For most of us it's true - we like sweet foods. Some of us have more then others and some of us just like a treat from time to time. I can't actually think of anyone who dislikes sweetened products, be it chocolate, cake or coffee.

I first looked into the sugar in the everyday foods we eat in detail some years ago and what I found was astounding. But first let's look at how our bodies deal with sugar:

Sugar is refined (or simple) carbohydrate, so refined that after it leaves your mouth and heads for the depths of the digestive system, what happens? Well, Not much actually. Because it's so refined, it doesn't require much digestion time and so the sugar that comprises these simple carbs (glucose, fructose and all those type) zip through your digestive system and enter your blood stream very quickly. Causing a peak in energy and a high level of glucose in the blood steam.


In healthy people the pancreas will excrete insulin to stabilise the levels, causing your blood sugar levels to drop. Fast. This sudden drop forces your adrenal glands to secrete adrenalin in an attempt to boost the blood sugar levels back up. This is a completely different story for diabetics, but that's another story.

It's a rollercoaster ride inside our bodies. But the fact is, simple carbohydrates like refined sugar enters the blood quickly and more often then not it's not used, removed and stored. As fat. Complex carbohydrate (like brown rice) takes much longer to digest and therefore enters the blood at glucose much slower allowing the body to use it and not remove it (or store it) as much.

That said, I will now get back to sugar as a simple carbohydrate and how it affects a calorie controlled diet. UK Department of Health Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) are a daily calorie intake of 1940 calories per day for women and 2550 for men.

A level teaspoon of sugar (4 grams) yields 15 calories, which is not really a lot by itself. Two sugars in a coffee - 30 cal extra. Hmmm not worth writing home about right? But what happens to the diet (and I mean diet in the sense of what we eat, not what we restrict) when we start digging around the labels of our favourite treats and snacks. Lucky I've done the leg work so you don't have to.

Today I'll cover 10 of the most popular chocolate bars found on the shelves here in the UK, over time I'll work through many of the food groups we generally love a little too much and here's what I found:

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