Canyon Ranch Health Resorts
"Sugar is not the villain some say it is," says Jim Glaser, R.D., nutritionist. "The real problem with sugar is that it's added to so many foods and we simply eat too much of it."

Many health organizations recommend that no more than 10 percent of our calories come from added sugar (sugar added to foods during processing). Glaser says in actuality we take in about 16 percent of our calories from added sugar. The biggest culprit is soft drinks, which account for one-third of all added sugar consumed. Other products with lots of added sugar include — what else? — candies, cookies, cakes, ice cream and flavored drinks.

What is sugar?
Sugar was once called white gold because it was so scarce and expensive. Cultivated since the 6th century, sugar today comes in many forms and from many sources. Just because the word sugar is not on the label, doesn't mean sugar is not in the product. Sugar can disguise itself as any or all of the
following:

sucrose
fructose
dextrose
lactose
maltose
corn syrup or corn sweetener
high fructose corn syrup
cane syrup or cane sugar
honey
molasses
sorghum

Reducing Sugar
How do we reduce the amount of sugar in our daily diets? Glaser has some
recommendations:

Read labels, check to see where the sugar appears on the list of ingredients — the nearer to the beginning of the list, the higher the amount in the product.

Buy products with less sugar — such as a lightly sweetened or unsweetened cereal.

Reduce consumption of candies, cakes and pies. Or reduce the portion size — eat a smaller portion of dessert or have two snack-sized candy bars instead of one big one.

Avoid being in the position of "one after the other" sugary foods like an open box of cookies, candy in the office, or tempting sugary things you can just pop into your mouth.

When making your own cakes, cookies, breads and other baked goods, use less sugar. In many recipes, you can reduce the sugar by one-fourth to one-third without noticing a difference.

Instead of buying fruit-flavored yogurt, add your own fresh, frozen or chopped dried fruit.

Use more of the seasonings that offer a perception of sweetness such as ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg and mace.

Cut down — or OUT — all sodas.

"About one-third of all sugar consumed comes from soft drinks," notes Glaser. If you are a soda drinker, he suggests mixing regular soda with diet soda to reduce your sugar intake or if you're just addicted to that fizz, mix sparkling water with fruit juice for the same effect without the added sugar. "Of course, the best strategy is to give up soda completely but that can be hard to do for some people," he acknowledges.

Artificial sweeteners an alternative?

Artificial sweeteners do not occur naturally in foods; they are totally manmade. Here are three F.D.A.-approved artificial sweeteners:

Sucralose(Splenda), approved by the F.D.A. in 1998, is a chemically altered sugar which is probably the safest available.

Aspartame(Nutra Sweet, Equal) is the combination of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. It is considered safe by a number of health organizations around the world but Glaser has concerns about its use. "People have reported headaches and other problems with aspartame," he cautions, "and although the number of complaints is small, people shouldn't use very much of it."

Saccharin (Sweet and Low) Although it was almost banned in the 70s, recent research has shown Sweet and Low is not the carcinogen it was once thought to be. The F.D.A. has removed its once-required warning label.

Glaser weighs in on the cautious side: "Clearly it is better to avoid or at least limit the use of artificial sweeteners because they aren't natural. Who knows what we will discover about them 15 or 50 years from now? If you compare the pink, blue and yellow packets, the white stuff (real sugar) is still best. The quantity consumed remains the issue — and how to minimize your intake of regular foods that contain sugar."

Changing your ways
"We need to learn how to fit sweet foods into a healthy diet and not completely eliminate or abstain from them. One way to do that is to keep the quantity of sweet things you have on hand to a minimum," advises Glaser. Here are some practical suggestions:

Buy one cookie at the bakery instead of a big box at the store.

Share food — split a candy bar with a friend or family member instead of eating the whole thing yourself.

Buy snack-sized candy bars and don't keep a large supply on hand.