Sweet enough? Feeling worried about how much sugar you eat? You need to get the balance right.(REPORT: Sugar)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Australian Consumers' Association

Most people, if they're being honest, would admit to being a bit conflicted about sugar. On the one hand, it's an essential part of many foods we love--think of life without sweet things: cakes, biscuits, desserts, confectionery--and on the other, we all know these foods aren't the basis of a healthy diet.

So how much sugar is OK to include in our diet and how many of the charges levelled against it really stack up? The good news is that despite what you may have heard, there's no evidence sugar causes diabetes, heart disease, cancer or kids to be hyperactive or have attention deficit disorder.

WHAT IS SUGAR?

Most Australians probably think of cane sugar (sucrose) when someone says 'sugar'. Our cupboards may contain white, brown, raw and caster sugar, but all are essentially sucrose. There are also other types of sugar in the foods we eat.

The main sugar in fruit is fructose; in milk, lactose; and other sugars in food include glucose and maltose. All have the same amount of kilojoules and energy.

All these types of sugar may be listed separately in the ingredient list of a food, but if you look at the nutrient panel the total amount of all of them will be given under 'sugars'.

Honey is a solution of sugars and it's nutritionally similar to other sugars.

TOOTH DECAY

Sugar is one of several things that can contribute to tooth decay (dental caries). And although sugar (sucrose) is at the top of the list for its decay potential, it's by no means the only suspect. How you eat it and how well you care for your teeth are also important parts of the equation.

All sugars can be used as food by bacteria in the plaque on your teeth. The bacteria produce acids that can eat into tooth enamel, so all types of sugar can be a problem under the right conditions, as can starches and starchy foods. How much of a problem depends on how often you eat them through the day and how long they stay in your mouth.

Frequent snacking on sugary or starchy foods, and in particular ones that hang around in your mouth, like sticky, clingy biscuits, cakes and sweets, or foods you sip or suck for some time, can easily result in problems your dentist won't be happy about. Eating these foods as part of a meal is better than having them between meals.

Good oral hygiene is also...

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