Limburgers have a real sweet tooth who do not eat or drink sugar-free. Converted, we consume 99 sugar cubes every week with all health problems.
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This Monday, the Diabetes Fund will therefore start the National Sugar Challenge to encourage people to consume less sugar.
Without sugars
More than 50,000 people have registered for the third edition and will eat and drink for seven days without added sugars. This does require some help, says Bastiaan de Galan in L1mburg Central.
Product description
According to the professor of internal medicine, clear product descriptions are still lacking in the store. The public is aware that there is a lot of sugar in soft drinks, cookies and sweets. But if you do your shopping and read the fine print on the packaging, you will be surprised to find that soup, dressing and peanut butter are also stiff with sugar.
Being overweight
It is urgent that we limit our sugar intake, De Galan warns. After the United States and Germany, the Netherlands ranks third in the world when it comes to sugar consumption. And all that sugar is converted into fat in the body, especially if it lacks sufficient exercise.
All that fat then leads to obesity and can cause type 2 diabetes and lead to cardiovascular disease. Currently, more than half of adults in the Netherlands are overweight and more than a million people have type 2 diabetes.
Sweetie
The Galan hopes that the National Sugar Challenge makes people more aware of their sugar consumption. He would like to see the government take action. “A tax on sugar could help because that makes certain products with a lot of added sugars more expensive, so that they automatically go less over the counter.” The professor also argues for a better product description. “Yes, sweetening coffee can also help,” he agrees.
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