Sugar is a popular part of our everyday lives. We spoon it into coffee, stir it into cakes, and enjoy it in hundreds of foods we know to be high in sugar as well as in many others containing sweeteners in hidden form. Sucrose-99 percent pure and obtained from sugar cane or sugar beets – is what we call sugar, but it is far from being the only sweetener in our lives. There are also dextrose, fructose, mannose, maltose, and more.
Are you concerned about the sugar in your diet? Then here are some facts you probably want to know.
Sugar is found in many processed foods. If you read the label on the products you buy, you may be surprised to note its presence – as dextrose, or under some other lesser known name – in beans, soups, yogurt, baby food, canned ham, vegetables, bread, even nonsugar-coated cereals, catsup, peanut butter, salad dressing, chili, and many other foods.
The average American consumes an astonishing 1/4 pound (1/2 cup) of sugar per day – more than 100 pounds per year when other sweeteners are included. Average consumption of sugar has remained fairly stable over the past 50 years, though much of what was once added in the kitchen now shows up in processed food purchased at the supermarket. Adding 4 extra teaspoons of sugar to your diet every day, one expert not appear when the blood sugar is low, and the blood sugar is not low each time the symptoms appear, hypoglycemia is rarely the correct diagnosis. Although this test is given to hundreds of people, most responsible doctors find few cases. Many experts have pointed out that the symptoms so offhandedly attributed to this disease might just as well result from anxiety reaction. There is no evidence that this psychological condition and others, such as childhood behavior problems or depression, are related to low blood sugar.