What is sugar?

• Sugar is one of the body’s main energy

sources
• We need to eat some sugar as part of a
healthy, well-balanced diet
• But too much sugar can lead to health
problems, so it’s important to be aware of the
sugar content of everything you eat
• By doing this, you can make sure you’re not
eating more than you should for good health
 Dangers of sugar
• If you consume lots of food or drinks high in
sugar, the energy can quickly add up
• In order not to gain weight you need to burn
more energy than you are consuming
• The sugar we do not burn turns into fat, this
can contribute to weight gain
• Not to mention all the negative effects it has
on your teeth
 Sugar loaded foods
• Some sugar-containing foods have little or no
nutritional value as they provide you with
kilojoules but little else
• For example, cordials and soft drinks are high in
sugar but they don’t contain other nutrients
• On the other hand, fruit juices may be high in
sugar but they can also be nutritious if they
contain vitamins and fruit pulp
• You can drink small amounts of these fruit juices
as part of a healthy diet
 Sugar foods
Examples of sugar-containing foods with little or
no nutritional value include:
• chocolate (50g = 7 teaspoons of sugar)
• boiled sweets (1 sweet = 1 teaspoon of sugar)
• soft drinks (375mL = 10 teaspoons of sugar)
• sports drinks (375mL = 7 teaspoons of sugar).
 How much sugar??
• It is recommended that we consume no more
than 50g or 12 teaspoons of sugar per day
• 1 teaspoon holds about 4g of sugar
• However, Australians currently consume about
30 teaspoons of sugar a day on average —
more than double the recommended amount!
 Where is sugar?
• Sugar occurs naturally in fruit (fructose), vegetables
and milk (lactose)
• You may also add sugar to your food at the table, for
example in your morning cereal
• What you might not realise is that sugar is also added
to many processed or packaged foods like biscuits, ice
cream and lollies
• It’s even added to processed savoury foods too,
including bread, sauces and salad dressings
• Even if you don’t add sugar to your food, you may still
be consuming ‘hidden’ sugar in processed foods
 Reading food labels
• Paying attention to, and understanding food labels may
help you work out how much sugar you are eating
every day
Sugars added to food include:
• table sugar (sucrose) in all its forms (e.g. raw sugar,
cane sugar, brown sugar)
• concentrated sources of sugar like fruit juices,
molasses, corn or rice syrup, or honey
• sugars that ends in ‘ose’ (e.g. glucose, fructose,
maltose, dextrose).
• Look out for all these sources of sugar when you read a
food label
How much sugar are in the things you
eat?
• Download the myfitnesspal app on your
phone or grab a laptop and go onto their
website
• Complete the activity on the handout

Keep in mind 4g of sugar= 1 teaspoon

You should not be consuming more than 12
teaspoons a day