sugar was added during processing. However, foods may contain naturally occurring sugar or a product might be sweetened with a fruit juice concentrate (natural sugar). This is why you want to check the Nutrition Facts and Ingredient Labels when you buy packaged or canned food products. The Nutrition Facts label provides the total amount of sugar but it is not separated into the different kinds of sugar present. For that you will need to take a look at the ingredient label.

Sugar comes in many different forms. Here are some of the most common terms:

Brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, syrup, sugar substitutes, and table sugar.

Ultimately, your best bet to avoid eating too much sugar and the unnecessary calories that sugar can provide is to eat whole foods, with little or no processing and added sugar, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (beans). To get a better sense of how much added sugar you are consuming you might want to take a day or two and read the labels for every canned or packaged food you eat. Hopefully, you won’t be unpleasantly surprised!

Weight Loss Success: Are You Buying the Best Products? Part One

Weight Loss Success: Are you Buying the Best Products? Part Two

Till next time, watch those calories and be sure to eat healthy!

calories Health

Today I have a list of low calorie healthy snack ideas with a focus on carbohydrates. It is the next in my series on low calorie snacks. If you’ve missed some of the earlier lists for low calorie dairy, low calorie beverages, and low calorie fruit, you can follow the links I provide at the end of this article.

As with the other lists, this one is by no means all inclusive. There are far too many products in the marketplace to keep up with. If you would be willing to share some of your finds, please leave a comment. I would very much like to learn of other nutritious low calorie choices. Thanks!

Image via Wikipedia

Most by not necessarily all of the foods on this list have at least some dietary fiber. Also, whenever possible, I would encourage you to pick whole grain. Unfortunately, the front cover/label of many food products can be very misleading. Many so-called multi-grain products, for example, are not necessarily whole grain.

I plan on providing you with an article soon to help steer you past the misleading claims on packaging. Knowing the meaning and validity of health claims will help, however there’s no substitute for reading the nutrition and ingredient labels. But who has the time to carefully read each and every product on the grocery shelves? If I’m in a hurry, I find I can easily purchase new products that are not exactly what I had hoped for with respect to calories or nutrients. When there’s no time for a more careful look, having a list of trusted products is the best way to avoid problems.

Hope this list is of help.

Low Calorie Healthy Grains (Carbohydrates)

Breads:

Plain Bagel - 1/2 medium - ~75 calories

Mini-bagel (Whole Wheat by Pepperidge Farm) - 1 mini-bagel - 100 calories

Cornbread - 1/2 piece (1 oz.) - 95 calories

Bread, Whole Wheat - 1 slice - ~80-90 calories

English Muffin - (Whole Wheat by Thomas) - 1/2 medium - 65 calories

Multigrain English Muffin - (Light by Thomas) - 100 calories (Note: This product is enriched multigrain but not whole grain)

Blueberry muffin, low fat - 1/2 medium (1 oz.) - ~70-80 calories

Bran muffin, low fat - 1/2 medium (1 oz.) - ~80-90 calories

Corn muffin, low fat - 1/2 medium (1 oz.) - ~80-90 calories

Pita (Kronos Pita Bakery) - 1/2 pita - 90 calories

Multigrain Bread (Brownberry) - 1 slice - 100 calories

Natural Flax and Fiber Bread (Arnold) - 1 slice - 90 calories

New England Brown Bread - 1 slice - 90 calories

Nutrigrain Waffle (Eggo) - 1 waffle - 70 calories

Kashi GoLean 7 grain waffle - 1 waffle - 85 calories

Cereals:

Oatmeal, cooked - 1/2 cup - 75 calories

Granola, low fat - 1/4 cup - ~90-100 calories

Cinnamon Crunch (Cinnabon) - 1/2 cup - 75 calories

Corn Chex (General Mills) - 1/2 cup - 60 calories

Crunchy Corn Bran (Quaker) - 3/4 cup - 90 calories

Heart to Heart Oat Cereal (Kashi) - 1/2 cup - 74 calories

Puffins Original (Barbara’s cereals) - 3/4 cup - 90 calories

Puffins Cinnamon (Barbara’s cereals) - 2/3 cup - 100 calories

Raisin Bran (Kraft) - 1/2 cup - 95 calories

Crackers:

Animal Crackers, plain - 6 crackers - 85 calories

Graham Crackers - 1 cracker (small square) - 55 calories

Oyster Crackers - 23 pieces - 60 calories

Saltines - 5 crackers - 60 calories

Reduced Fat Triscuits (Nabisco) - 3 Triscuits - ~65 calories

Rye Crisp (Wasa Hearty Rye) - 1 serving - 45 calories

Rice Crisps (various brands) - ~9 chips - ~70 calories

Cookies:

Sunflower Seed (Grace’s Best) - 3 cookies - 65 calories

Swedish Style Vanilla Snaps (Mi-Del) - 3 cookies - 78 calories

For more low calorie snack ideas, check out my previous articles:

1. Low Calorie Dairy Snacks
2. Healthy Low Calorie Fruit
3. Healthy Low Calorie Beverages
4. 28 Healthy Low Calorie Snack Foods to Go

Till next time, watch those calories and eat healthy!

calories