View Full Version : Sugar Blues
Sad Eyed Lady
1-11-14, 1:13pm
"Sugar is the core ingredient used by the food industry to make bad ingredients (processed flour and chemicals) taste good. Our consumption has increased from 10 pounds per person in 1800 to 140 pounds per person per year today." This quote is from an article called 5 Clues You Are Addicted To Sugar by Mark Hyman, MD. 140 pounds of sugar per person per year! That's a lot of sugar, and we wonder why obesity is so prevalent today. Coupled with the sedentary lifestyle of so many it makes sense that it is going to become a major problem. I also noticed that according to wedmd, sedentary lifestyle is now known as "sitting disease"! I think that is one disease we can do something about!
I think I had 140# of sugar just this week. I'm thinking my recent descent into sugar hell is a variation of SAD. I truly feel like I need to go to a detox center. But I think I would escape during the night and run to the nearest 7-11.
I'm not trying to be funny. I'm in a horrible place with sugar. And right before christmas, I was doing great. I am truly an addict. :(
ApatheticNoMore
1-11-14, 3:48pm
Having tried to go cold turkey with no ability to I have decided:
"In other words, if we admit that sugar intake will always be an import part of human dietary habits because of the pleasurable feeling it induces [you don't say], changing these habits so as to substitute dark chocolate for sugar-filled junk food with no nutritional benefits may have a significant impact on the prevention of chronic disease"
Now that's my story and I'm sticking to it :). I also sometimes eat natural but sweet fruity yogurt as a dessert, because at least it has probiotics. I'm like one of those alcoholics that joins one of those drinking in moderation programs. Haha, only most alcohol does little for me, so .... I'm a sugarholic.
I'm a third of the way through a Whole30, which is a variation of an elimination diet. The new components for me are avoiding dairy products (except ghee) and sugar substitutes. My coffee--with canned coconut milk--is gagworthy. When it's over, I will knock somebody down to get to a cup of sweetened coffee with cream. I don't normally eat sugar, but I would say I like sweet tastes and I don't expect to give them up completely.
ApatheticNoMore
1-11-14, 4:40pm
I'm a third of the way through a Whole30, which is a variation of an elimination diet. The new components for me are avoiding dairy products (except ghee) and sugar substitutes. My coffee--with canned coconut milk--is gagworthy.
Well I used to drink tea with coconut milk all the time (unsweetened tea with chai flavors and so on and grew to like it ok). However, once one tastes cream, they'll never go back. I have no doubt the coconut milk agrees with my body better, but flavor wise nah. Canned coconut milk is pretty yuck really when you're not habituating yourself to it (although I'm sure chai tea probably provides a better disguise than coffee), it has a strong off taste. So I always think when I read things like making your own coconut milk out of unsweetened shredded coconut, it sounds good (shredded coconut doesn't taste bad afterall). Or whole coconuts if you can find them but they are some work.
What dark (70% or so) chocolate does for me is I no longer eat sugar until I feel actually sick from it (well not usually anyway) - and since that's an aversive experience anyway so much the better (that may have been the sugar, white flour combo), but it's still too hard to give up sugar entirely, it tastes so good, it makes me so happy ..... I am powerless over my addiction :|(
I like pretty basic chai--just black tea and cardamom, and coconut milk would probably be OK with that. I'm not fond of high-octane chocolate; I'd rather do without.
I'm guessing that the article is referring to 10 lbs of refined sugar like you and I would buy in a bag at the store?
This has me curious as to what is the RIGHT amount of sugar? Back in the 1800s there were many, many more families who made their own jams, jellies, canned fruits, dried fruits, maple syrups, treacle, etc so I know we still ate lots of sugars. Just not the refined white sugars. They do serve a purpose for energy, but is anyone studying what is the best amount?
Going cold turkey from ALL sugars can't be good either?
I totally agree with the article that we, including me, have a sugar problem. These are just some Sunday musings, things I've always wondered about.
*As I'm currently making arrangements with some friends to visit a great little tea & cake place tomorrow afternoon >8)
I know I've said this before, but its in our wiring to take in sweets/fats/salt. In earlier times, it would have meant the difference between death and survival.
But now, we have the same wiring, but sweets/fats/salt are everywhere in unlimited amounts. I think it will always be a struggle to not want to take it in...........harder for some of us than others.
