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