It is important to watch your sugar intake. You may be eating more than you think, and eating a lot of sugar significantly increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The diets of people around the world have changed dramatically over the past few decades. At the same time, obesity and diabetes rates have been on the rise. According to data published in the medical journal The Lancet, it is predicted that by 2050, more than half of all adults and a third of the world’s children, adolescents and young adults will be overweight or obese.
Health systems in many countries are struggling to combat this I However, in Europe, for example, there were 65.6 million people with diabetes in 2024, and the International Diabetes Federation predicts this figure will rise to 72.4 million in 2050.
One of the biggest challenges we face in weight control is that a lot of hidden sugar finds its way into everyday foods – from yoghurt to bread, from salad dressing to ketchup and smoothies.
On the eve of World Diabetes Day on 14 November, we look at how to avoid excessive daily sugar intake.
What are free sugars?
Yoghurt, granola and fruit juice may seem like a healthy breakfast. However, depending on which foods you choose, this meal could mean that by mid-morning you’ve already consumed more sugar than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends for the day.
According to the National However, when you consume added or free sugars, they quickly – and often in large amounts – enter your bloodstream, causing sugar levels to spike. The same thing can happen after consuming fruit or vegetable juice, as fruit processed with juice is left without healthy fibre.
When these big spikes in blood sugar levels are repeated, it can happen that your cells are less sensitive to the hormone insulin.
The proportion of processed foods in our lives is increasing. Thus, sugar makes up a much larger part of our diet compared to previous generations.
Processed foods, even those you wouldn’t expect, such as tinned meat and fish, are modified to last longer or taste better, and often contain both sugar and salt.
Ultra-processed o according to data published in the medical journal The Lancet in March (which covered more than 200 countries), if global obesity trends continue, the number of overweight and obese adults will rise to about 57.4 per cent among men and 60.3 per cent among women by 2050.
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25 years from now, China, India and the US are predicted to have the largest numbers of overweight or obese people – 627 million, 450 million and 214 million respectively – putting significant pressure on their health systems.
The number of overweight or obese people in sub-Saharan Africa will also rise by more than 250 per cent to 522 million. Nigeria in particular stands out, where the number of overweight and obese people is projected to more than triple.
But there are things we can do
The WHO recommends limiting any added sugar to less than 10% of your daily calorie intake and aiming for less than 5% for optimal health. That’s about six teaspoons a day, and that should include sugar added to foods or baked goods, as well as sugar you can add yourself.
The WHO also suggests monitoring your body mass index (BMI) to determine if you are overweight.
How accurate is BMI
Body Mass Index (BMI) is widely used by doctors around the world because it’s a relatively simple calculation based on your height and weight.
But it’s not perfect and has obvious limitations.
It measures whether a person is heavier than average for their height, but does not determine whether this is due to fat. Your BMI also doesn’t take into account different types of body fat, such as when the new guidelines.
For this group, the BMI thresholds used to assess whether a person is overweight or obese have been lowered. This means that potential risks of being overweight can occur at an earlier stage.
The nice yes rules have been updated to take into account how the body itself, including variations in fat and muscle mass, differs between ethnic groups.