How many carbohydrates do you eat?

How much sugar is too much?

You’re wondering if you can still eat a chocolate bar after having had a piece of cake? Or whether it’s really so bad if you like having fruit juice in the morning? Here are a few rules to guide you:

There is no physical need for sweets. Our body tolerates complex carbohydrates, as found in fresh fruit and vegetables, much better. However, as total prohibition is not helping us psychologically, there are guidelines for eating sweets.

As we’ve already mentioned, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a maximum of 25 g industrial sugar per day. So you get the picture: that’s about as much as fits in the palm of your hand. In that sense, the chocolate bar after the slice of cake is indeed too much.

But you could spread these recommendations over the  week. If you’ve eaten a little too much on one day, you should just eat a little less the next day.

It’s quite normal in healthy eating behaviour to have a little more or a little less appetite. Eating too much consistently of course leads to obesity; if you regularly have too much sugar, particularly fruit sugar (fructose), it can even cause fatty liver.

If you drink 300 ml fruit juice every day, you should not consume any other sweet food, including alcoholic drinks. It’s far healthier to mix one third fruit juice with two thirds water. It also quenches your thirst much more effectively!

Do you need more flavour? Then try cold fruit tea with a dash of apple juice or supplement your spritzer with a splash of lime juice!

“Infused water” is also particularly refreshing in summer. Just add some lemon, peppermint and if you want some cucumber slices to a bottle of water and let it steep for a while. Your zero-calorie refreshing drink is ready!

What makes an apple different to apple juice?

Fresh fruits do contain a lot of sugar, but because the sugar is combined with dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals fresh fruits are still good for your health.

You should eat two portions of fruit per day. Depending on the quality, some juices do still contain the micronutrients found in fruit, but often people drink far too much juice. For example: An apple produces about 100 ml of juice.

The sugar in the juice is also absorbed much faster because there are no fibrous components present that delay the absorption of sugar in the blood.

Bread is also sugar!

If you are paying attention to your sugar consumption, you should also keep an eye on bread and other dough products such as pizza. Depending on the degree of grinding, flour consists of more or less starch, and starch is formed by long glucose chains. Although these don’t get into the blood as fast as sugar, it is still too fast.

Wholewheat varieties are better, because the whole kernel contains lots of nutritional fibre, mineral and vitamins. This keeps you feeling full for longer, stimulates digestion and strengthens the nerves and immune system.

Recommendation:

Carbohydrates for one day, expressed in foodstuffs:
– two portions* fruit
– three portions vegetables
– three portions wholewheat products, potatoes, rice, millet or legumes
– a small chocolate bar (30 g) is not a must, but allowed.

* A portion is the quantity that fits in the palm of your hand.

Your exact carbohydrate requirements are also determined by your level of activity and your muscle mass. People who do physical work can eat more carbohydrates than those who spend the day in an office.

The individual microbiome (the microorganisms that colonise the body) also plays a role in how effectively carbohydrates are utilised. Overweight people, in particular, should try to eat fewer carbohydrates. This is often more effective than reducing the overall energy intake.

How many carbohydrates do you eat?

Homework:

Write down what you’ve eaten in one day. How many carbohydrate-rich foods does your list include? How much of those have a high sugar content?
Does your intake on this day comply with the nutritional recommendations?