Unclean skin, often tired and increasingly craving something sweet? Just a few of the 5 signs that you are eating too much sugar. On average, a Dutch person eats 24 kilograms of sugar per year. This equates to 2 kilos per month or 65 grams of sugar per day. A large amount that can have a significant impact on our body. If you know which signs you should pay attention to that you are eating too much sugar, you can respond to this and reduce the intake.
As stated earlier, the average Dutch person eats 65 grams of sugar per day. Even if you don't snack, you still get a decent amount of sugars. Not least because of all the bags and packages that are used for the preparation of food. In addition, sugar can also be found in all kinds of doughs, meat, sauces and much more.
The above figures do not include other sugars, including fructose, lactose, etc. If this is taken into account, the total intake even comes to a shocking 44 kilograms per person per year. Incidentally, there is a difference between men and women and children. Men have the largest intake closely followed by women. Children have the least intake. (Source:https://www.suikerinfo.nl/consumptiewaarden)
No less than 95% of the Dutch underestimate their own sugar intake. Of the 1,000 respondents, the majority indicated that they think they are getting 10 sugar cubes a day. However, the reality is very far from this. Many people also think that they consume much less sugar than others. This skewed picture ensures that the sugar intake is significantly higher. For some people, this is a reason to start with a low-carbohydrate diet, so that the intake of sugars is limited.
The consequences of too high a sugar intake become clearer every year. More and more Western countries are struggling with overweight people. In 2016/2017, almost half of all Dutch people were overweight. For young people aged 12 – 18 years, there is an annual increase of more than 4.5%. This means that currently more than 16% of young people are overweight. The table below shows the exact numbers:
Eating too much sugar naturally affects your body. Curious about the signs that your body is consuming too much sugar? Below are 5 signs that you are eating too much sugar:
Sugar has been proven to be addictive. The more you snack, the more your body will crave it. It works like a real addiction:your body feels an increasing need to be supplied with sugars. Do you always have a craving for sweets? Then your body is telling you that you are addicted. The need for sugar is satisfied for a while when you snack, only to come back and give your body a dip. You only get out of the dip if you snack again. And so you end up in a circle like a candy.
Another sign that your body is taking in too much sugar is fatigue. Although the intake of sugar gives you a real boost, it is short-lived. After the revival, a real dip soon follows and you are overcome by fatigue. A fatigue that seems difficult to get out of. Your body is only provided with short-term energy with sugar, while there is a need for fiber and proteins.
Eating too much sugar affects your skin. Do you notice that your skin is unclean and do you suffer from acne and pimples? Then it could simply be the fact that your body is consuming too much sugar. By limiting your sugar intake, you can see if you improve the condition of your skin. Is that the case? Then you know the culprit and you can make sure your skin glows on the outside from the inside.
It is not only hormones that can influence your mood, that certainly also applies to food. Sugar is known to affect your mood. Most people will recognize it:you feel down and depressed, but after eating a candy or chocolate these feelings disappear like snow in the sun. Unfortunately, this is short-lived. Once the sugar wears off, you will fall back into your bad mood. Result:you are irritated again and you are not feeling well.
If you eat a lot of sweets, your body gets used to this and your sense of taste adapts to it. This ensures that you experience sweet things less and less sweet. The taste nerves become insensitive to sweet flavors, so you eventually have to eat more and more sweet to be able to taste it. Fortunately, you can easily turn this around by limiting sugar intake for a while. Then your sense of taste returns and you can fully enjoy sweet flavors, without having to eat excessive sugar.
Many products contain much more hidden sugars than indicated on the packaging. As of today, it is possible to recall products online that contain a lot of sugars. This action was set up by the Diabetes Fund and is intended to send a signal to the food industry. Unexpected products that you can encounter sugar in include dressings, sauces, cereals and much more.
Do you suffer from the aforementioned 5 signs that you are eating too much sugar? You can easily limit your sugar intake. You can do this by baking and cooking yourself, buying as few processed foods as possible and eating fruit rather than sweets.
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