{"id":271,"date":"2019-09-19T15:04:38","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T03:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myfoodbag.co.nz\/?p=271"},"modified":"2023-09-08T09:28:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T21:28:06","slug":"sugar-where-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/2019\/09\/19\/sugar-where-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar, where are you?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Glass full of sugar cubes – unhealthy diet concept<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fair to say we now have a reasonably good understanding of how sugar can impact our health and general wellbeing.  These days, rather than avoiding all sugar at all costs, it\u2019s about moderation.  \u201cGreat,\u201d we think, \u201cI\u2019ll just keep tabs on my sugar intake.  Easy.\u201d  <\/em>

Well, not quite so \u2013 today we\u2019re talking about added sugar<\/em>, which lurks in a fair few of those \u201chealthy choices\u201d we\u2019ve been making.  Experts are beginning to agree that added sugars aren\u2019t much good for us, and we\u2019d do well to cut them from our diet.  Why?  Think increased insulin, greater inflammation and faster cellular aging (basically, we get older, faster). 

Consuming less sugar throughout the day helps to balance blood sugar and stabilise appetite and mood — so, let\u2019s take a closer look at some of the most secretive offenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMOOTHIES<\/strong>
Where\u2019s it hiding?<\/strong>  <\/em>It\u2019s pretty much everywhere, with many store-bought smoothies containing added sugar to sweeten them up.  They also tend to contain a lot<\/em> of fruit, which is great, but be sure you\u2019re not over-consuming and inviting a sugar high! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADE better:  <\/em><\/strong>Simply, use an unsweetened milk or coconut\nwater to blend your smoothies \u2013 bananas<\/strong> are an obvious one, but frozen cauliflower\n<\/strong>is also a great way to get a creamy texture.  Throw in a handful of fresh or frozen spinach\nor kale, and plus a few healthy fats in the form of seeds, nuts or\navocado.  Top it off with fresh herbs or\nspices like fresh mint or ginger for an extra nutrition boost!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOTTLED TEA<\/strong>
Where\u2019s it hiding?<\/strong>  <\/em>We are big tea lovers here at MADE HQ, but be careful of the bottled\/canned teas that are popping up more and more.  Why?  They\u2019re packed full of added sugar \u2013 more than 20g in a single serving!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADE\nbetter:  <\/em><\/strong>Your best option is to brew your teas at home\nand store in the fridge.  Try add a\nsqueeze of lemon or a few frozen raspberries to your brew for a hint of natural\nsweetness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICED COFFEE<\/strong>
Where\u2019s it hiding?<\/strong>  <\/em>Lookout!  Cafes have a knack for adding extra sugar to iced coffees (don\u2019t get us wrong, they taste amazing!).  For example, a \u201clightly sweetened\u201d large, black ice coffee, scarily contains 30g of sugar!  We won\u2019t scare you with the other ones\u2026 you know what we\u2019re getting at; an easy way to blow your daily sugar intake!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADE better:  <\/em><\/strong>When you order, just be clear that you\u2019re not looking for a sweet coffee.  If you find it too bitter, slowly decrease sugar levels with maybe one-less pump of syrup (if you\u2019re a flavoured coffee lover).  If you\u2019re feeling up to it, skip the flavours and you\u2019ll cut the sugars by more than half!  Milk does contain some naturally occurring sugar from its lactose content, but this isn\u2019t one to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPORTS DRINKS<\/strong>
Where\u2019s it hiding?<\/em><\/strong>  <\/em>If you\u2019re into exercise or sports, these can be a pretty welcome relief at the end of a training session or event.  They\u2019re a great source of electrolytes and the sugar is a fast-acting source of energy and is part of the hydration equation.  But, be careful!  If you\u2019re not<\/em> exercising, they tend to contain copious amounts of unrequired sugar (read:  weight gain). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADE better:  <\/em><\/strong>If you\u2019re looking to hydrate for regular activity, stick to good old H2O.  This is the gold standard for hydration, and you can\u2019t go past it.  Foods like watermelon and cucumber can also hydrate you effectively, and have the extra benefit of natural vitamins and minerals.  Coconut water is also a natural source of electrolytes and sugars.  Just be sure to check the label!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAUCES & OTHER CONDIMENTS<\/strong>
Where\u2019s it hiding?<\/strong>  <\/em>This probably isn\u2019t a surprise to anyone, but sauces often fall off the radar as we just don\u2019t associate them with sweetness.  Tomato sauces, BBQ sauces and the like all contain added sugar \u2013 so don\u2019t be fooled!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADE better:  <\/em><\/strong>Keep an eye on the sugar levels in the sauces you choose.  Try alternatives like mustard for a bit of variety.  If you\u2019re really enthusiastic, look up recipes for making your own sauces so you have full control over the sugar levels.  It\u2019s also worth mentioning here that our Fresh Start MADE meals<\/a> don\u2019t contain any refined sugars, either \u2013 for something really easy breezy this summer!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fair to say we now have a reasonably good understanding of how sugar can impact our health and general wellbeing.  These days, rather than avoiding all sugar at all costs, it\u2019s about moderation.  \u201cGreat,\u201d we think, \u201cI\u2019ll just keep tabs on my sugar intake.  Easy.\u201d  Well, not quite so \u2013 today we\u2019re talking about added […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2353,2360,2354],"tags":[2279,2280],"class_list":["post-271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-lifestyle-entertaining","category-my-food-bag","tag-foodhacks","tag-sugar","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23363,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions\/23363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myfoodbag.co.nz\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}