《吴希素营养师专栏》如何选择低糖食物

Tips to Choose Foods that are Low in Added Sugar

Halloween is around the corner. While we're shopping for treats, I would like to share some tips on how to choose foods that is low in added sugar.

Added sugar is empty calories - that means it provides no nutrients other than calories. The American Heart Association recommends a drastic cut in the amount of added sugar we consume, from the current average intake of 22 tsp per day down to 6 tsp for women and 9 tsp for men. Teens' current sugar intake is even higher, at a shocking 34 tsp ! An average 22 tsp of sugar intake means we are all eating about 352 empty calories in sugar every day. By cutting your sugar intake from 22 tsp to 6 tsp a day - it will help save 270 calories a day, which means losing 14 pounds in just 6 months !

*1 tsp of sugar = 4.8 grams

Here are tips for choosing foods low in Added Sugar:

Read the ingredient list for sources of added sugar: any terms consists of sugar, syrup, molasses, such as: sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, cane sugar, cane molasses, barley malt syrup, brown rice syrup and honey, fruit juice concentrate, and fructose. Compare the grams of sugar on the Nutrition Facts label to the grams in a serving. You will see the percentage of sugar in the food. For example, many sweetened breakfast cereals are 30-50 percent plain sugar.

Choose foods that most resemble the natural form. For instance, choose 100% fruit juice over juice drinks, and choose fruit or dried unsweetened fruit over colorful fruit snacks.

Cut down on foods that are the biggest contributers to added sugars - soda, fruit punch and candy.

Watch out for High-Sugar Drinks:

a large Slurpee (40 oz): 21 tsp of sugar

a bottle of regular soda (20 oz): 13 tsp

a bottle of regular iced tea (20 oz): 10 tsp

a can of regular soda (12 oz): 8 tsp

a bottle of Vitaminwater (20 oz): 8 tsp

a small iced cappuccino (12 oz) : 8 tsp

a tall Frappuccino blended coffee (12 oz): 7.5 tsp

a small Slurpee (12 oz): 6.5 tsp

Hazel's interview on Exercise Nutrition Tips will be appearing on Phoenix TV this Saturday at 6:30p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

如何选择低糖食物

万圣节即将来临。当我们忙於购入各款糖果时，应该要知道如何选择低糖份食物的技巧。

添加糖只有热量，对人体并没有任何营养价值。美国心脏协会建议从目前糖份建议摄入量的22茶匙，大幅度削减至女性每天6茶匙，和男性每天9茶匙的添加糖。现代的青少年对於添加糖的摄入量则更高，每天平均摄入34茶匙！22茶匙的添加糖则等於我们每天摄入大约352的热量(卡路里)。如果我们把22茶匙添加糖的摄入量减少为每天6茶匙的话，这样每天就能减少270卡路里的摄入量，这意味着体重在6个月内可减去14磅！

*1茶匙糖份=4.8克

下面是选择低糖食物的小提醒：

仔细阅读成份表中添加糖的来源：注意含有「糖」的字眼，如：糖，玉米糖浆，高果糖玉米糖浆，红糖，蔗糖，甘蔗糖浆，麦芽糖浆，糙米糖浆，蜂蜜，浓缩果汁，和果糖。

比较不同食物的营养标签。在营养标签中，你会看到食品中的糖份比例。例如：大部分含糖的早餐麦片都含有30-50％的纯糖份。

多选择天然的食物。例如：果汁饮料则选择100％果汁，或多选新鲜水果或无糖乾果片以代替水果甜点。

减少食用含大量添加糖的食物，如汽水，果汁饮料和糖果等。

高糖饮料包括：

思乐冰(大)（40盎司）：21茶匙糖份

樽装汽水（20盎司）：13茶匙糖份

甜冰茶（20盎司）：10茶匙糖份

罐装汽水（12盎司）：8茶匙糖份

维他命水（20盎司）：8茶匙糖份

冰卡布奇诺咖啡（12盎司）：8茶匙糖份

Frappuccino咖啡（12盎司）：7.5茶匙糖份

思乐冰(小)（12盎司）：6.5茶匙糖份

吴希素营养师的专访(运动营养)将於10/15(星期六)下午6:30及10/16(星期日)下午12:30於凤凰卫视播出。