Watch Out For Solid Fats and Added Sugars

This post is the 5th in a series of 10 titled “10 Simple Steps to Make Good Habits More Delicious” from the Sport, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition group.
Sugar is definitely getting a bad reputation lately. Do you know why? Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that gives some foods their sweet taste. Sugar is dense in calories and not very dense in nutrients. Let me explain what that means: sugar can contribute to weight gain while it does not have any nutritional value.
Let’s set something straight: a little sugar will not kill you! Sugar can be used as a quick energy boost or a sweet reward! However, we should control how much we eat daily. Each teaspoon of sugar has 4 grams of sugar. Men should limit the amount of sugar to 9 teaspoons (36g) a day. Women are encouraged to limit their daily sugar consumption to less than 6 teaspoons (24g) a day.
Here are some foods high in sugar that should be limited:

Limit the amount of regular soda you drink

Doughnuts are Tasty! But, they should be limited as well

Regular soda (1 can has 33g sugar!)
Grain based desserts
Fruit drinks
Dairy based desserts
Candy
Puddings

Next, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourages us to limit the amount of solid fats we eat. Fat is a nutrient that we need, but in less quantities than we eat every day. Solid (saturated) fat is very high in calories (9 calories/ gram!) and has minimal nutritional value. High solid fat intake has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and weight gain. Here are some foods that are high in solid fat and can be limited as well: