Watching Sugar Intake Both Added and Natural

I don't want to rain on the Valentine's Day parade... But I wanted to share this info on sugar.

Sugar is such a biggie when it comes to weight lost and silent inflammation in the body. It is often hard to avoid because it is added to everything and even if it is not added, there are the natural sugars. Just trying to stay within a good daily range of not more that 22-24 grams for women can be tricky.

Read nutrition labels and carefully choose foods with the lowest amounts of added sugar to reduce your daily consumption and lessen your risk of fatal heart disease.

However, I would take that advice further. It’s not only the added sugars found in foods, but the natural sugars as well as the sugars that come from carbohydrates that we need to take into consideration. Carbohydrates break down into sugar in the digestive tract and affect the body as sugar. 

Use caution with artificial sweeteners.

I just read this (below) from the American Heart Association and was disappointed to see this in print. Artificial Sweeteners have not been proven safe. Read more here.

"Try non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose or saccharin in moderation. Non-nutritive sweeteners may be a way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding more calories to your diet. The FDA has determined that non-nutritive sweeteners are safe" -American Heart Association

WHAT?

Not so. It is best to use natural sweeteners like raw honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar and stevia. And if you were lucky enough to get chocolate today, enjoy :)