Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Says:
How Much Sugar Is Too Much?

No guidelines are in place for daily sugar intake as healthy part of your diet or as part of your regimen for weight loss. Sugar is added to many foods that are low in nutrients and can cause weight gain, but sugar also is found naturally in many healthy foods that should be routinely included in your weight loss plan. Setting a limit on how much sugar you should eat in your diet is difficult, but the following suggestions can help you limit your intake of added sugar and sugar from high-calorie foods.

Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Say:
Reading food labels

The Nutrition Facts Food Label, which is on most foods that you buy, lists the amount of sugar in a food under Total Carbohydrate. The sugar in your diet could occur naturally, such as in a banana or a glass of milk or juice, or as an added ingredient, such as the high-fructose corn syrup found in a can of soda. For that reason, the grams of sugar listed on the food label does not tell the whole story, and you need to become a bit of a detective to decide if a food is high in “added sugar.”  This is particularly importance if you are trying to achieve weight loss or during weight maintenance.

Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Say
Understand the Ingredient List

The best way to determine if the food in your diet has added sugar is to look at the ingredient list on the Nutrition Facts Food Label. Look for words like corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup. All these things can cause significant weight gain. Also look to see how far down the ingredient list the sugar occurs. If it is near the top of the list, then the food contains a large amount of added sugar.  Again, these are frequently the most important factors in determining whether are you will be successful in achieve weight loss as well as maintaining your target weight.

Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Recommend Staying Away From the Following Foods:
The following foods contain added sugar:

• Cakes
• Cookies
• Pies
• Candy
• Many drinks, including soda, fruit punches, flavored tea and coffee beverages, sweetened teas, and cocktail mixers

Sugar also is added to other foods to provide flavor or texture, such as fruited yogurt, some sauces, and some salad dressings. All bad for weight, in particular central fat gain.

Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Say:
Watching your sugar intake CLOSELY!

Make sure you are aware of how much sugar you eat as part of your daily nutrition. Enjoy a healthy diet that contains a variety of foods, irregardless of whether or not you are trying to lose weight. When you do so, you eat sugars that are found naturally in foods, such as fruit, juice, breads, cereals, and dairy foods. Even then, still monitor the calories closely, particularly for weight loss. Try to limit foods that contain large amounts of added sugars, because they can cause weight gain. These foods, of course, are tasty and add pleasure to your meals; so, using them now and then and in small amounts is OK in your diet. However, regular intake of foods high in added sugars is not a good idea and is definitely an hindrance for successful weight loss.

Even if you have diabetes, you can eat some sugar, as long as you work it into your diet eating pattern in the place of other carbohydrates. A physician nutritionist or dietitian can help you decide how many grams of carbohydrate you need in your diet or weight loss plan, and how to include them in your diet to make your diet both healthy and tasty.

Lastly, Pasadena Weight Loss Doctors Recommend Avoiding Sweetened Cereals

Fiber is important to good health and nutrition, in particular if you have diabetes or high choelsterol. If eating a sweetened high-fiber cereal is one way for you to get more fiber, than by all means do so. A bowl every day as part of a healthy diet is probably just fine, because you are making a trade off by adding fiber to your diet with the sugar. However, remember that too much added sugar might make you gain weight. So, try to limit other sources of added sugars in your weight loss nutrition regimen, and do not overdo it on the sweetened cereal! 

For more information about Los Angeles' premier Medical Weight Management Center near Pasadena, please contact Valens Medical and come in for a One-on-One consultation with one of our specialist doctors.

www.valensmedical.com