Sugar is probably a bigger part of your daily diet than you ever imagined. We know it’s found in our favorites such as cookies, cakes, donuts, pies and ice cream. But did you know sugar comes hidden in salad dressings, crackers, ketchup, canned soup, pasta, tomato sauce, peanut butter and even baby food? And did you also know that sugar goes by many different names, making it harder for us to identify?
Spotting sugar on a food label requires a bit of detective work. Food and beverage manufacturers must list a product’s total amount of sugar per serving on the Nutrition Facts Panel. But they are not required to list how much of that sugar is added sugar or are they required to tell you which ingredients are sugar derivatives or processed non-nutritive sweeteners. That’s why you’ll need to scan the ingredients list of a food or drink to find this out for yourself.
Go into your pantry and refrigerator and read the labels on most of your packaged foods. If nutritional labels just said ‘sugar’ this task would be easy but they do not. You’ll see names like sucrose, dextrose, glucose, maltose, and lactose. Any words ending in ‘ose’ are usually a derivative of sugar. Also, there are sugar alcohols in food that end in ‘tol’, such as mannitol, sorbitol and malitol. Then you’ll see high fructose corn syrup. If there is one bit of advice I could give you it would be to avoid this like the plague.
High Fructose Corn Syrup was introduced into this country in the 1970’s during the Nixon Administration’s ‘war on poverty’. The USDA was looking for an inexpensive sugar substitute and we found it in a processing plant in Japan. It is not derived naturally from fruit but from corn. And because it is man-made, the body metabolizes it very differently than other sugars. It was slowly introduced into the American diets and within 10 years was found in almost every processed food, soft drink, fruit juices, low-fat yogurt and pre-packaged food on the market. Besides air, water and salt, it is the cheapest ingredient in the American food chain! But now we are looking at the rates of heart disease, obesity and diabetes over the last forty years and wondering if this is a result of continued use of High Fructose Corn Syrup.
With a growing numbers of foods containing hidden sugar being promoted and advertised, especially enticing to children, it is no wonder that we are a nation with an obesity epidemic. Not knowing how much we actually consume in an average day, leads to a bigger problem which is the more we eat, the more we want. This vicious cycle is because sugar in and of itself qualifies as an addictive substance for two reasons:
1. Eating even a small amount creates a desire for more.
2. Suddenly quitting causes withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, mood swings, cravings and fatigue.
So as you become a detective and snoop out all the places sugar is hiding in your house, just remember that our body does need some sugar.
The truth is that sugar broken down from carbohydrates is one of your body’s most important fuels. It’s readily accessible by most organs and tissues, available in large quantities and is the preferred fuel for your brain and muscles. But whether that source of fuel comes from a simple carbohydrate or a complex carbohydrate makes all the difference. How fast the carbohydrate converts to glucose (blood sugar) and enters our bloodstream is the key.
Complex carbohydrates include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. They also have more fiber thus allowing the glucose once converted to enter the bloodstream at a slower rate. It is the simple, refined carbohydrates that most American’s consume in the form of white bread, white pasta, snack items, desserts and even soda that converts very quickly causing your blood sugar levels to spike. What goes up, must come down. That is the vicious cycle, making us reach for another soda, a candy bar or something that will get us back to that high again.
Becoming aware of how much sugar we are actually consuming and where it is hidden is the first step in reducing that amount. Be a label reader. But more importantly, incorporate more ‘real’, whole foods into your daily diet. The foods that don’t come out of a box. Find substitutes for your after-meals sweet tooth by using some of the more natural sweeteners for desserts such as a little honey or maple syrup. Notice and be more mindful of your cravings – when do they occur, what did you eat right before you have them. Sometimes, it is best to add more protein into your diet, which balances out the need for more sugar.
In order to make a change in your life and the future of your health, becoming aware of where it hides and what names it goes by can make the ultimate difference. Take charge of your own health!