My "wash-out" period seems to be 3-4 days, and the intense desire for it is lessened. What's hard is starting the first day of that!
The body breaks any and all carbohydrates down into glucose, and if there are few carbohydrates present it will make glucose from protein (in a process called gluconeogenesis) for the minimal amount needed to fuel brain function. Energy needs can be met using carbohydrates or fat. So the body's requirement for sugar is essentially zero.
rosarugosa
1-11-14, 7:38pm
I love sugar and have no particular desire to restrict it from my diet. It might not be good for me, but hey, I gave up cigarettes, so that's enough virtue for one lifetime :)
That said, I loathe sugar in my coffee or tea. I love tea with lemon, and if I can't have lemon, I want tea with nuthin. And ever since I put that 1/4 tsp of cinnamon in the coffee basket of my percolator so I could skip the cream before I went for blood work last spring, I don't want cream in my coffee anymore. Black coffee with cinnamon, that's my thing now :)
If I did want to cut back on sugar, I could probably do so pretty painlessly, because I love the equally intense and wonderful flavors of things like lemon, cinnamon, mint, basil and a bunch of other non-sugary things.
My coffee--with canned coconut milk--is gagworthy. When it's over, I will knock somebody down to get to a cup of sweetened coffee with cream.
I gave up sugar for Lent one year. I actually love Lent for the 40 days of discipline it offers.. I always use it in almost a secular way to challenge myself in one way or another. So, I gave up sugar (and sugar substitutes) completely. The ONLY permanent outcome of that exercise was that I never, ever, could to back to putting sugar in coffee, and that definitely means no sugar, no Equal, no Stevia, no sweetener. After 40 days, sugar in coffee became gagworthy.
But don't ask me to give up my half-and-half!
Ha--Catherine, from your lips to God's ears! I only like tricked-out coffee. Maybe I'll use one drop of liquid Sucralose instead of three, but I think I'd rather take a caffeine pill than drink this stuff unsweetened.
I've noticed that since I've been drinking coffee (with some caffeine....maybe 1/3), my appetite for sugar goes up. I think if I could quit caffeine, then sugar would be easier to quit. Dang..........guess I have 2 addictions!
now, we have the same wiring, but sweets/fats/salt are everywhere in unlimited amounts.
Yes -- and I think this is what is really at the root of the rise in obesity. The hyperavailability of cheap calories - all day long, every day - that reward our brains. These cheap calories are added to what might otherwise be healthy foods - e.g. canned beans, tomato sauce, etc - because of both of those reasons - they are cheap, and they make people crave more.
I have had to cut most sugar out of my diet - although it still calls to me in its various incredibly palatable forms, too much of it truly makes me feel ill. So although I haven't eliminated it completely, I choose carefully how I want to allot my limited sugar capacity.
Also, I think the Indian tradition of serving meals that contain all the tastes really helps with sugar cravings. Having a little sweetness in or beside dinner makes me feel like the meal is complete, and not desire any dessert.
Cheap calories from sugar and other carbohydrates and "grazing" have certainly done us no favors, and one leads to the other. It takes diligence to eliminate it all. There's sugar in salt, for example.
I just watched Brain Change on PBS--Dr. David Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain. His focus is on avoiding dementia and other brain-related conditions using diet. He advises avoiding sugar, among other things. It's worth watching.
The "sugar" you often find in most processed foods and sodas is often in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It is extremely prevalent in all kinds of foods you'd never even think of as sweetened (breads, chips, etc...). Seems that because HFCS either can't be processed by the liver (or is processed in a different way) than table sugar (which is made up of equal parts glucose and fructose - and the fructose is at lower levels than in HFCS) it can lead to a disease called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). That disease acts just like the alcoholic version of fatty liver disease (the kind you get from drinking too much alcohol). Both can lead to scaring of the liver (and fat fills in the damaged areas and covers the liver), liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and eventually liver shutdown and death without a transplant. Apparently it is the number one disease in America and something like 30% of Americans have NAFLD. It's also the number one reason for liver transplants. So now I check the labels on everything (and I mean everything) I eat so that I can limit my intake of HFCS (I already have a damaged liver from what is probably an autoimmune disease). So the sugar you are eating and drinking may actually not be table sugar but something much much worse. This is also true for fructose (the sugar found naturally in fruit). But people generally can't eat the same amount of fructose found in the lower levels in fruit as they can in things sweetened with HFCS so unless you drink a lot of fruit juice (which is also often sweetened with HFCS) then it's OK on the liver for most people. I have reduced my fruit levels a lot recently in any case but still eat a fair amount of it.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02191/High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup-and-Your-Liver.html.
