While I am not counting calories – and the Eating Clean proponents seem to agree that counting calories is unnecessary – I am trying to limit myself when it comes to consuming sugar. I happen to be a sugar junkie, so this has been the difficult part for me. I will take a slice of cake any day over a cheeseburger and fries, and I tend to love most packaged sweets. I even avoid artificial sweeteners (such as Sucralose and Aspartame), which probably just makes my sugar consumption even higher. When my husband orders a skinny mocha, which is sugar-free, I order the real thing, refusing to put the artificial stuff in my body. But even though I may argue otherwise in the coffee shop, this doesn’t mean that sugar is good for me.
One discussion my husband and I have had as we walk through the grocery store is about the use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in various packaged foods. We scoff at the commercials that state “sugar is sugar” while defending the use of HFCS in food products. I get it, sugar IS sugar. That said, this doesn’t mean it’s good for you. I read the commercial as basically saying, “pick your poison.” Of course, this knowledge does not prevent us from avoiding the items with sugar in them. Illogical, I know. Truth is, we should be looking at the grams of sugar in the items we buy and making a decision based on that information (and not simply whether the ingredients include HFCS). I guess HFCS is just the fall guy this week for those looking to blame something for the obesity issue in the U.S. (that’s a whole other discussion, though). See this USAToday video about HFCS for more information on this substance (I’m no doctor, and I am definitely not a nutritionist either – yet).
One area I do try to watch sugar content in is my yogurt. Yogurt can be very healthy, or not. Here’s why.
UPDATE (at 2 p.m.): In a weak moment, I almost went to get frozen yogurt from our work’s cafeteria. It has 15 grams of sugar per serving and let’s face it, I probably would have consumed 2 servings. So, I decided knowledge is power and read this article on sugar consumption. I changed my mind, at least for now. Here’s hoping I will remain strong for the rest of the day!
