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Family preparing a meal together

You love your family (and yourself) and you want everybody to be healthy.

Thankfully, there are many different things you can do to help them achieve that goal, including encouraging more water and produce and less junk food.

However, there’s another hidden ingredient in the American diet that has gotten way out of control in many households…

Added sugar.

You already know about the dangers of excess sugar. Countless studies have proven its relationships with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, fatigue, and even some cancers.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), there may be an easy way to better control your family’s overall sugar intake – limiting added sugar. In fact, in a recent article, a family chronicled their year-long journey of cutting almost all added sugar completely out of their diet.

Added Sugar?

Just think about this: the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day. This is nearly four times the recommended daily amount.

The two main sources of added sugar are:

  • Sugar you’ve added to food yourself (this includes everything from table sugar to maple syrup)
  • Processed/prepared foods

The American Heart Association (AHA) has recommended that Americans drastically cut back on added sugar, and recommends no more than 100 calories per day (about 6 teaspoons) for most women and no more than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons) for most men. This amounts to around 24 grams of added sugar a day for women and 36 grams of added sugar for men.

Do You Really Need To Give This Up?  was originally published on elev8.com

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