When most people think about the sugar in their diets, they tend to think of the obvious suspects such as the table sugar used in their tea or coffee or how much may be in those delicious lollies and cakes they find themselves craving!

The thing is, if you eat most prepared foods these days (fast food, snack food, canned soup, most breakfast cereals, bread, tomato sauce etc) then you are eating sugar.

Start to read the labels on all the foods you consume and you will be amazed to see just how many various forms of sugar they contain. Keep an eye out for things like sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, glucose, maltodextrin etc. because these are all common ingredients in prepared food.

Often people think that if they stick to organic sweeteners (‘natural’ sugar or honey) they are doing themselves a favor . . . no such luck! Sugar is sugar and should be only a very small part of your overall diet (if at all).

Some experts estimate that many people are consuming huge amounts of sugar each day without fully realising it (in some cases, up to forty teaspoons per day).

Keep a vigilant eye out and read labels and nutrition panels – where possible, avoid sugar.

Fructose/corn syrup is something to be strictly limited as this very sweet sugar is low on the glycemic index and can cause serious health problems such as insulin resistance (syndrome x) and fat storage.