Sweet revenge
You might feel smug about cutting out sugar from your tea or extra salt on your chips, but don't pat yourself on the back too soon - high levels of both are hiding in what you eat.
Researchers have found people are gobbling down an average of 33 teaspoons (132g) of sugar a day ? more than three times the amount recommended by experts. A recent study found that it's not just that mid-afternoon can of soft drink or bar of chocolate that hikes up our sugar intake ? supposedly "healthy" substitutes like smoothies and cereal bars are also loaded with the sweet stuff.
And two-thirds have no idea how much sugar is contained in items such as baked beans and bread.
So while you might not be surprised that a can of fizzy drink contains nine teaspoons (35g) of sugar, you might not expect a cheese and pickle sandwich to weigh in with nearly five teaspoons (18.7g) of sugar, or a fruit smoothie to have nearly six teaspoons (23.3g), she says.
Salt-lovers are no better off. The average salt intake is 9.5g (two teaspoons) a day ? which might not sound much, but the recommended level is just 6g.
And it's not enough to avoid sprinkling salt on your lunch ? about 75 per cent of the salt we consume is already added to the food we buy.
Why is sugar bad for you?
A modest amount of sugar can be part of a balanced diet ? but that doesn't mean you can tuck into the chocolate guilt-free. Sugar is empty calories ? there aren't many other nutrients in sugary foods like jam, biscuits or cakes.
A sweet tooth and a sedentary lifestyle is a dangerous combination. Sugary foods taste nice so it's easy to over consume them. They're fine if you have them as an occasional treat as part of a balanced diet and you have an active lifestyle, but people are becoming increasingly inactive at work, sitting at desks, and inactive in their leisure time. Given that we're in the grip of an obesity epidemic, they're not the best thing to be eating.
What's the damage
Aside from the looming spectre of obesity, dieticians say the main health problem linked to sugar is tooth decay. Bacteria in the mouth use sugar ? especially the types found in fruit juice, honey, or in processed foods containing added sugar ? to produce tooth-damaging acid.
The most adverse effect of sugar is on dental health. If you're going to eat sugary food, eat it at meal times and brush your teeth afterwards. It's probably worse to have a bag of sweets that you dip into during the day than a slice of cake with your lunch.
Consuming too many high-calorie sugary foods and drinks can lead to weight gain, but it won't necessarily lead to diabetes. There's a lot of concern about sugar and diabetes. Eating too much sugar leads to obesity, but sugar itself doesn't cause diabetes. What happens with obesity-linked diabetes is that your body doesn't produce enough insulin to go around.
Dieticians advise people with diabetes in their family to follow a healthy diet and take regular exercise to control their weight.
Should I switch to salty snacks? No, salt really is an issue, we consume far more than is really good for us. Our salt intake should be about two-thirds of what we're currently eating.
High salt intake is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Lowering your salt intake reduces the risk of developing these health problems.
Hidden salt can often be found in the following surprising culprits among others ? ham, soup, stock cubes, any tinned food in brine, hard cheese and ready meals.
Reducing the amount of sugar you eat doesn't mean you have to go cold turkey and ban it from your life completely. There are some really good alternatives. Instead of having jam on your toast in the morning, try having reduced-sugar jam.
To reduce your salt intake, dieticians say a good start is to step away from the salt cellar. Adding salt is more of a habit. You can flavour foods with herbs and spices. Once you stop adding it to food you soon get used to it. You find that if you go out and have a meal it will taste really salty and almost unpalatable.
If ready-meals and processed foods are a regular part of your diet, check food labels and choose meals with less than 1.25g salt or 0.5g sodium per meal. For individual foods like soups, sauces or tinned vegetables, choose foods with less than 0.75g salt or 0.3g sodium per serving.
Where is the sugar hiding?
Most forms of added sugar end with the letters "ose", so keep an eye out for the following on ingredient lists: glucose, dextrose, fructose, invert syrup, corn syrup, raw, brown or demerara sugar, glucose syrup, lactose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and treacle.
