How Much Sugar is Okay?
It’s no big secret that eating too much sugar is bad for your aging relative’s health.
Sugar has very little nutritional value and is high in calories, which means there’s no benefit from eating it and it can cause your family member to pack on unwanted weight. The problem is that sugar tastes good! It can be easy to eat more than the recommended amount. Knowing more about sugar and how to find it on the food labels of the things your family member eats can make it easier to reduce their sugar consumption.
Senior Care in Haverford PA: How Much Sugar is Okay?
Two Kinds of Sugar
There are two kinds of sugar that people get through their diet. They are:
Naturally Occurring Sugars: These are the sugars that are naturally in foods like milk and fruit.
Added Sugars: These sugars are added to foods to change their flavor, like putting sugar in coffee or tea. The kind of sugar doesn’t matter. It could be white sugar, brown sugar, or even honey. If it’s added to a food, it’s an added sugar.
The distinction between the two matters because it is added sugars that are a problem in American diets. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that adults should get no more of their daily calories from added sugars. So, if your aging relative eats 2,000 calories each day, only 200 of them should come from added sugar. Unfortunately, the average person eats more like 14 percent of their calories in added sugars.
Detecting Added Sugar
The first step in reducing the amount of added sugar your aging relative eats is to be more aware of it. This means reading food labels and knowing what you’re looking for. Sugar can appear as many different things on the nutritional label, such as:
- Corn syrup.
- Corn Sweetener.
- High-fructose corn syrup.
- Fruit juice concentrates.
- Honey.
- Brown sugar.
- Malt sugar.
- Invert sugar.
- Raw sugar.
- Molasses.
- Syrup.
Sugars that end in “-ose,” such as fructose, dextrose, glucose, etc.
Elder care can assist your aging relative with cutting down on the added sugar in their diet. An elder care provider can take the senior grocery shopping and help them to read the nutritional labels, looking for the many ways sugar may be disguised on the label. Elder care providers can also prepare healthy meals and snacks for the older adult that don’t rely on sugars and other unhealthy substances for taste but still curb their cravings for sugar, including fresh fruit or vegetables with a sweet flavor.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Haverford, PA, please contact the friendly staff at Suma Home Care.
Call today: (484) 206-4544
Sources
https://www.heart.org/
Ibrahim recently completed a Professional Certificate in Management; He is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administrations (MBA) at a prestigious university in the UK.
With their passion for helping others and a strong background in customer services and clinical care, Ibrahim and his wife started assisting individuals in their homes.
Since started and operating Suma Home Care in 2010 in the basement of their home, Suma Home Care has provided professionals who work endlessly in providing clients with the highest quality of care, while enabling clients to maintain dignity, comfort and safety in their homes.
Suma Home Care, serves four counties in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia. Ibrahim is firmly connected to his local community and is always looking for ways to give back whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Ibrahim enjoys spending time with his wife and children, travelling and enjoys sports.
Mariama Suma-Keita BSN RN
Born in Sierra Leone west Africa, relocated to America in 1999 from a civil war and settled since in the U.S.A as a Naturalized citizen Graduated from National school of nursing with an associate , and completed BSN in Nursing from Immaculata University graduated with Honor roll Alpha Lambda sigma, After escaping the war served as a refugee nurse in Gambia and Guinea to other displaced refugees before coming to America.
In the states started in Homecare then then transition into hospital, worked in Jefferson hospital as a Registered nurse on Tele and general medsurg floor, also worked in Einstein hospital as an oncology transplant nurse , I realized that I enjoy working with patients so much and believe in quality and compassionate care one at a time dealing with an holistic approach in caring for patients and family in a familiar environment called home , I see the impact and progress when they’re home , it makes them feel relax and progress fast with recovering at home. As a nurse and entrepreneur I understand that dedication to meeting people and families needs is a priority, and able to foster relationships with family and patients that is professional and friendly to help them stay and settled home as a desire.
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