Blog Entries With Tag: Fifth Estate

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

I recently watched the season opener of the Fifth Estate (a show similar to 60 Minutes on USA television) – about the evils of sugar and what it is doing to the populations health around the world (it’s effects on diseases like diabetes to cancer and Alzheimer’s to name just a few).

It was interesting for the most part – it opened my eyes up abit to what sugar does in the breakdown in our bodies (liver – wow does that take the brunch of access sugar).  My only concern was how it was made that sugar is EVIL – that we should really avoid it all together.   That’s not possible.

 

Sugar is in in everything we eat – it’s either added – or its part of the natural structure of the item we are about to gobble down.  I do believe in reducing my sugar intake but for myself that’s mainly for my being a diabetic (and no – the type I have is not brought on by eating sugar or being overweight - SCREAM – the amount of times I’ve had to explain this to people).  My Type 1 diabetes is all to do with my autoimmune system destroying my pancreas which produces insulin, a hormone that enables the human body to get energy from food.   Capiche?

What I wasn’t aware of when watching this show – that the American government over the past 5 years has been trying to persuade food manufactures to show more information on their food labels as to the “percentage” of sugar – just like  it shows for Fats, Salt.

“ In the USA, there are no government recommended limits for sugar but the American Heart Association recommends 9 teaspoons (45 ml) for men, 6 (30) for women.  Meanwhile, USA lawmakers are trying to make information on sugar consumption clearer. ”

To me – this makes sense – if you want to have a more informed population of what they are putting into their guts.  As we diabetics all know – especially those of us who match our insulin injections to our food intake – we scrutinize the food label like it’s a mystery novel!  Or at least I know I do. 

 
Not only, what is shown on the food label, but also the ingredients that are listed on the food label – make a big difference to what I purchase and put on our table to eat.  And we always hope that what is shown on the label is truthful (even more so for those with food allergies – which could result in death).

So, would looking at the percentage of sugar on the product you’re about to purchase make a difference to you?  Or would it just be another time consuming factor in your grocery isle experience?

Personally for myself, even though I try to cook from scratch most of the time, yes, it would help determine my reason for buying a product to consume!