New recommendations for Free Sugar

New recommendations for Free Sugar

Sugar
It is well understood that as a nation we are eating too much sugar.
But how much should we be having and how can we reduce our intake?
First of all, it’s important to understand that there are different types of sugar.

Free sugar= the sugar added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, plus sugars naturally presentin honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices and smoothies. Naturally Occurring Sugar= sugars found naturally within milk and the sugars contained within the cellular structure of foods (particularly fruits and vegetables which have not been blended we should aim to reduce the overall amount of sugar in  our diets ,as having too much can cause tooth decay, weight gain and conditions such as type 2 diabetes long term.
Aged 11+& Adults Less than4 - 6Aged7 - 1019g / d Less than 24g / d Less than 30g / d4.75 teaspoons 6 teaspoons 7.5 Aged 87% of people have too much sugar! The highest intake of sugar is seen in children who have triple the recommended amount each day!

New recommendations for Free Sugar

Top tips on reducing sugar
Limit sweet treats such as chocolate, cakes, sweets and pastries. These should be an occasional treatnot part of our everyday diet. Check the ingredients; food labels do not highlight free sugars, however look out for words such as cane/ brown sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, sucrose and glucose! Use traffic light la belling compare foods such as cereal and young hurts to find a lower sugar option. A good place to start is looking at drinks. Drinks are the highest contributor of sugar to children’s and many adult’s diets. Therefore, swapping fizzy drinks such as cola and flavor milkshakes to water, no sugar soft drinks such as squash or milk is an easy change to make. Swap juice for whole fruit and vegetables, this way you will get all the fiber at the same time. Additionally, sugar within fruit and veggies is contained within the cells. This is less easily absorb able and will not count towards free sugar, as juices and smoothies do.

Sugary Drinks

 












Check out how much sugar is in these popular drinks. Sweeteners contain no calories and have not been linked to cancer, however they may make us have more of a sweet tooth, so should not be consumed too regularly.