My understanding is that there is not a lot of difference chemically between HFCS and sucrose (table sugar). Both are close to 50% each glucose and fructose. There is another, much higher-fructose, type of corn syrup that is not as common in food products.
I am not saying that HFCS is good - it is a very highly-processed product. I am just saying it's probably not a lot worse than table sugar. People consume too much of both, and since many Americans eat a lot of processed foods and HFCS is cheaper for manufacturers, they get a lot of HFCS. Both have a strong impact on blood sugar and thus cause the body to release insulin, store excess as glycogen, etc. Diabetes is also very common in countries that consume most of their sugar in the form of sucrose.
My understanding is that there is not a lot of difference chemically between HFCS and sucrose (table sugar). Both are close to 50% each glucose and fructose. There is another, much higher-fructose, type of corn syrup that is not as common in food products.
I am not saying that HFCS is good - it is a very highly-processed product. I am just saying it's probably not a lot worse than table sugar. People consume too much of both, and since many Americans eat a lot of processed foods and HFCS is cheaper for manufacturers, they get a lot of HFCS. Both have a strong impact on blood sugar and thus cause the body to release insulin, store excess as glycogen, etc. Diabetes is also very common in countries that consume most of their sugar in the form of sucrose. You may be right as I've only recently heard about the potential health issues and difference between HFCS, regular corn syrup, and table sugar. My basic understanding is that HFCS is a blend of corn syrups that have certain enzymes added to them that converts some of their glucose to fructose - thus making it not only higher in fructose than table sugar, and with a higher percent of fructose to glucose (55%/42% with the rest being water and some by products), and about 10 times sweeter. I also read that those enzymes cause some kind of carbolic chemical reaction in the body that regular doesn't, making it so that your body doesn't feel like it is getting enough sugar, thus causing you to want more. Again, that's just what I've read. Just finished a whole about it - as well as other types of sugars - but can't remember the name rigth now. Here's a study at Princeton - http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/
Personally this is why I think it's a problem - because it is now in everything!! from Wikipedia:
Prior to the development of the worldwide sugar industry, dietary fructose was limited to only a few items. Milk, meats, and most vegetables, the staples of many early diets, have no fructose, and only 5–10% fructose by weight is found in fruits such as grapes, apples, and blueberries. Molasses and common dried fruits have a content of less than 10% fructose sugar. From 1970 to 2000 there was a 25% increase in "added sugars
Interesting study, Sparkana. That one certainly did find a difference under similar circumstances, with the sugar even being dissolved in solution to make it into a syrup of its own. I suspect that any enzymes in the HFCS would be denatured in foods that require baking or other heat treatment, but that probably doesn't include sodas, which must deliver the vast majority of HFCS to Americans.
Here are some more studies:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17234503 ("These short-term results suggest that, when fructose is consumed in the form of HFCS, the measured metabolic responses do not differ from Suc[rose] in lean women")
http://advances.nutrition.org/content/4/2/236.long (Notes that the HFCS used in baked goods is 58% fructose; This is a detailed review article and summarizes findings to date, noting that more study is needed and no direct links have been proven.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491004/ ("Similar decreases in weight and indices of adiposity are observed when overweight or obese individuals are fed hypocaloric diets containing levels of sucrose or high fructose corn syrup typically consumed by adults in the United States.")
...there are many more... with results all over the place. Obviously, it is a complex issue and it is difficult to design a study that can examine all possible variables, particularly when you consider how obvious it is that genes play a role in our response to diet and likelihood of developing insulin resistance, leading to further weight gain.
...but I think avoiding both table sugar and HFCS is a safe approach! :)
The data I've seen that plots either the consumption of sodas or total calorie intake along with obesity over the years between about 1975-present shows a really consistent correlation.
mtnlaurel
1-13-14, 11:36am
I am a total sugar crackhead - beyond the pale.
