Tag Archives: sugar

Escape the Sugar Trap

By: IZABELA PLUCINSKA, CRNP

At lunch, you enjoy a nice cold soda – containing 12 teaspoons of sugar. On the way home, you stop at your favorite coffee shop for a refreshing Double Vanilla Caramel Mocha Latte – and 18 teaspoons of sugar.

It’s no secret that we eat too much sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day and that men should not exceed nine teaspoons. The reality is a typical American – adult and child – consumes 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day. We are caught in a sugar trap.

Sugar is everywhere

Sugar occurs naturally in many whole foods, and our bodies need it to burn for energy. However, food manufacturers also add sugar to many products to increase flavor or extend shelf life. Sugary drinks, candy, baked goods and sweetened dairy are the main sources of added sugar. But even foods like soups, bread, cured meats, tomato sauce and ketchup can have extra sugar, making it easy for us to overdose on the sweet stuff.

While natural foods have sugar, they also contain the nutrients our bodies need to be healthy. Not so with sugary processed foods: they are mostly “empty calories” that give you little nutritional benefit.

Excess sugar consumption can have a serious impact on your health. It is a major factor in obesity, which affects 36% of all adults and 19% of all children. Among other things, obesity can lead to high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

Getting free from sugar

Since added sugar is so common, you need to be carefully choosing your foods. Here are some tips to get you started:

  • Dump the sweet drinks: Many Americans get about 22% of their total calories from sweetened drinks, including soda, fruit juices, sports and energy drinks, and sweetened coffees. Instead, go with 100% fruit juice, sugar-free flavored water, or diet sodas, if you must have soda. Try to get your calories from foods, not drinks. And try to decrease your need for sweet-tasting foods and drinks generally.
  • Toss the table sugar: Whether it’s white, brown, corn syrup, honey, agave or molasses, it’s all sugar. Cut back on the amount of sweetener you add to foods like cereal, coffee or tea. Try cutting the usual amount you add by half and then keep decreasing it.
  • Favor fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruits: Choose fruit canned in water or natural juice. Avoid fruit canned in syrup, especially heavy syrup. Instead of adding sugar to cereal or oatmeal, try fresh or dried fruit.
  • Cut back when cooking: When baking cookies, brownies or cakes, cut the sugar in your recipe by one-third to one-half. (You may not notice the difference.) Or reduce sugar by substituting half the amount with unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana. You can also use flavor extracts like almond, vanilla, orange or lemon instead of sugar.
  • Look at the label: Read the ingredients and Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods to find ones with less sugar:
    • Beware of products that list sugar as their first or second ingredient. However, to hide how much sugar they use, food makers may use variety of sweeteners and list each one individually, so read the whole label.
    • Look for the Daily Value (DV) for sugar on the Nutrition Facts label. This is a percentage of the recommended limit for sugar in your daily diet. The label lists both “Total Sugars” and underneath “Added Sugars.” 5% DV or less of added sugar per serving is considered low, while 20% DV or more of added sugar per serving is considered high

Your MPCP provider can also help you plan a healthy diet and suggest other ways to escape the sugar trap.

 

Izabela Plucinska, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner, received her Master of Science in Nursing degree from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, with a specialty in Women’s Health. She is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in Family Practice, and treats patients in the Arnold office.

Limiting Sugars in Your Diet

A Q&A with Dr. Pio Poblete of MPCP’s Columbia office

Q: How much sugar do people typically consume?

A: On average, Americans get about 16% of their daily calories from added sugars, according to the Food & Drug Administration.

While many foods naturally contain sugar, a lot more sugar is added to processed foods. For example, a 12-ounce can of cola contains seven teaspoons of sugar, although you might not see that word on the label. Other names for added sugars include high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, molasses, honey, and sucrose.

Even foods that you wouldn’t think of as sweet have added sugar, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is a preservative, giving packaged foods a longer shelf life, and it plays a role in color and texture.

Q: 16% added sugars sounds like a lot. Are we eating too much?

A: Faced with mounting evidence about sugar’s harms, the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has recommended that people limit added sugars to a maximum of 10% of their total daily calories.

Q: If I want to reduce my sugar consumption from 16% to 10%, how much sugar is that?

A: On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, that equals 12 teaspoons of sugar.

Q: Is added sugar a health concern?

A: Added sugars probably have a greater impact on high blood pressure (hypertension) than does sodium, and fructose in particular may increase cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) risk. There’s evidence that added sugars, especially sugar-sweetened drinks, raise the risks of excess weight and obesity, as well as type 2 diabetes. And, of course, sugar is a major contributor to tooth decay.

Q: How can I reduce added sugar in my diet?

  1. Use these simple tips to consume less:
  • Drink water or other calorie-free drinks instead of sugary, non-diet sodas or sports drinks. That goes for blended coffee drinks, too.
  • When you drink fruit juice, make sure it’s 100 percent fruit juice — not juice drinks that have added sugar.
  • Choose breakfast cereals carefully. Although healthy breakfast cereals can contain added sugar to make them more appealing to children, skip the non-nutritious, sugary and frosted cereals.
  • Instead of adding sugar to cereal or oatmeal, add fresh fruit (try bananas, cherries or strawberries) or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or apricots).
  • Opt for reduced-sugar varieties of syrups, jams, jellies and preserves. Use other condiments sparingly. Salad dressings and ketchup have added sugar.
  • Choose fresh fruit for dessert instead of cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream and other sweets.
  • Buy canned fruit packed in water or juice, not syrup.
  • When baking cookies, brownies or cakes, cut the sugar called for in your recipe by one-third to one-half. Often you won’t notice the difference.
  • Instead of adding sugar in recipes, use extracts such as almond, vanilla, orange or lemon.
  • Enhance foods with spices instead of sugar. Try ginger, allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg.
  • Substitute unsweetened applesauce for sugar in recipes (use equal amounts).

For a list of common foods and the amount of sugar they contain, see this article in Medical News Today.

Pio Poblete, M.D.Dr. Pio Poblete is an MPCP partner and practices in our Columbia office. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Prediabetes

by: Lisa Meade, PA-C

Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is higher than normal, but not high enough for the diagnosis of diabetes. It is also referred to as hyperglycemia, impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. It is estimated that 25%, or 1 in 4, adults has prediabetes. Most people will go on to develop diabetes within 10 years.

Recognizing this condition early is very important to delay and maybe prevent the diagnosis of diabetes in the future. Diabetes affects the entire body leading to increased risk for cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and strokes, blindness, kidney failure, and loss of limb due to neurological and vascular compromise.

Lifestyle changes can make a big impact on improving your blood sugar levels. Losing just 7% of your body weight can reduce your risk for diabetes by over 50%. That is only 15 lbs if you weigh 200 lbs. Regular daily exercise and diet modifications can help you achieve this goal. You should decrease the sugar and simple carbohydrates in your diet like white flour products (bread and pasta), white potatoes, and white rice. These can be replaced with whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and choosing lean meats are healthy diet choices.

If you are not sure if your blood sugar has been checked within the past year or if you already know you are prediabetic and need help with the diet, call to schedule an appointment with your primary provider.

WPMeade_LLisa Meade, PA-C holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education from Towson University. She received her Physician Assistant certification from Essex Community College in 1987. Ms. Meade has over 25 years of experience as a certified Physician Assistant in primary care medicine. Ms. Meade sees patients in the Arundel Mills office.