Cookbook author and 'I Quit Sugar' founder Sarah Wilson has revealed some of the ways sugar can sneak itself into your diet.
She joined The Project on Thursday to offer advice on getting off the white stuff, saying she would especially recommend it to anyone with anxiety or autoimmune diseases.
"A lot of autoimmune inflammatory diseases are connected now to sugar. Eight, nine years ago it was all hypothesis, now the science is rolling in," she said.
"What's interesting about anxiety is we now know it's not a chemical imbalance in the brain, it's got a lot to do with your gut health."
Wilson says the key is to know the hidden sources.
"[Avoid] low-fat products, especially dairy products; yogurts and so on," she recommended.
"Sauces, so if you go out for dinner, avoid Thai food - or anything that's got goopy sauces. Eat food that your grandmother would be able to identify and point out the ingredients in.
"[Lastly] breakfast cereals are a huge culprit. They target children and get them addicted. So that's a really good start."
But if you're stressing about that banana at morning tea, don't fear.
"I eat fruit, I don't advocate cutting out the whole fruit," said Wilson.
"Fruit juice is now considered by the WHO (World Health Organisation) as added sugar, so I've always advocated 6-9 teaspoons of added sugar a day."
Fuit juice contains the same sugar content as Coca Cola, she added.
Project co-host Mark Richardson was less than impressed by the recommendations.
"People keep vilifying sugar and I love sugar, and I suspect it loves me. I'm fit, I'm happy - " he said.
"Are you?" Wilson cut in
"And I look good!" he finished.
"I'd be interested to know how your visceral fat is - quite often you can be 'skinny fat," Wilson pointed out.
"I think I've just been fat-shamed," Richardson joked.
Wilson's new book Simpilicious Flow is in bookstores now.
Newshub.
