The Not So Sweet Facts On Sugar & Diabetes Awareness

It's hard to avoid sugar when it seems to be hidden away in so many of our everyday foods! Take a look at some of our sweet facts below they may surprise you!

• On average the UK population eats 50kg of sugar per person per year...that's a lot of sweet tooth's!
• Many people eat too much refined sugars made up of white, brown, raw, honey, glucose. sucrose, molasses and syrup
• 70% of this sugar is found in soft drinks, confectionery, breakfast cereals, biscuits, beer, wine and supposed healthy bars
• A high intake in sugar causes our blood sugar levels to shoot up giving what i know as a sugar high. These momentary feel good feelings are followed by a sugar crash which can leave us tired, irritable and craving more sweet foods
• Low fat and diet foods often contain extra sugars to help improve their taste, even savory foods such as pasta sauces, ready made soups etc may contain added sugar
• The Guideline Daily Amount of sugar for the average adult is 90g and 50g max of that should be made up from added sugars. That is the equivalent of 13 teaspoons of sugar a day or two cans of fizzy drinks
• Look at the "carbs as sugars" on the nutrition info of your food packaging- this includes both natural and added sugars. Under 5g per 100g is low more than 15g per 100g is high
• However sugar is not all bad! We need some sugar in our diets to supply energy to fuel our muscles and keep our brain active

Now we know that facts on sugar it's important to be aware of Diabetes. This is a long term condition that affects the bodies ability to process sugar or glucose which can have very serious health consequences, however with careful management people with Diabetes can continue to live a healthy life. There are two types of Diabetes-

Type 1- The body can't produce any insulin, this type of Diabetes usually occurs before the age of 40 and accounts for only around 10% of all cases. This is the most common form of childhood Diabetes.

Type 2- The body doesn't make enough insulin or becomes resistant to insulin so that it won't work properly. This is the most common form of Diabetes account for 90% of cases and is frequently linked with being overweight,

Symptoms of Diabetes include-

• Increased Thirst
• Drinking a lot of fluids
• Passing a lot of urine
• Weight loss
• Being tired for no reason
• Genital itching or repeated bouts of thrush
• Slow healing of wounds
• Blurred Vision

We hope this will help you be aware of diabetic symptoms to look out for and to be cautious of added sugars in your diet! Here on campus we always strive to use as little sugar as possible, if you have any questions on this simply ask us!