My Energy Drink has less Sugar than my Breakfast Cereal

Imagine my surprise when I learned my energy drink has less sugar per 100 grams than my breakfast cereal, I could well imagine everybody is shocked.

Although some of the more discerning reader may assume breakfast at my house is Fruit loops and Coco pops. I didn’t even check those after I fell off my chair with the whole grains and dried fruits coming up to a whooping 28.7 grams per 100 grams, that is 28.7% of the breakfast consist of sugar, also the recommended serving size is 45 grams which brings it to 12.9 grams of sugar. Whilst the energy drink is 13.8 grams per 100 grams.

Well the dried fruits do add to the sugar content but also in the ingredients breakdown 6% sugar has been added, leaving the sugar from dried fruit to be 22.7%. Dried fruits, still need to be watched, as they are calorie dense, due to the water being removed from them, also if you are eating dried fruits check extra sugar hasn’t been added. It still needs to be in moderation but can be a good swap from less nutritious options such as candies.

Sugar is linked to obesity and promotes growth of bacteria which causes tooth decay. It affects people with diabetes adversely. It is recommended they have less than 10 grams to reduce the risk of an insulin spike.

Sugar is a carbohydrate, which gets broken down in the body to glucose, which provides energy for the body.

If you remember the food pyramid from school, you should recall sugar is in the top with the fats and supposed used in moderation.

When I was researching to learn to increase my health, my energy and lose weight, it was recommended to eat nothing over 5% in sugar and not over 8% sugar with fruit juice included. This is quite a challenge and quickly you work out fresh is best and preparing foods and sauces yourself reduce drastically the amount of sugar in the food you are eating.

Sugar has little nutritional value; it is usually used as a filler to increase flavor and bulk up a product.

Also if you are eating low-fat or no-fat foods and not losing weight check the sugar content it is usually increased in these products, which is why they recommend it being used in conjunction with exercise. Which for some people with medical issues cannot accommodate nor can the time poor who is working hard at a stationary job and then comes home to the house work.

It’s not about going without, however it is about planning your treats.

I would rather have my energy drink of 45.5 grams of sugars over the whole bottle, and do 44 minutes of dance than go without it, or I could drink half and this would make it 22 minutes of dance.

Chocolate has more sugar than the breakfast cereal per 100 grams with a 38.7 grams, which will take nearly 2 hours of non-stop house work to burn off, however if you just did 8 hours of house cleaning, I guess this is great high calorie treat!

If you want a breakfast treat go for the breakfast cereal instead of the porridge or wheat biscuits.

Stevia sweeter than sugar and next to no calories, whilst every gram of sugar is giving us 4 calories. Stevia is a herb which gives virtually no calories.

If you need your sweet tooth indulged frequently and the math above hurts your head. Stevia is the no need to further think about sweetener.