It has been labelled the new evil; doctors recommend we avoid it and now the Government are planning to tax it. Sugar is the guilty food. The fashion of food changes frequently and it is challenging to keep up with what we are supposed to eat or avoid. It could be about to become much clearer as the government step in with more than a poster awareness campaign. Plans are afoot to introduce a special sugar tax.
It feels like only yesterday that fat was the bad word. We were constantly encouraged to cut out the saturated and reduce a little of the unsaturated from our diets. The most noticeable benefactors from that food phase were the weight loss companies and the pre-packed food industry. As consumers it was clear that we should reduce our fat and therefore opt for food with the same taste but reduced fat content. It has since become clear that reducing our fat intake was not necessarily the correct approach especially as artificial sugars were being added to compensate for the lack of flavour.
Growing up through the “low fat” era I was clearly guided by my sport and the requirements of my body combined with the instruction of the nutritionist. Even though I was training hard I was weaned onto low fat products such as skimmed milk and zero fat yogurts; butter and meat with any sign of fat was certainly off the menu. It was a challenge to consume the recommended amounts of calcium, iron and omega oils whilst keeping the fat and calorie content down.
I am a true convert since my athlete days. I have managed to reduce my sugar intake and now refuse to eat any low fat product, the flavour is incomparable. I support the sugar tax as long as the money raised is used to educate the population on how to live a healthy lifestyle.
