Mary Poppins eat your heart out!

A spoonful of sugar might help the medicine go down, but it’s also more likely to mean you end up needing some medicine to cope with the effects of sugar on your body. We are now eating more sugar than ever before; a massive 22 teaspoons a day for adults, and children between 14 and 18 get through a massive 34 teaspoons every day.

The biggest culprit here is our increased intake of soft drinks, then sweets, biscuits and cake. Those are the sugars you know about, but there are all the hidden ones. For instance that ‘healthy’ fruit yoghurt can have up to 6 teaspoons of added sugar and if you love your breakfast cereals they too can give you around 3 teaspoons a serving before you have added your milk.

Sugar has been implicated in a number of diseases, and of course makes your dentist very happy as you will be in for repeat visits. Excess sugar intake can lead to diabetes, heart disease, nervous disorders, gallstones, hypertension, and arthritis. It can also increase adrenaline in children – as if they needed it – so check the ingredients on things you and your family eat. Oh, and don’t think honey is any less harmful because the honey decays teeth faster than table sugar and has the highest calorie content of all sugars at 65 calories/tablespoon, compared to the 48 calories/tablespoon found in table sugar.

Nice piece of organic fruit anyone?