I’ve written about how sugar is being demonized as the real cause of heart disease and other health problems. I’ve also said sugar has been the most difficult on the evil triad of foodstuffs — fat, salt and sugar — for me to give up. I’m down to about 100 grams a day, with much of that coming from bananas (16 grams each, I eat two a day, so 32 grams of sugar there to start).
The anti-sugar movement got a big push forward this week with new Food and Drug Administration recommendations that we should eat no more than 50 grams of sugar a day. The recommendation, the first time the agency has put a cap on sugar consumption, got massive media play, including this New York Times piece.
Sugar, like salt and fat, is in most every processed food. Items “like low-fat yogurt, granola and wholegrain breads, as well as in ketchup, pasta sauce, canned fruit and prepared soups, salad dressings and marinades,” reports the Times.
I’ve cut soups and salad dressings entirely from my diet because of salt and found low-salt, low-sugar ketchups, formerly a source of massive amounts of sugar for me. I also make my own pasta sauce, again mainly to avoid salt, but also sugar.
Getting down to that 50-gram level means dropping frozen yogurt, any regular yogurt that isn’t low-sugar or artificially sweetened, and no more nibbling on treats like mini-Tootsie rolls which are relatively low-fat but high in sugar. Bummer.
John
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 