Posts Tagged by food environment

Sugar really is a wonderful substance. It can make almost anything taste good, and the more you eat it, the more you want it. I will be the first to admit that I am in love with sugar. I have a huge sweet tooth and love nothing more than a really good dessert at the end of (or even before!) a meal.

It’s too bad sugar isn’t all that good for you. If it were, I’m sure the United States as a whole would be a much healthier country.

While it isn’t news to say that sugar is best in moderation, how often do you actually stop to think about how much of it is in certain foods or drinks? The other day, EC forwarded me an email that really painted a clear picture of the sugar content of popular foods. While some of these amounts won’t surprise you, I thought it was interesting and definitely worth sharing.

However, I do feel as though I should present this with a quick caveat. Obviously, these pictures are looking at sugar and sugar only. They say nothing about the nutritional quality of the food as a whole. So while an apple does contain more sugar than a serving of Special K (or even Trix cereal, surprisingly), this information should be taken with a grain of salt. Not only is the type of sugar in an apple different than the sugar that is added to cereals (last I checked, an apple doesn’t contain HFCS…), the apple is also packed with a lot more nutrients. Plus, let’s be honest, who only eats one tiny little serving of Trix cereal in a sitting?

That being said, there are other things in this picture-list that don’t have any redeeming qualities from fiber, healthy fats, and/or vitamins…

Amount of Sugar in Common Foods and Beverages

Each cube equals one teaspoon of sugar.

Anything on this list surprise you?

Before I sign off, a quick announcement: sadly my guest post (and core workout) have been postponed until next week. My guest poster had a very important certain someone come out for an unexpected visit…which (I think we can all agree) is slightly more important than finishing her post for my blog.

And because I don’t want to give you any false impressions about my eating habits, I’ll tell you that I’m off to make an exciting new dessert for my last night with the family! I think it’ll be delicious, though still relatively healthy (just don’t tell my sisters that it’s going to be gluten-free! ). Keeping my fingers crossed that the recipe turns out well — and if it does, I’ll be sure to post it on the blog.