The nearer the sugar is to the start of the ingredients list, the greater amount in the product.
The recommended daily intake of added sugar is 10-11 per cent of our total calories ? about 50g (12 teaspoons) for women and 70g (17 teaspoons) for men.
And two-thirds have no idea how much sugar is contained in items such as baked beans and bread.
So while you might not be surprised that a can of fizzy drink contains nine teaspoons (35g) of sugar, you might not expect a cheese and pickle sandwich to weigh in with nearly five teaspoons (18.7g) of sugar, or a fruit smoothie to have nearly six teaspoons (23.3g), she says.
Salt-lovers are no better off. The average salt intake is 9.5g (two teaspoons) a day ? which might not sound much, but the recommended level is just 6g.
And it's not enough to avoid sprinkling salt on your lunch ? about 75 per cent of the salt we consume is already added to the food we buy.
Why is sugar bad for you?
A modest amount of sugar can be part of a balanced diet ? but that doesn't mean you can tuck into the chocolate guilt-free. Sugar is empty calories ? there aren't many other nutrients in sugary foods like jam, biscuits or cakes.
A sweet tooth and a sedentary lifestyle is a dangerous combination. Sugary foods taste nice so it's easy to over consume them. They're fine if you have them as an occasional treat as part of a balanced diet and you have an active lifestyle, but people are becoming increasingly inactive at work, sitting at desks, and inactive in their leisure time. Given that we're in the grip of an obesity epidemic, they're not the best thing to be eating.
What's the damage
Aside from the looming spectre of obesity, dieticians say the main health problem linked to sugar is tooth decay. Bacteria in the mouth use sugar ? especially the types found in fruit juice, honey, or in processed foods containing added sugar ? to produce tooth-damaging acid.
The most adverse effect of sugar is on dental health. If you're going to eat sugary food, eat it at meal times and brush your teeth afterwards. It's probably worse to have a bag of sweets that you dip into during the day than a slice of cake with your lunch.
Consuming too many high-calorie sugary foods and drinks can lead to weight gain, but it won't necessarily lead to diabetes. There's a lot of concern about sugar and diabetes. Eating too much sugar leads to obesity, but sugar itself doesn't cause diabetes. What happens with obesity-linked diabetes is that your body doesn't produce enough insulin to go around.
Dieticians advise people with diabetes in their family to follow a healthy diet and take regular exercise to control their weight.
Should I switch to salty snacks? No, salt really is an issue, we consume far more than is really good for us. Our salt intake should be about two-thirds of what we're currently eating.
High salt intake is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Lowering your salt intake reduces the risk of developing these health problems.
Hidden salt can often be found in the following surprising culprits among others ? ham, soup, stock cubes, any tinned food in brine, hard cheese and ready meals.
Reducing the amount of sugar you eat doesn't mean you have to go cold turkey and ban it from your life completely. There are some really good alternatives. Instead of having jam on your toast in the morning, try having reduced-sugar jam.
To reduce your salt intake, dieticians say a good start is to step away from the salt cellar. Adding salt is more of a habit. You can flavour foods with herbs and spices. Once you stop adding it to food you soon get used to it. You find that if you go out and have a meal it will taste really salty and almost unpalatable.
If ready-meals and processed foods are a regular part of your diet, check food labels and choose meals with less than 1.25g salt or 0.5g sodium per meal. For individual foods like soups, sauces or tinned vegetables, choose foods with less than 0.75g salt or 0.3g sodium per serving.
Where is the sugar hiding?
Most forms of added sugar end with the letters "ose", so keep an eye out for the following on ingredient lists: glucose, dextrose, fructose, invert syrup, corn syrup, raw, brown or demerara sugar, glucose syrup, lactose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and treacle.
The nearer the sugar is to the start of the ingredients list, the greater amount in the product.
The recommended daily intake of added sugar is 10-11 per cent of our total calories ? about 50g (12 teaspoons) for women and 70g (17 teaspoons) for men.