As a percentage of our overall intake, Americans' fat consumption has dropped in the last couple decades, but our sugar intake has increased by 30 percent!

I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you The Skinny on Your Health.

That's because of all the added dietary sugar in our diet. Maybe you avoid offenders like candy and soda. But even things you think of as "healthy" are full of added dietary sugar: juice and sport drinks, breakfast cereals, canned vegetables.

Generally, the more processed a food is, the more sugar it has in it. Some spaghetti sauces are loaded with added sugar.

But over time, all that sugar changes how our bodies function, raising insulin production and slowing the metabolic process, so that our bodies turn more and more of it into-you guessed it-fat.

Diabetes rates in this country, along with rates of obesity, are simply skyrocketing.

So learn to recognize that rocket fuel. Whether it's called glucose, high fructose corn syrup or just plain sugar, it's basically the same nutritionally worthless sweet stuff.

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Caroline J. Cederquist, M.D. is a board certified Family Physician and a board certified Bariatric Physicians (the medical specialty of weight management). Dr. Cederquist is the founder of Bistro M.D., a home diet delivery program that specializes in low calorie gourmet food that is delivered to your home or office. Bistro M.D. serves as culmination of Dr. Cederquist's expertise and experience in the world of medical weight loss.