See, Added sugar is the bad guy for one simple reason. It brings no useful nutrients to the table but it rapes (yes that’s the most polite way to say it. Lol) the body of so many nutrients just as it tries to process and digest the sugar. It’s like your body invests $$$, to receive nothing. It is now short and needs to find a way to pay back. What type of senseless investment is that ??? This then results in diseases like diabetes, heart disease,obesity problems and more.
THE BACKGROUND
Over the last couple months I have played with this idea in my mind but the thought process drowns me and I give up. It usually goes something like this “This refined sugar is horrible! I would so love to get it out my diet… ugh, but I hate drastic changes. I mean, I barely drink soda, or juices, so that’s pretty easy. I love chocolate but I only get it once in a while, so I am doing alright there too” Right as I consider giving myself a tap on the back, the thoughts continue “What about those snacks you like, the granola and crisp snacks that have 8-13g of sugar in them, I mean that’s better than the 39g in a coke. Sigh. Oh but I do Greek yogurt too… Crap, 18g in a 4oz cup. Ok forget those, what about those little fruit cups I love. Those must be healthy… wait what? 16g of sugar. WTH! “… Everything has added sugar in it!
THE CHALLENGE
According to the American Heart Association the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are
- Men: 150 calories per day / 37.5 grams / 9 teaspoons
- Women: 100 calories per day / 25 grams / 6 teaspoons
The Challenge? COMMIT do this for a week! Anything below 50 grams a day is a great place to start! To share your progress and findings with me, tag @real_makkoy on social media and use #MakkoySugarChallenge. Share the post and challenge a friend to join you!
HOW MUCH SUGAR IS IN A TEASPOON
For many those are just numbers so let’s put it in perspective. 4 grams of white sugar is a teaspoon. So in the 4oz cup of Chobani strawberry yogurt, there are 23g of sugar… almost 6 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR! And in 2 table spoons of the Nutella chocolate spread… there are 21g so 5 teaspoons of sugar… And well, that 12 oz can of coke… 39g of sugar…Almost 10! Yes 10! Make sense now?
THE GOAL
Though the challenge is for a week, paying attention to your sugar intake will build awareness on the sugar content of the foods you eat. Be sure to read labels on everything! Remember the fruit cup sounded like it should be good? Note that the more processed the food, the higher the chances of added sugars in it. I know this is going to be tough, even for me but I am looking forward to it. Do something for your body and commit to the sugar challenge! Let’s do this!