I occasionally give a stab at doing a little something about it. I just can't imagine my life without it. (I've kicked a lot - booze, smokes, now diet cokes)
When I go bananas on sugar, my joints literally ache... like when I eat a box of Nerds (a hard candy).
I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that I am soon to be mid-40ish, not a tween at a sleepover.
What kind of sweetener should I be putting in my morning coffee?
somewhere I heard that Agave Nectar was the way to go... now I have heard that it's just like putting Karo syrup in your coffee
I sometimes get unrefined sugar (comes as brown crystals) because it makes me feel like it's better, is it?
honey?
Thank you for bringing this discussion up... it's very timely for me!
Yes, thank you, Sad Eyed Lady. This discussion is very timely for me, as well. The holidays are a time when one can easily get off-track with one's diet. I feel better when I eat better and am hoping participating in this discussion will help me to do just that!
ApatheticNoMore
1-13-14, 12:13pm
The thing is I've never needed sugar in coffee or tea, I do need cream, half and half or at least whole millk (or coconut milk I guess if I have to :~)), so I've never taken it sweetened but I do take it milky, it's a stomach and taste buds of steel that can take even black tea black not to mention coffee black!!! Taste buds and a stomach of steel. I'd way sooner give it up, not like I take that much anyway.
I also don't buy ANY processed foods with sugar and I read the ingredients (my salt doesn't have sugar, I don't buy savory foods with sugar) so I don't relate to getting sugar from that. I also don't drink sodas EVER, they cause me bladder pain so I don't drink them (it's the acidity and the like that does that not the sugar). Ok occasionally I drink apple juice or other fruit juice or lemonade which is just as bad supposedly. But mostly I get sugar from DESSERTS!! That's where sugar comes from. Those sweet things known appropriately enough as "sweets". Chocolate, sweetened yogurt (which I consider a dessert), candy, the occasional cookies or cheesecake or something.
Those who say you should eat no sugar sound about like those who advocate abstinence only sex education to me. Well there are famous historical celibates afterall (wasn't Newton? Tesla was. Thoreau was likely (unless he was gay)), and yes some people seem to be basically asexual. In the same way some people can give up sugar entirely and be ok with the fact they'll never eat a dessert ever again even though it seems like a joyless life to me (and my relationships all having ended disastrously I'll take the cake thank you very much). For the rest of us, festivus, I mean moderation, I wouldn't even mind counting fructose and setting a limit, but you'll take my chocolate bars out of my cold dead hands I'm afraid. One book said 30-40 calories of fructose, 40 calories of fructose is a small banana and some chocolate squares or 1/2 bar of dark chocolate. No I won't count carrots.
I hear you, ApatheticNoMore. My preferred sugar-delivery vehicle is also sweets. I never drink soda and cook everything from scratch, so no sugar in our savories. My own experience with eliminating sugar is that it is quickly undone with a taste of sweet... with a big backlash. I just limit quantities instead, and don't tell myself that I can't have it. By reducing the quantity, I have definitely become more sensitive to sugar's taste -- I really don't like things that are too sweet, and just taste like sugar - it is quite harsh in excess. The first time I noticed this was after a trip to Germany over 10 years ago. DH and I indulged... every day... more than once! Big, beautiful pastries. Tortes laden with fruit and real cream. Chocolates. Not much sugar is needed to sweeten real ingredients. When we came back home, everything we ate - even salad dressings in restaurants! - tasted too sweet.
Oh yeah - I love sugar too. Number one vegan food group :-)! (well not really because lots of sugar cane and beet sugars are processed using cow bone char). But I don't eat much of it except a teaspoon or 2 in my one morning coffee (occasionally use Truvia but too sweet for me) and in whatever sweets I eat (usually something everyday) but try to stay with whole foods as much as possible. Or those processed foods that aren't too heavily sugar laden.
:~)Some people who eat too much sugary things at once say that they get sick of it and stop. I've never gotten sick of anything. What does that feel like?
I'm glad the holidays are over. Unfortunately, I still have too much left-over chocolate chips.
I can't stand anything sweet in my coffee. I guess I save it for the hard core sweet stuff.
:~)Some people who eat too much sugary things at once say that they get sick of it and stop. I've never gotten sick of anything. What does that feel like?
I'm glad the holidays are over. Unfortunately, I still have too much left-over chocolate chips.
