Sugar is lurking in our foods under several aliases all intended to trick the consumer into thinking they aren’t getting much sugar in their daily diet. Our bodies are always being thrown the sugar curve ball and therefore it craves more of the white stuff. This vicious cycle is leading to wild increases in diabetes for both children and adults. Diabetes used to be considered an elderly persons disease. Not any more. In fact, it is estimated that over 25% of kids currently age ten will suffer from Type II Diabetes by the time they hit their TWENTIES! Mom, if that isn’t enough to make you change your habits for your family - NOTHING IS.
So, how much sugar is in our foods? First things first, learn how to convert GRAMS into TEASPOONS. The government uses grams instead of teaspoons on food labels. This great except we aren’t on the metric system so you often don’t realize how much a few grams of sugar really is.
4 grams is equal to 1 teaspoon. Don’t think that’s a lot? Go to your kitchen right now, take out a teaspoon, scoop up some white sugar, now eat it. Wouldn’t do it would ya? That would be derailing your diet efforts, right? Could lead to a binge, eh? Well, the next time you feel like you just got to have a regular soda how about you scoop up 10 teaspoons of sugar and eat it first. You guessed it. 10 teaspoons of sugar is the average for a can of soda.
The next thing to worry about is the four million names sugar is called. Talk about the food system being contaminated…sugar is everywhere and you just about have to be a detective to unearth it all. Pay attention to your labels because you might find four to six of these sugar aliases hidden in the ingredients list of your foods. If you combined all the sugar on a label into one cup (or more), often sugar would be the number one ingredient on the label, meaning it is the most prevalent ingredient. The food industry gets around that by adding sugar in various forms. Sneaky right?
Here is a list of the common names that sugar is added in your food.
Molasses, Honey, Sorghum, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup (the worst of them all), Glucose, Fructose, Lactose, Dextrose, Sucrose, Galactose, Maltose, Cane Juice, Beet Juice, or Concentrated Juices like Grape and Apple.
Oh, watch your organic products. Organics can be some of the worst sugar offenders. At least they use natural sources of sugar but often have to overcompensate with sugar to make up for the chemicals they don’t use. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some organic but you do have to be careful regardless of how natural it is. Poison Ivy is natural but I don’t want to roll around in it.
So, what are some common food offenders the jack up the sugar content?
Reduced Fat Peanut Butter and almost anything that is fat-free or reduced fat. To make it taste better they add in sugar. Why? Sugar has four calories per gram and fat has nine calories per gram. By swapping the two you lose five calories per gram. You also lose the satisfying fats your body needs to feel full and fill your body with sugar that will only make you want more in an hour.
Most breads are loaded with sugar. Check the labels. It is almost impossible to find bread that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup.
Low-fat salad dressing. Manufacturers have taken the fat out of the dressing, but they’ve added extra salt and sugar to make up for it. Check the label to make sure you’re not replacing heart-healthy olive oil with diabetes-causing sugar-because that’s not really a “healthy choice.”
Processed Meats. Not only are processed meats loaded with nitrates and sodium, but they usually have sugar injected in them. Your best bet is to go as processed free with all your food choices.
Protein Bars. Yes, you have to really watch the protein bars to see how many grams of sugar they have. Sometimes you need the sugar if you are preparing for an endurance ride and such, but your mid-afternoon snack doesn’t need 10 grams of sugar.
Now, go out and read your labels and if you need to carry a teaspoon with you to keep you in check…DO IT!