Your Friend Sugar Tries to Manipulate You by Hiding
We have discussed previously how sugar is processed in your body, the benefits of less sugar, and how sugar impacts your weight. What many companies don’t want you to know is they use sugar in many different foods to get you to like and be addicted to their products.
Now let’s figure out where she is hiding so you can truly decide if you want her or not.
Your Friend Sugar Hides in Unexpected Places
Sugar hides in some unexpected foods. There are many foods we were told to eat because they are ‘healthy’ that taste pretty good because they have added sugar.
Let’s run down a few items that often contain added sugars.
Yogurt
Let’s start with yogurt. You have been told about all the wonderful probiotic benefits of yogurt and told to run out a get it for you and your family. The problem is these flavored yogurts have similar to 22g of sugar with 17g being added sugars for a serving. That is 5 teaspoons of sugar for one serving. It is recommended to have no more than 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men in a day.
So what are you to do? Grab yourself a full-fat unsweetened yogurt with 6 g of sugar or 1.5 teaspoons. Then add in fresh berries (an entire cup of blueberries has 14g sugar and 7g for strawberries) and some nuts to create a snack that has fiber and protein with it.
Why is that better? Because you get better nutrition eating the whole fruit and nuts instead of eating the fruit puree in a flavored yogurt which will be absorbed quickly and not indicate satisfaction.
Salad Dressing
How about salad dressing? For example, dressings can have 10 g of sugar per 2 Tablespoons serving. That is 2.5 teaspoons of sugar slathered on your healthy salad or veggies. Be careful about dressings that are fat-free. Often they replace the fat with sugar.
I understand often times it is better to be able to eat your veggies than to eat something less nutritious. Don’t completely get rid of salad dressing especially if it helps you eat your veggies. It is better to try to find a dressing with no added sugar. Ask friends or look at reviews to see which no sugar dressings might work best for you.
Nut Butter
Nut butter is a great source of protein and fats. It is important to read the labels. Many nut butter types have 1g sugar naturally but the manufacturer adds 2 g of sugar per 2 tablespoon serving. The biggest problem comes with specialty nut butter that has many different flavors. Even the popular hazelnut spreads have 21g of sugar with 19 g added sugars for a 2 tablespoon serving. Similar to flavored yogurt that is almost an entire days worth of sugar in one serving.
Look at labels and check for nut butter with no added sugars like Smuckers or Jif Naturals. Also, consider making your own peanut butter or other nut butter if you have a high-powered blender. If you like flavored nut butter consider getting a no sugar added nut butter and then add your own ingredients to get the flavor you like.
Applesauce
How bad can applesauce be? It is already naturally sweetened, right? Actually, many applesauce brands add high fructose corn syrup or another sweetener to their apple sauce. A medium apple has about 19g of sugar. Applesauce can have 25g sugar for a 1/2 cup serving. That is all your sugar for the day with none of the good for you fiber coming in with it.
What to do? Check labels. Most brands will have a no-sugar-added version of applesauce that you can try. Next, consider using that high-powered blender to make your own applesauce or eat the apple.
Crackers
You wouldn’t think that crackers would be a problem with sugar but there are some very popular brands like Ritz and Wheat Thins that have 4 g of sugar in a single serving. Remember to check the label for added sugar. The other problem with crackers is that they just break down into glucose and end up acting just like sugar.
Consider finding crackers that have some whole grains and fiber or eat them with fats and proteins to dampen the impact on blood sugar.
Cereal
Most cereals have between 10 to 20 g of sugar per serving. There are some with 0 to 5 g of sugar. Again similar to crackers beyond the added sugars, you also have the process of breaking down carbohydrates into glucose that will also spike blood sugar.
Consider finding cereals with low or no added sugar and have them infrequently. It is always important to look at the label.
Today look at the labels for all the cereal in your pantry and see where you are starting with sugars. Choose to make one step toward health and eat the cereal with less sugar today and maybe half a serving tomorrow with some added protein or fats.
Condiments
Many condiments contain sugar. Ketchup has about 4g and BBQ sauce has 12 to 15 g of sugar for a 2 tablespoon serving. You can also find sugar in honey mustard, tartar sauce, and as mentioned above dressings.
The most important thing to do is check labels. Again start with what you normally have in your pantry. Which are your favorite condiments? Check those labels first and choose one to try a lower sugar or sugar-free version the next time it needs to be replaced.
Pasta Sauce
Many of your jarred pasta sauces contain anywhere from 3 g to 12 g of sugar per 1/2 cup serving. Understand that often sugar is used to help with the acidity from the tomatoes. Just ensure you know how much sugar you are getting in your pasta sauce by reading the label.
You always have a choice for how much sugar you eat in a day. If you currently use a sauce with 12 g of sugar consider trying one with 5g of sugar to decide if it tastes just as good.
No Sugar Added
Labels can also be confusing. Often the label will say no sugar added. Look at the ingredients because sugar may come in the form of a fruit juice concentrate. It will still show up on the label as sugar but it will not be called added sugar. That makes you think it is part of the whole food when in actuality it is added in as fruit juice.
Dried Fruit
When fruit is dried the sugar is concentrated into a smaller area. Dried fruit is a wonderful sweet treat. The problem comes with the companies adding additional sugar on the outside to make it sweeter and more appealing. Adding sugar is unnecessary. Try dried fruits without added sugar.
Protein Powder
Protein powder is often made from whey (milk) or a vegetable protein (peas.) Generally, companies add sugar to add flavor to protein powders. Since many people think of protein powders as healthy food, we assume it doesn’t contain anything unhealthy. Again it is important to check labels to ensure that there are no added sugars in your protein powder.
So What Can You Do?
There are many places that sugar can be hiding in foods you don’t think of as sweet and wouldn’t think to check to see how much sugar it contains. This information is meant to help you with your health choices. I do not want you to throw away half your pantry.
Just get curious about the foods you use in your everyday life. Check one label and make a decision to love that food choice or to try a different brand with less or no sugar.
Do not be a victim to the food that has always been in your life. Take control of your sugar intake by making choices for which foods get to have sugar in your life and which foods are perfectly fine without added sugars.
If you would like to work more on the sugar in your life then join us to Kick Sugar Cravings to the Curb.
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