It is customary for most people to indulge in copious amounts of food over the festive season, especially on Christmas day.
While most think that it’s innocent and in the name of celebration and that all the Christmas weight can be shed in the new year following new year’s resolutions.
Health experts warn that the food that is prepared over this period and in general exceeds the amount of salt and sugar that is needed by the human body.
According to Consensus Action on Salt and Health, 99 per cent of gravies would have red or amber indicators for salt content on nutrition labels — Bisto powder had the highest.
Sonia Pombo, Campaign Coordinator at Consensus Action on Salt and Health in the United Kingdom states, “Many of us will be tucking into a delicious roast this Christmas, but as this research shows, doing so could add large amounts of unnecessary salt to our diet.”
With regards to sugar intake, American talk show host, Dr. Oz has warned about people’s sugar intake in general.
“The recommended amount is only six teaspoons of sugar a day for women and only nine teaspoons for men.”
Think about all the soft drinks and desert that is consumed over the festive season and on Christmas day in particular.
Coca-Cola contains 10.6g of sugar per 100ml – so that’s 35g in a 330ml can and 26.5g in a 250ml can, this according to Coca-Cola UK.
This is way over the amount that is recommended by the human body considering that people drink much more than just one can.
This is over and above the amounts of dessert that is consumed where recipes state that two or three cups of sugar is needed excluding other sweet extras.
What this means is that here and there people who care about their health should do some serious reconsidering on the preparation of meals and the extras that are had with them.
