Hiding. Sneaking. Striking. Controlling.

What am I talking about?  Sugar.

We’ve become so used to it that we don’t even realize that it’s all around us.  When was the last time you really, truly noticed it?  I’m not talking about the sugar bowl.  (You know, the one that sat right next to the salt and pepper that I used to use to add sugar to my Frosted Flakes as a child.  Ugh!)  We’re way savvier than that!  I’m talking about the sugar that’s hiding in plain sight.

When I was a kid, my mom had a rule, which we thought was extremely overprotective.  No breakfast cereal would be purchased if the first ingredient was sugar.  GASP!  How unfair that was!!!  We were outcasts living on the fringe of society!!!  She had waged a war against sugar and we were the victims.

Fast forward a few years (okay, maybe more than a few).  There’s no sugar bowl on my table, but we’re all still surrounded by it.  Manufacturers are sneaking more and more of it into our food.  Foods that you wouldn’t expect to have sugar in them have LOTS of it.  That pre-marinated chicken…has sugar.  Those crackers…have sugar.  That yogurt…you might want to pass.  It’s loaded with sugar!

How do the food manufacturers get away with it?  They use different types of sugar, usually from different sources or manufacturing methods, and then put more than one type in their product.  Have you ever read a label where you’re pretty sure that 3 of the top 5 ingredients are sugar.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Yikes!

And they’re sneaky about it, too.  Brown rice sugar – well brown rice is a whole grain, so this must be a healthier sugar, right?  Wrong!

What happens when you eat it?  It controls you.  Sounds dramatic, right?  But it’s true.  We’re just so used to it that we don’t even realize it anymore.  In a way, sugar pings receptors in your brain that make you feel good AND make you want more.  We’ve become numb to it, because we live in a constantly sugared state.  Even a little can set us off and keep the cycle going.  The food manufacturers know this and they thrive on it.

Once you remove the sugars from your diet, you will notice when and how it affects you.  Trust me on this.

Breaking the sugar habit can be tough, though. If you need help, consider joining a RESTART group nutrition class.  Click here to learn more.

Here are all the sugars that you need to watch out for:

 

61 Names for Sugar

Agave nectar

Barbados sugar

Barley malt

Barley malt syrup

Beet sugar

Brown sugar

Buttered syrup

Cane juice

Cane juice crystals

Cane sugar

Caramel

Carob syrup

Castor sugar

Coconut palm sugar

Coconut sugar

Confectioner’s sugar

Corn sweetener

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Date sugar

Dehydrated cane juice

Demerara sugar

Dextrin

Dextrose

Evaporated cane juice

Free-flowing brown sugars

Fructose

Fruit juice

Fruit juice concentrate

Glucose

Glucose solids

Golden sugar

Golden syrup

Grape sugar

HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup)

Honey

Icing sugar

Invert sugar

Malt syrup

Maltodextrin

Maltol

Maltose

Mannose

Maple syrup

Molasses

Muscovado

Palm sugar

Panocha

Powdered sugar

Raw sugar

Refiner’s syrup

Rice syrup

Saccharose

Sorghum Syrup

Sucrose

Sugar (granulated)

Sweet Sorghum

Syrup

Treacle

Turbinado sugar

Yellow sugar

 

Hidden in Plain Sight. (2018, April 27). Retrieved from http://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/hidden-in-plain-sight/#.XAEsomhKjMU

Scroll to Top