If you’re confused about which sugars are healthy, and how to incorporate them into your diet, here’s a guide to the sweet stuff. We are constantly told not to consume too much sugar . But not all sugar is bad.
Naturally occurring sugars provide fuel for the body in the form of carbohydrates . Locked inside cells, they are found in fruit, vegetables and milk and come with extra nutrients, such as fibre . The dietary bogeyman is a class of sugars known as “free sugars” .
These are the processed and refined sugars added to food and drink, and also the type of sugar found in honey, syrup and fruit juice. They are described as free because they’re not found inside the cells of the food we eat. These are easier to consume without realising and linked to poor diet and elevated blood glucose.
Health experts recommend that we limit free sugars in our diet. The UK Government recommends that sugar should make up no more than 5% of our daily calorie intake, but according to the British Nutrition Foundation, on average in the UK we are consuming between 9% and 12.5% of our calories from free sugars, depending on age group.
What is a low-sugar diet?.