Tis the Season for Sugar

Most of us know that we are a nation of over 67% overweight along with all of its associated problems. Much of it is blamed on plain old sugar and  excessive amounts of it.

According to the American Heart Association most women should consume no more than about 6 teaspoons of added sugars a day.  Men should not exceed about 9 teaspoons of the sweet stuff. This translates to about 100 calories of added sugars for women, and about 150 calories for men.

I shutter to think that a 16-ounce (2 cups) bottle of soda has about 11 teaspoons of added sugar. It’s been estimated that the the average American consumes about 22 teaspoons of added sugars a day or about 355 calories’ worth a day. The blame seems to be coming coming from sodas and other sweetened beverages (including fruit drinks), coffee "shakes," desserts, candy, and breakfast cereals. But there's more to the story of course than just liquid calories out there called big portions!

.And how do you sort it all out when it comes to naturally occurring sugar and the added white sugar? More on this later this week.