I bet you’re thinking “I’d like to burn it as soon as possible!”? Even though a single 5 gram teaspoon of saccharose has merely 20 calories, sweetened food frequently contains many more calories than that. In addition, how fast we burn calories is individual and depends on many factors, such as our sex, weight or height. So, how does it work in practice and what do you actually need to do burn off that proverbial teaspoon of sugar? Let’s check it out!
It is worth realising that even a single innocent teaspoon of sugar with our morning coffee means that we will need to take extra effort to burn it off, unless, of course, we want it to stay with us for a longer time as fat. However, sugar that is hidden inside products that we don’t even consider to be sweet, such as ketchup, cereal or even yoghurt, is the most treacherous one. Do you know that a glass of sweet fruit yoghurt can contain as many as 6 teaspoons of sugar, and two glasses of a sweetened carbonated drink can contain even 10 teaspoons of sugar, or 200 calories, which is more or the less same as 5 pieces of chocolate gingerbread?
[Translate to English:]
[Translate to English:]
Warto uświadomić sobie, że nawet jedna niewinna łyżeczka cukru do porannej kawy oznacza dodatkowy wysiłek, który będziemy musieli poświęcić na jej spalenie – o ile nie chcemy, by została z nami na dłużej, odkładając się w formie tkanki tłuszczowej. Tak naprawdę jednak najbardziej zdradliwy jest cukier ukryty w produktach, które niekoniecznie z nim kojarzymy, jak np. keczup, płatki śniadaniowe czy nawet jogurt. Czy wiesz, że szklanka słodkiego jogurtu owocowego może zawierać nawet 6 łyżeczek cukru, a dwie szklanki słodzonego, gazowanego napoju nawet 10 łyżeczek, czyli 200 kalorii – tyle samo mniej więcej, ile 5 pierniczków w czekoladzie?
It is a good idea to have a habit of checking labels to control the number of hidden teaspoons of sugar that you consume throughout the day – remember that the more frequently your read labels, the faster it becomes your habit to check the content and eliminate those “sugar crooks”. As for specific ways to burn off excess sugar, everything depends on your individual metabolic rate, which comprises, among other things, your age, sex, weight, temper, as well as your lifestyle: active or sedentary.
For example, if you are a middle-aged petite woman who weighs around 50 kilograms, works in an office, is gentle and limits her physical activity to walking, you will definitely burn fewer calories than a young tall man who is a physical worker and also works out in a gym.
- In practice, in order to burn 1 teaspoon of sugar, a woman who weighs around 50 kilograms would have to iron for 12 minutes or run very fast for 2 minutes or… lie down for 40 minutes ?
- A man who weighs around 80 kilograms will burn the same number of calories (20) if he irons for 7.5 minutes, sprints for around 1 minute or lies down for... merely 25 minutes.
That means, that people who are older, petite and who do not work out on a regular basis will have to work more to burn off a teaspoon of sugar than people who are young, tall, well-built and athletic. While we do not have any influence on our age or height, we can (and should!) always take care of regular physical activity because it is the best way to burn off those unnecessary calories.
Do you want to give up white sugar altogether? It is possible! Enroll into the sugar challenge with MultiSport and learn effective ways to change your habits and stop consuming the unnecessary sugar, even a single teaspoon.