No need to sugarcoat it: According to new
guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO),
only 5% of a person’s total daily calories should come
from added sugar (about 26 g per day for a 2,000-calorie
diet). Their experts made the recommendation after
studying the increasing rates of obesity, tooth decay and
heart disease, all of which are linked to sugar
consumption.
But is it too extreme? In the U.S., the Centers for
Disease Control estimates that a full 13% of U.S. adults’
total caloric intake came from sugar ∈2010. The main
culprit isn’t even sweets — it’s processed foods. A
tablespoon of ketchup has 4 g of sugar; a frozen pizza
may contain as much as 26 g. Expecting people to
sacrifice all that “is unrealistic,” says Keri Gans, a
registered dietitian and the author of The Small Change
Diet. “We should focus on what we should be eating and
not what we shouldn’t be.”
To that end, WHO’s original 10% restriction (about
52 g of added sugar per day for a 2,000-calorie diet) may
be “more realistic” ∈ the U.S., according to Francesco
Branca, WHO’s director for nutrition. That would be
slightly more than the amount recommended ∈ the
controversial guidelines the American Heart Association
released ∈2009, which suggested from 30 g to 45 g per
day.
In the long run, the onus to reduce sugar
consumption may fall on the food industry. In February,
for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
announced it will revamp nutrition labels to highlight
added sugars (as opposed to sugar that occurs naturally,
as ∈ fruit), making it easier for people to gauge a product’s
healthfulness. And following the attempted “soda ban” ∈
New York City — which aimed to outlaw sugary beverages
∈ sizes over 16 oz. (473 ml) — San Francisco and
Berkeley, Calif., are trying to pass a sugary-beverage
tax ∈ an effort to curb the 180,000 deaths worldwide that
are linked to sweetened drinks.
It may not be possible to shift our diets \right away,
says Dr. Donald Hensrud, a preventive medicine and
nutrition expert with the Mayo Clinic. But by taking
advantage of food-health initiatives — like the new
labels — and eating more fresh foods, “we can change
our taste preferences” for the better. This is a key factor
45∈ nutrition weight loss children.
SIFFERLIN, Alexandra. Sweet Sacrifice. Time. Mar 24, 2014.
Fill ∈ the parentheses with T (True) or F (False). It’s stated ∈ the text:
( ) Sugar can be a great threat to people’s health.
( ) Sugar consumption has greatly contributed to increasing the obesity epidemic.
( ) More and more people nowadays are consuming sugar ∈ recommended moderate amounts.
( ) It’s kind of easy for consumers to determine the amount of added sugar ∈ foods.
The correct sequence, from top to bottom, is
