Taking action against SUGAR!

 

I love food! Like really really love food. If I'm happy, I'll celebrate with food and drink and if I'm having a down day I'll usually make my favourite comfort food or snuggle up with a cuppa tea and some chocolate or ice cream. Recently, I've been looking at what I eat more closely because I've noticed I am getting tired easily, my skin is awful and I've realised the amount off sugar I have is unreal! Even when I'm trying to be healthy. Sugar is disguised in most foods unless you cook from scratch with fresh ingredients.


So why am I talking about sugar?

Well I, among many others watched the TV programme on Channel 4 last Thursday called Jamie's Sugar Rush which discussed the next food war initiated by Jamie Oliver. We all remember his fight against school dinners (a whole 10 years ago!) and now he's back trying to get the government and the public to take action against sugar. I was absolutely shocked by the facts and figures of how much damage sugar can do and how an adult is recommended to have 7 teaspoons of sugar a day. You might think that seems doable but considering there is 8.1 teaspoons of sugar in 1 Coke which is equivalent to 5 Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, you can see how most people consume well over the recommended amount! Even the food and snacks advertised as being healthy is full of sugar. For example, a serving of bran flakes with milk and some low fat lemon yogurt and berries on top with a glass of orange juice contains 14.1 teaspoons of sugar in it!

Jamie Oliver is tackling this issue head on himself by self-imposing a levy of 20p per litre on all soft drinks with added sugar in all of his restaurants. This is to encourage people to think about why the levy is in place and hopefully persuade them to choose a healthier option. The money raised through this will then support the charity Sustain which aims at educating children on the importance of food and health.

So I am asking all of you to sign the petition for government to introduce a tax on all sugary drinks, similar to that which Jamie is already doing in his restaurants, to improve the UK's health and use the money towards supporting much needed preventative strategies in the NHS and schools around childhood obesity and diet-related disease.

The petition takes literally 2 minutes and you can do it right here right now following this link >>>  VOTE NOW
I'd also recommend taking a look at the channel 4 website here as it has loads of useful information regarding how much sugar is in drinks and ways to reducing your sugar intake!

Let me know your thoughts on sugar and the petition to introduce a tax on sugary drinks in the comments below! I think it's a really interesting topic. If you have signed it, let me know on twitter @Christina_a7 using #SugarRush

Chrissy x