Sweet Talkin' on the Soap Box
I admit it. I am extremely aware of sugar in my life, in our lives. I don't think I am the only one. Sure, I have been relatively careful about sugar consumption all my life. Diabetes runs on my mother's side of the family.
Now it seems the talk of too much sugar in "our" diets is everywhere I turn. I talked about this just a couple of days ago... focusing more on obesity and big value meals, and concluding that companies should just start making their stuff with healthy ingredients. Now it seems the topic of sugar itself is getting its own spotlight. Perhaps it has to do with the recently released 2005 Nutrition Guidelines. Perhaps it is just that (refined) sugar is ultimately the sweet little thing that so many people become addicted to.
All this was on my mind while I was in the kitchen making dinner a couple of nights ago. The TV was on in the living room and I could hear it was the early afternoon Simpson's show. Haha!! It was all about suing the sugar companies!
Well.... the courts haven't banned sugar in real life. But there are new nutrition guidelines coming up in 2005. The new labels on food will include the amount of trans fats in the product. The new food guidelines will not address the sugar issue other than "choose carbohydrates wisely.". What drops my jaw is the blatant denial of the Sugar Association...
So we try to limit sugar, and yet it added to almost everything.
There are the sugar substitutes. Chemical substitutions. And while I don't believe moderate consumption is harmful, I think regular white cane sugar or no sugar is better, even when a person is diabetic. Just use less. Much less.
Cinnamon, by the way, is a super alternative to sweetening your tea or coffee, or even your fruit, if you must add sugar to fruit. Cinnamon is also believed to help against diabetes and high cholesterol.
That's all I am going to say about this matter. Sometimes I just need to stand on the soapbox.
Now it seems the talk of too much sugar in "our" diets is everywhere I turn. I talked about this just a couple of days ago... focusing more on obesity and big value meals, and concluding that companies should just start making their stuff with healthy ingredients. Now it seems the topic of sugar itself is getting its own spotlight. Perhaps it has to do with the recently released 2005 Nutrition Guidelines. Perhaps it is just that (refined) sugar is ultimately the sweet little thing that so many people become addicted to.
All this was on my mind while I was in the kitchen making dinner a couple of nights ago. The TV was on in the living room and I could hear it was the early afternoon Simpson's show. Haha!! It was all about suing the sugar companies!
Well.... the courts haven't banned sugar in real life. But there are new nutrition guidelines coming up in 2005. The new labels on food will include the amount of trans fats in the product. The new food guidelines will not address the sugar issue other than "choose carbohydrates wisely.". What drops my jaw is the blatant denial of the Sugar Association...
So we try to limit sugar, and yet it added to almost everything.
There are the sugar substitutes. Chemical substitutions. And while I don't believe moderate consumption is harmful, I think regular white cane sugar or no sugar is better, even when a person is diabetic. Just use less. Much less.
Cinnamon, by the way, is a super alternative to sweetening your tea or coffee, or even your fruit, if you must add sugar to fruit. Cinnamon is also believed to help against diabetes and high cholesterol.
That's all I am going to say about this matter. Sometimes I just need to stand on the soapbox.
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