I can't stand anything sweet in my coffee. I guess I save it for the hard core sweet stuff.
I call it a food hangover. And it almost feels like that. Sort of sick to your stomach, headachy, can't eat another bite of anything, can't even look at food, etc... I can eat s lot before a food hangover happens but if I eat too many sweet things at once I get it much sooner even if I am not full yet.
ApatheticNoMore
1-13-14, 2:30pm
:~)Some people who eat too much sugary things at once say that they get sick of it and stop. I've never gotten sick of anything. What does that feel like?
perhaps you have excellent sugar tolerance. Maybe you'll be voted: least likely person to ever get diabetes. Hypoglycemic: panicky, nervous, jittery, anxious, and thus thinking: oh I never shouldn't have eaten so much sugar and/or carbs ... why oh why ...
Actually, my A1C is getting too high. That, unfortunately, doesn't make it any easier to not want it. :(
I am having a problem with the donuts someone brings to work almost everyday. Yesterday I didn't have one, but I made up for it today by having two...I have gotten very addicted to sugar again in the last 6 months. I used to be able to walk past the donuts with no problem when I started at Whole Foods in the beginning. I think what happened today is that I didn't sleep very well last night, so by the time I was taking my last break I was running on empty (regardless that I had a very healthy lunch with a bulgar and quinoa salad with cut up veggies, some raw almonds, dried apricots, a banana..) I saw the donuts still sitting there from early this morning, and like an addict, I made a bee-line to them and inhaled not just one, but two (I guess I needed the quick energy sugar gives me to finish out the day). Now I am home and jonesing for a nap, which will commence right about now. I'll try to be better tomorrow about not giving into the sugar craving...
I think some of us are more "reactive" to insulin. When insulin is secreted, something happens (biochemically) to make us hungry, so we don't end up with more insulin than sugar in our bloodstream. So I say "carbs beget carbs".........and its true. Because of our reaction to insulin, its a vicious cycle. The best thing to do would be to never eat sugar............ But we know how that goes.
Exactly. Carbohydrates make me a bottomless pit. I'm much more comfortable avoiding most of them.
Actually, my A1C is getting too high. That, unfortunately, doesn't make it any easier to not want it. :(Ha Ha - the only recent lab test I had that WAS normal :-)! That means I get to eat more sugar right? OK I won't but I won't give up the smallish amount I eat either...unless they take it from my cold, dead hands :-)!
Ha Ha - the only recent lab test I had that WAS normal :-)! That means I get to eat more sugar right? OK I won't but I won't give up the smallish amount I eat either...unless they take it from my cold, dead hands :-)!
:laff:
Sad Eyed Lady
1-13-14, 8:30pm
Like SiouzQ I have a hard time passing up donuts, muffins, or pastries in general if they can be had with a cup of coffee. I have never cared for sweet drinks - nothing in my coffee, nothing in my tea, not real fond of lemonade and not what passes for coca cola these days (I do drink a Mexican Coke with real sugar when I can find one). But give me a good powered sugar or chocolate frosted donut and a a cup of black coffee and I am in heaven! Not something I would want all during the day, but breakfast/mid morning for sure. Also, I don't eat dessert very often as in a piece of cake or pie, but I do like to have something a little bit sweet after a meal. Maybe a bite size chocolate bar. And, as a lot of you have pointed out here, since the holidays it seems that there has been sugar everywhere! I had some homemade fudge someone gave me last week and since DH doesn't eat it there is just me looking at a whole tin of delicious fudge. So today I took it with me to my knitting group and it is mostly gone. I WANT to do better - don't like that sugar overload feeling either!
Exactly. Carbohydrates make me a bottomless pit. I'm much more comfortable avoiding most of them.
I'm going through a bit of withdrawal right now, just for that reason. Although I choose flour as my additive white powder over sugar. I can only eat so much sweet stuff - but I can eat endless amounts of bread and crackers and pasta. And beer. Week 2 cutting back. It's amazing how much more free time you have when you aren't busy eating or being full.
ApatheticNoMore
1-13-14, 9:14pm
I really don't like donuts much (too greasy) so they don't tempt usually. Muffins or pasteries are a bit more tempting, I'll take a slice of it sometimes (muffins and pasteries tend to get halved or quarted around the office, they're pretty big). There were lots of sweets in the office for the holidays but not so much now that they are over. I actually know I can't turn that down, I can't have free fudge or a box of chocolates or homemade desserts offered and just sit there. I'd just sit there at my desk trying to resist thinking: fudge fudge, fudge fudge, fudge fudge .... going completely crazy.
