How about limiting our sugar intake for the new year?
If limiting the amount of sugar in your diet is your New Year’s resolution, then this post is for you! “Hidden” sugars are in most processed products. If undetected, hidden sugars can easily impact your blood sugar even when you might think your diet is reasonably healthy. Reading labels is really important. There are numerous names for sugar in processed foods, so being familiar with those names is helpful to stay away from all this unwanted added sugar. Getting rid of foods containing hidden sugars might be the best first step in your step-by-step approach to getting rid of foods that do not contribute to sustaining your health and wellness.
How to spot “hidden” sugars in labels
What follows is a list of most of the various names for sugar in processed foods, as stated in Feeding You Lies, by Vani Hari:
- Agave nectar
- Barbados sugar
- Barley malt
- Beet sugar
- Blackstrap molasses
- Brown sugar
- Buttered syrup
- Cane juice crystals
- Cane sugar
- Caramel
- Carob syrup
- Castor sugar
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Corn syrup
- Corn syrup solids
- Crystalline fructose
- Date sugar
- Demerara sugar
- Dextrane
- Dextrose
- Diastase
- Diastatic malt
- Ethyl maltol
- Evaporated cane juice
- Fructose
- Fruit juice
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Galactose
- Glucose
- Glucose solids
- Golden sugar
- Golden syrup
- Granulated sugar
- Grape sugar
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Icing sugar
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Malt syrup
- Maltodextrin
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Muscovado sugar
- Raw sugar
- Refiner’s sugar
- Rice syrup
- Sorbitol
- Sorghum syrup
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Syrup
- Treacle
- Turbinado sugar
- Yellow sugar
What about “sugar-free” products?
Beyond this helpful list that can allow us to spot “hidden” sugars much more easily, another thing to stay away from are “sugar-free” processed foods. Why? Here’s an example of why, as explained in Keto Answers, by Dr. Anthony Gustin and Chris Irvin: “[W]e have tested a lot of “sugar-free” snacks and have seen huge increases in blood sugar. A notable brand here is SmartSweets, which provides gummy versions of our favorite candies and markets them as only having 3 grams of sugar per serving. The catch? They use 30 grams of low-quality fiber syrups that they can label as fiber on the nutrition facts but act just like sugar in your bloodstream.”
In summary
If cutting down your sugar intake is one of your top priorities for the new year, becoming familiar with the various types of sugar and staying away from “sugar-free” processed foods are two major steps to take. Of course, this leads to eating whole foods. Whenever you want to use sugar in a recipe (beverage, dessert, or other), make sure you use healthy sugar substitutes instead of the traditional refined sugar.
Have a Wonderful New Year!
References
Gustin, Anthony, and Chris Irvin. Keto Answers : Simplifying Everything You Need to Know about the World’s Most Confusing Diet. Middletown, De, Four Pillar Health, 2019, p. 396.
Vani Hari. FEEDING YOU LIES : How to Unravel the Food Industry’s Playbook and Reclaim Your Health. Carlsbad, California, Hay House, Inc., 2019, p. 101.
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