Sugar

Question
Hi Laura :)

I was wondering if you could advise me in relation to sugar consumption. I live in the UK where the official RDA of sugar for women in no more than 90grams per day. I like to think that I eat healthily; I very rarely eat refined sugars - BUT I do eat a LOT of natural sugars from fruit, vegetables and dairy products. For example, pretty much every day I eat 2 bananas, an apple and some mixed fruit salad, a glass of orage juice and a natural yoghurt, plus milk on my porridge (oatmeal) - this already takes me way over 90g, and that is before you have included anything else I eat!!! I estimate that I eat closer to 150g of sugar a day (although they are pretty much all natural sugars). Is this bad for me? And does it encourage me to store excess fat on my stomach - I have read that this is the case?

Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you! :)

Answer
Hi Debbie,

Sugar in any form is sugar and ends up the same in the body. The only difference is the degree of fiber available and how quickly it is absorbed. I notice that you eat a lot of fruit. Yet, we only need 1-2 fruit servings per day, if that. However, keep in mind that a fruit serving is sometimes not the whole fruit.

Let's take a minute to put this into perspective. 150 grams of sugar is approximately 37 teaspoons of sugar. 90 grams of sugar is roughly 23 teaspoons of sugar. You might consider actually dishing out that much sugar into two different bowls to get a visual presentation.

Evidence has shown that over-consumption of sugar from any source increases weight gains and fat cell storage. Experts have indicated that over-consumption and added sugar can increase belly fat. How much sugar and to what degree is relative to the person and the activity level.

I hope this helps!
Laura

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