You should only consume 10-50 g of processed sugar daily. And instead of sugar, you can sweeten your food with natural foods such as honey and agave syrup.
Almost all foods contain sugar. But we don’t know how much sugar is actually in our food, and we don’t know how to replace it with healthy options. If you want to learn more about the amount of sugar in food and how to substitute it, keep reading!
Types of sugar in food
Actually, there are many types of sugar depending on the type of food we are talking about. Sugar is found in fruits and many processed foods, which are very high in calories but tend not to have nutritional value.
This is because, as a substance, sugar does not contain vitamins or minerals. Also, if you consider processed foods, the percentage of sugar can reach up to 80%!
Also, sugar is hidden in some foods that we didn’t even think of. For example, commercial salads contain added sugar. Or, sometimes just one meal, like pizza, can exceed the recommended daily intake.
How to Check Sugar on Food Labels
In fact, it is not easy to determine which foods contain sugar from food labels. Therefore, if you want to control your sugar intake, you must understand the nutritional label of the food.
In fact, there are more than a dozen different names for sugar. Among them, names such as fructose, glucose, sucrose and molasses can be found.
Amount of sugar in food
For example, two slices of whole-grain bread contain a tablespoon of sugar. A cup of tomato soup contains at least 6 tablespoons of sugar, and sweet and sour chicken served with rice contains 10 tablespoons of sugar.
Recommended daily amount
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends eating 10 to 50 grams of sugar per day. However, this recommendation was established in the late 1980s. However, it is important to keep in mind that added sugar is different from the sugar found in fruits, vegetables, and milk.
How to substitute sugar
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Honey
Honey is a great substitute for sugar. It is a natural, sweet liquid composed of 80% natural sugars, 18% moisture, minerals, vitamins, pollen and protein.
This substance also contains fructose and glucose, making up 70% of honey’s natural sugars. In fact, the balance between the two sugars determines how dark or light the honey color is.
So honey is the perfect substitute. 100 g of sugar is 400 kcal and contains 100 g of carbohydrates, whereas the same amount of honey is 330 kcal and contains only 81 g of carbohydrates.
Besides, honey has antibacterial properties, but sugar doesn’t.
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Agave Syrup
It is a sweetener from agave in Mexico and consists mostly of glucose and fructose. Agave syrup is slightly sweeter than sugar and has a texture similar to honey.
It is often used as a sugar substitute, but there is no evidence that refined agave syrup is healthier than sugar.
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Fruit
Fruits contain a sugar called fructose. It also contains powerful nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals. So, to get more fiber from your diet, you should replace sugar with fruit.
Read Also: Benefits of Eating Nuts
Fruit peels also contain antioxidants, so you can grind the peels to add to juices or marinate meat.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that juice is not healthy. Eating apples gives you a lot of fiber and water. However, if you drink a glass of processed apple juice, you are actually consuming the equivalent of five large apples. Therefore, processed fruit juice is not a good substitute for fruit.