Understanding the Hidden Sugars Found in our Foods

The Food Industry has gotten a little sneaky with ingredients, especially sugar. Thankfully, food labeling has evolved and we are better informed about ingredients and serving sizes. If you are not accustomed to reading food labels, I encourage you to practice understanding serving size and how that affects the food and hidden sugars you are consuming.

One of the biggest challenges is understanding the hidden sugars found in our foods. Have you ever wondered why some foods have such a sweetness to them, but sugar isn’t clearly labeled on the product? Something as traditional as Ketchup is a huge offender of hidden sugar.

Big common offenders are sauces, condiments, dressings, canned vegetables, fat-free foods, breakfast cereals, bread, dried fruit, just to name a few.

My go-to dressing without sugar is:

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup flaxseed oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar

2 drops liquid Stevia (optional)

Add all ingredients to a blender and mix thoroughly.

Here is a list of sugar and sugar products commonly hidden in foods:

Sugar – any of the following names preceding the word “sugar” or “syrup” is sugar:

brown
cane
raw
beet
confection
high fructose corn syrup
malt
rice

Technical Names of Sugar:

dextrose
fructose
lactose
maltose
galactose
sucrose
ribose
Saccharose
Glucose
Monosaccharide
Disaccharide
Polysaccharide

“Natural” Sugars – these should be limited:

Agave – not the best choice, see my thoughts on it in this blog
Coconut nectar
Coconut sugar
Date sugar
Maple sugar
Honey
Fruit juice
Fruit
Cane juice
Molasses
Rice malt
Sorghum syrup
Treacle

Sugar Alcohols – these can be very hard on your gastrointestinal tract:

Erythritol
Glycol
Glycerin
Iditol
Isomalt
Lactitol
Maltitol
Mannitol
Ribitol
Sorbitol
Xylitol

Artificial sweeteners – AVOID at all costs:

Aspartame
Acesulfame-L
Nutra-sweet
Equal
Saccharin
Splenda
Sucralose
Sweet-n-low
Truvia

The quality and quantity of foods do matter. Ask yourself how nutrient dense is the food? Whole food recipes most likely will have a good amount of fats, protein, and carbohydrates, balancing out the sugar that might be in the recipe.

To your health,
Patti