I know I'm not that strong, when in Rome .... Bagels are in the office regularly but easily resisted most of the time.
but I do like to have something a little bit sweet after a meal. Maybe a bite size chocolate bar.
yea I'll have a little dark chocolate after a meal sometimes if I still want more food even though I've eaten enough, it does tend to stop the cravings, as they're usually more craving for pleasure than true hunger.
I managed NOT to have any donuts at work today. My new rule is if I bring an apple in my lunch, I MUST eat it before any doughnut reaches my lips. If I save the apple for my last fifteen minute break of the day, it takes about fifteen minutes to eat it and then I run out of time to eat the doughnut!
SiouzQ, I have a lot of rules like that to try and extend the time before I eat something. One is no candy bars at all unless the York pattie is on sale for 50 cents and then only one. I have managed to keep one in my purse for a couple of weeks too. Some of my rules are the only way I can lose weight. So far 35 pounds down.
Some of my rules are the only way I can lose weight. So far 35 pounds down.
That's wonderful!!!! Congrats!
Yes sweetana........that's great!
mtnlaurel
3-27-14, 10:39am
I was led to this article this morning on the History of Sugar Trade....
http://www.livescience.com/4949-sugar-changed-world.html
I don't think the Historical connection between Slavery and Sugar and now Modern Day Slavery to Sugar is a coincidental!
Karma is a Female Dog sometimes!
Here's a link to another discussion on this board from 2013 on sugar
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?8796-Sugar&highlight=sugar (http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?8796-Sugar/page2&highlight=sugar)
If anyone has sugar use updates or advice they'd like to share on decreasing sugar use, I'd love to hear them (for the ump-teenth time...... remedial-life-lesson-learner here :))
I'm going through a bit of withdrawal right now, just for that reason. Although I choose flour as my additive white powder over sugar. I can only eat so much sweet stuff - but I can eat endless amounts of bread and crackers and pasta. And beer. Week 2 cutting back. It's amazing how much more free time you have when you aren't busy eating or being full.
Flour is also sugar. Starches are very long-chain sugars, and they break down in the body to simple sugars. Hence, same problems with insulin-spiking, which leads to triglyceride formation, fat storage, and fatty liver syndrome. Being hypoglycaemic, I watch the glycaemic index of my starches. Potatoes, for example, hit the bloodstream as sugar faster than the sugar from chugging a soda. Sweet potatoes, though sweeter to the taste, have a much lower glycaemic index and are easier on the pancreas.
I was led to this article this morning on the History of Sugar Trade....
http://www.livescience.com/4949-sugar-changed-world.html
I don't think the Historical connection between Slavery and Sugar and now Modern Day Slavery to Sugar is a coincidental!
Karma is a Female Dog sometimes!
Here's a link to another discussion on this board from 2013 on sugar
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?8796-Sugar&highlight=sugar (http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?8796-Sugar/page2&highlight=sugar)
If anyone has sugar use updates or advice they'd like to share on decreasing sugar use, I'd love to hear them (for the ump-teenth time...... remedial-life-lesson-learner here :))
Here's a helpful visual link: http://www.sugarstacks.com/
Each of the cubes of sugar in these photos is 1 teaspoon of sugar. The American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association recommend that women eat no more than 6 teaspoons (6 cubes) of free sugar per day and men no more than 9. This is on the standard recommendation of 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for a man, so it's roughly 5% of the calorie allowance. It also means that for people eating fewer calories, the free sugar allowance drops! For somebody on 1600 calories a day, that's no more than 5 teaspoons/cubes of sugar.
Food labels give the amount of sugar per serving in grams. Divide this by 4 to get the number of teaspoons/cubes in that food.
For example, Starbucks Caramel Frappucino has 64g sugar. Divide by 4, and that's 16 teaspoons, or 2 and 2/3 days worth of sugar for a woman eating 2,000 calories per day, or a tad over 3 days worth of sugar for a woman on 1600! http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/frappuccino-blended-beverages/caramel-frappuccino-blended-coffee
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