Sugar has been the hot topic on health for the last 18 months, with the media constantly running stories about how much hidden sugar there is in everyday items. The NHS is trying to curb sugar consumption for good reason, sugar (among other things) is directly linked to Type 2 Diabetes.
Instances of people developing Type 2 Diabetes has been growing significantly in the UK and the medical profession are keen to try and prevent new cases by getting us to be more aware of how sugar plays a part in it.
We’re big fans of Change4Life campaign by the NHS overall, having previously written about their Smart Recipes App. The latest initiative is the Change4Life Sugar Smart App.
After downloading the free app (available on both the Apple App Store & Google Play) you just have the scan the barcode on the back of the food item to see instantly how much sugar it contains. Over 75,000 food and drink items are in the database, meaning it should work for most things you buy. You can also scan before you buy so you don’t end up buying a weekly shop full of sugar.
So how much sugar should you be consuming? It’s recommended that children under the age of 10 have 4-5 cubes of ADDED sugar maximum per day. For adults this rises to 7 cubes, which equates to around 30grammes.
Be warned – a can of coke contains around 9 cubes of added sugar so the app is likely to shock you when you realize how much we all go over the recommended daily allowance.
The positive is that you don’t need to worry about fruit, as it contains no ADDED sugar (plus it’s also part of your five a day). The focus here is added sugar, which is there for extra sweetness and taste.
If you’ve downloaded the Sugar Smart app and are now wondering how to keep eating your favourite things, head over to the official website where you can find a bunch of low-sugar recipes and sugar swap ideas for some extra inspiration.
