Is your sweet tooth making you sick?

Health professionals often call refined sugar “white death,” but how bad is it really?
Sep. 15, 2010 | By: Ashley Newport

It’s no secret that sugar has a bad reputation. It can make even the blandest of foods bearable and, if asked honestly, most people would admit that a chocolate chip cookie is more satisfying than a celery stick. It seems that the more we fall in love with the tiny white grains of flavour, the more we’re told it’s responsible for diabetes, obesity and hosts of other health issues.

The good news is that you’re probably not cutting years off your life with every sweet treat. The bad news is that you may be thickening your waistline by consuming far more calories than you should. Sugar is high in calories, which can lead to weight gain, obesity and even lead to diabetes.

“The culprit [in illnesses] is often excess weight,” says dietitian Krista Leck Merner. “[Sugar] is just extra empty calories.” New studies have shown that sugar may not be directly linked to the development of type II diabetes, but the excess baggage sugar can help create around your middle is definitely a risk factor for the disease.

“From a health perspective, we get calories from sugar, but they don’t do anything,” says Leck Merner. “There’s no fuel, vitamins or fibre. People should watch the quantities [they’re consuming]. If you save calories, you can save your waistline.”

According to the Canadian Sugar Institute, Canadians aren’t consuming any more refined sugars (i.e. added sugars, not those naturally occurring in fruits, vegetables and dairy products) than they were 40 or 50 years ago. However, studies have shown that more people are purchasing products already loaded with sucrose. Some products, like soft drinks and specialty coffees, can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar. If you aren’t aware of how much sugar is in your pop, juice or instant oatmeal, you may not realize that you’re ingesting a potentially unnecessary 100-300 calories.

“On average, a Canadian has about 22 teaspoons of sugar a day,” says Leck Merner. “If they cut down to six, which is the amount recommended for women by the American Heart Association, that’s a lot less calories. You could lose half a pound a week.”

Consciously choosing items that are sugar-free or have no sugar added can make the transition from 22 to six teaspoons of sugar a day an easy one. Leck Merner advises looking for items that contain less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, and being wary of “liquid calories,” such as iced coffees and some smoothies/slushies. She also recommends checking the sugar content of fat-free foods, as manufacturers may use extra sugar to compensate for the taste lost in fat removal.

“To an extent, sugar is in everything,” says Leck Merner. “The key is moderation.”