How the Hidden Amount of Sugar in Food Caused the Obesity Epidemic

There is a lot of hidden sugar in the foods you eat. You probably don’t even know how much sugar you are actually eating. Many people dealing with obesity who have sugar cravings are actually suffering from sugar addiction. There are ways to overcome sugar addiction, but first you have to know what to look out for so you can lose weight naturally.

According to recent studies the average American eats over 31 teaspoons, or 131 grams, of sugar a day. This actually equals 500 calories, which is one fourth of the total calorie count you should be taking in per day. That is a lot of sugar. No wonder so many people are dealing with sugar addiction symptoms without even knowing it.

The American Heart Association suggests that each person should have no more than 6 to 7 percent of their diet be made up of sugar. Overcoming sugar addiction will require you to read labels of the foods you eat and purchase. Sugar amounts will be listed on labels, but they are also hidden in food because food companies will call them by names other than sugar. The following list are all ingredients that are sugar: white sugar, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, honey, invert sugar, raw sugar, syrup (of any variety), high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, corn sweetener, cane sugars, evaporated cane juice, malt, turbinado, polydextose, molasses, and there are more. Avoid foods that are full of these items. Even foods like organic ketchup can be full of sugar. You might think that you are making a healthy choice with organic, but with all the hidden sugar you are setting yourself up to be a sugar addict.

All of these hidden sugars are the reason that we have such an obesity epidemic in this country. People are literally killing themselves without even realizing it. This food does not fill you up instead you end up craving more of it. By hiding the names of these sugars in their labels food producers can get away with lying to you about what you are eating. Food producers want people to not be informed, if people actually knew what they were putting in their mouths and feeding to their children they would change and those companies would suffer.

Sugar, and other ingredients that act like sugar, cause the insulin levels in the body to rise quickly. If this is left elevated for too long a period of time it leads to diseases like diabetes. It can cause a sugar craving and lead to obesity. It is easy to see how the hidden sugar had lead us to where we are now in a medical mess. Changes can be made and it is easy to do so. You have to be diligent about the food choices you make.

To stop the terrible consequences of too much hidden sugar in your diet you need to change your shopping and food preparation methods right now.

If you feel overwhelmed by all the conflicting information about food and nutrition I highly suggest you take a look at the Paleo Diet. It is the diet that humans naturally evolved to survive and thrive one. I've written a free introductory guide book about the Paleo Diet which you can get from my site.

For the free guide on the paleo diet visit my site: An Introduction To The Paleo Diet.