Experts are now saying that sugar is so very poisonous and the obesity epidemic resulting from our nations’s monstrous sweet tooth is so severe, that government should intervene. (See yesterday’s post.)

Not me, you may say.  I don’t even like sweet things.  I don’t eat much sugar.  Don’t be too sure of that!  Even those who can pass up the cookies without pain don’t have a free ride here.  Sugar, in the form of high fructose corn syrup — a particularly vicious sweetener — is in just about all processed foods.  There’s a reason for that – it’s cheap, it acts as a preservative, and it prevents freezer burn.  No wonder the processed food producers love it and are spending big bucks touting its safety!

How much sugar is too much?  A variety of experts give a variety of answers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises most people to limit themselves to 10 to 12 teaspoons of added sugars a day.

That sounds like a lot — but wait.  Here are just a few examples of ways that an incredible amount of sugar, mostly in the form of high fructose corn syrup, sneaks into your system.  Keep in mind there are 4 gm. of sugar per teaspoon.

Soda: 10 – 13 teaspoons of sugar (12 oz. can)

Low-fat yogurt with fruit: 10 teaspoons of sugar

Applesauce: 5 teaspoons of sugar

Diet chocolate cookie dough meal bar: 5 teaspoons of sugar

1 tablespoon ketchup: 1 teaspoon of sugar

Cereal bar:  3 to 5 teaspoons, depending on the brand (just in case you thought this was a healthy option)

What can you do to cut down on sugar?  Stopping the soda is one quick way to cut out masses of sugar.  Eating whole food that you prepare yourself instead of buying pre-packaged, “easy” food is another.

And take your reading glasses along to the grocery store.  Read the labels.  It may be the most enlightening reading you do all week!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown