by Laura Everage

Every week, the average American consumes two to three pounds of sugar. Quick math, and that translates to approximately 150 pounds a year, most of which comes in the form of empty calories. You know, those empty calories that come from refined and processed sugar that is devoid of the vitamins, miners, enzymes and amino acids that are essential to helping the body metabolize sugar. (Or, maybe you don’t know).

When most of us think of sugar, we think of the white stuff that appears in our sugar casters, and which we use in our coffee and tea, sprinkle over oatmeal, and use as a key ingredient in our homemade baked goodies. 

What isn’t so obvious to us, are the many other ways added sugars appear in our diets. It appears on food labels as corn syrup, dextrose, corn sweetener, maltose, malt syrup, glucose, molasses, sucrose, syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. These ingredients are commonly found in candies, cakes, cookies, and soft drinks, but are also found in packaged food favorites such as macaroni and cheese, bread and yogurt.

The ills of sugar have been top of mind for many of us. We constantly hear how sugar is bad for our health, and is the cause of many health problems, including obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression. But, even with all the news out there, I was still a bit confused about what all the fuss is about sugar. I’m not a diabetic, and I haven’t had to watch my intake for any health reasons . . . but I do have kids, and I continually hear about cutting sugar in their diets. So, I guess it is time to explore.