《吳希素營養師專欄》如何選擇低糖食物

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.

如何選擇低糖食物

萬聖節即將來臨。當我們忙於購入各款糖果時，應該要知道如何選擇低糖份食物的技巧。

添加糖只有熱量，對人體並沒有任何營養價值。美國心臟協會建議從目前糖份建議攝入量的22茶匙，大幅度削減至女性每天6茶匙，和男性每天9茶匙的添加糖。現代的青少年對於添加糖的攝入量則更高，每天平均攝入34茶匙！22茶匙的添加糖則等於我們每天攝入大約352的熱量(卡路里)。如果我們把22茶匙添加糖的攝入量減少為每天6茶匙的話，這樣每天就能減少270卡路里的攝入量，這意味著體重在6個月內可減去14磅！

*1茶匙糖份=4.8克

下面是選擇低糖食物的小提醒：

仔細閱讀成份表中添加糖的來源：注意含有「糖」的字眼，如：糖，玉米糖漿，高果糖玉米糖漿，紅糖，蔗糖，甘蔗糖漿，麥芽糖漿，糙米糖漿，蜂蜜，濃縮果汁，和果糖。

比較不同食物的營養標籤。在營養標籤中，你會看到食品中的糖份比例。例如：大部分含糖的早餐麥片都含有30-50％的純糖份。

多選擇天然的食物。例如：果汁飲料則選擇100％果汁，或多選新鮮水果或無糖乾果片以代替水果甜點。

減少食用含大量添加糖的食物，如汽水，果汁飲料和糖果等。

高糖飲料包括：

思樂冰(大)（40盎司）：21茶匙糖份

樽裝汽水（20盎司）：13茶匙糖份

甜冰茶（20盎司）：10茶匙糖份

罐裝汽水（12盎司）：8茶匙糖份

維他命水（20盎司）：8茶匙糖份

冰卡布奇諾咖啡（12盎司）：8茶匙糖份

Frappuccino咖啡（12盎司）：7.5茶匙糖份

思樂冰(小)（12盎司）：6.5茶匙糖份

吳希素營養師的專訪(運動營養)將於10/15(星期六)下午6:30及10/16(星期日)下午12:30於鳳凰衛視播出。