Shut Out Sugar for a Healthier Life

Too much sugar can be dangerous to your health, warns the Harris County Medical Society (HCMS) in its public health campaign Shut Out Sugar. Sugar increases your risk for diabetes and heart disease and is a major cause of the obesity epidemic killing thousands of Americans each year. Sugar-sweetened drinks are to blame for nearly half (46 percent) of the added sugar in our diet. To illustrate this point, HCMS created a short video showing just how much sugar is hidden in your snack foods and drinks.



HCMS recommends several ways to shut out sugar for a healthier life:

• Start by giving up at least one sugar-sweetened drink a day and avoid super-sized servings.
• Make water your No. 1 choice.
• Switch to no-calorie drinks to break the sugar habit.
• Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juices.
• Limit sugary drinks to a special treat.
  

For more on the dangers of sugar and how you can protect your health, visit sugarshutout.org.

Shut Out Sugar was funded in part by the Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF) as part of TMAF's Medical Community Grant program.