Sugar: Hidden In Food
Sep 22, 2024
Understand why artificial sweeteners are not a healthy substitute for getting that sugar kick!
Just like salt and fat, most of the sugar in diets come from processed foods. The less you have to do to get food ready for your plate, the more likely extra sugar has been added in.
How can you tell how much sugar you're eating?
Using the nutrition label, you’ll notice serving information, total calories, nutrients and % daily value. All of these are great to look at to understand how much to eat and what nutrients you are getting from your food.
To identify sugars, check the "Total Carbohydrates" section on nutrition labels. You’ve likely heard the term "carbs," as in “I need to cut my carbs to lose weight.” Carbohydrates include three types: fiber, starch, and sugar.
Fiber
Fiber is a beneficial carbohydrate! Consuming the recommended amount can help you feel full and assist your body in eliminating waste (just remember to stay hydrated).
Starch
Non-green vegetables like potatoes and squash, along with grains such as wheat and rice, and legumes like peas and beans, fall under starches. These are essential for nutrition, but to minimize their sugar impact, opt for whole versions rather than processed ones. The closer they are to their original form, the better. For grains, look for “whole grain” on the ingredient label.
Sugar
Sugar can appear in many forms, including fructose, lactose, dextrose, honey, molasses, and high fructose syrup. It's important to distinguish between “Added sugars” and “Naturally occurring sugars” on nutrition labels. Added sugars are those included in products like soda and candy, but they can also be found in many prepared and processed foods. Aim to reduce your intake of added sugars as much as possible.
Hidden Sugars are sneaking into many foods we eat daily, and they are not always where you would expect. Even if you consume fewer calories, using calorie-free sweeteners like aspartame or stevia might still lead to weight gain. This can be unexpected, but it occurs because these sweeteners can trigger an insulin response. As a result, you may feel hungrier, which can cause your body to store more fat, particularly in the liver.
Here are some of the alternate names for sugar to look for:
1. Syrup or Liquid Sugars
• Agave Nectar/Syrup
• Barley malt
• Blackstrap molasses
• Brown rice syrup
• Buttered sugar/buttercream
• Caramel
• Carob syrup
• Corn syrup
• Evaporated cane juice
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Golden syrup
• High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Malt syrup
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Rice syrup
• Refiner's syrup
• Sorghum syrup
• Treacle
2. Simple Sugars
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Galactose
• Glucose
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Sucrose
3. Granulated or Solid Sugars
• Beet sugar
• Brown sugar
• Cane juice crystals
• Cane sugar
• Castor sugar
• Coconut sugar
• Confectioner's sugar (aka, powdered sugar)
• Corn syrup solids
• Crystalline fructose
• Date sugar
• Demerara sugar
• Dextrin
• Diastatic malt
• Ethyl maltol
• Florida crystals
• Golden sugar
• Glucose syrup solids
• Grape sugar
• Icing sugar
• Maltodextrin
• Muscovado sugar
• Panela sugar
• Raw sugar
• Sugar (granulated or table)
• Sucanat
• Turbinado sugar
• Yellow sugar
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