14 May Sugar sugar everywhere

Sugar has recently resurfaced in the media again, with new research denouncing the sugar in sugary drinks as being more dangerous than sugar in foods along with renewed calls for a sugar tax. It is clear, through various studies, that we are consuming way more sugar than our bodies are equipped to handle. As kaimahi, we are aware that added sugar is believed to be one of the main drivers of preventable problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, but how do we explain what it does in a simple and effective way? Our kaiarahi nutrition, Sande Mareroa-Gates, gives us her simplified take on sugar and its effects on the tinana.

It is no secret that consuming too much added sugar, especially from sugary beverages, increases your risk of weight gain and can lead to tooth decay. But excessive sugar consumption can also lead to an increase in fat inside your body that you don’t see. This fat can hide for a long time while it’s  building up around important organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines. This fat is called visceral fat and is dangerous because you can’t see it. This visceral fat can lead to other diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Although it appears that parents are reducing the amount of sugary fizzy drinks their children are consuming, the consumption of sport and energy drinks are the preferred replacement. Sports drinks contain up to 13 tsp of sugar.

Sports drinks contain up to 13 tsp of sugar, damage teeth

View this sugar fact sheet

Read this interesting article for more information