The Many Faces of Sugar
Sugar. How sweet it is. Human beings are born with around 10,000 taste buds, most of which are located directly on the tongue. Nature gave us a variety of taste buds to allow us to discern between sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. So it is natural to want to enjoy the deliciousness of sweet foods. However, with the over-processing of our food, we have increased the desire for sweet and salty foods and have lessened our ability to enjoy sour and bitter foods. (Dandelion greens, anyone?) As manufacturers study the formulas that keep us wanting more, they have added sugar or one of the many names for sugar to just about everything. Today, sugar is found in many of the usual suspects, like cakes, cookies, candies, and our favorite summer treat, ice cream. But it is also in canned vegetables, baby food, cereals, peanut butter, bread, and tomato sauce. It is often disguised by fancy language, labeled as corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, glucose, or fructose. Even some so-called healthy foods contain sugar. An oatmeal raisin walnut Clif Bar has 20 grams of sugar or 4.8 teaspoons. Compare that to a jelly donut from Dunkin’ Donuts, which has 15 grams of sugar or 3.8 teaspoons. You may think your afternoon cup of coffee only has a little sugar, but a 16-ounce Starbucks Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino contains 52 grams of sugar or 12.4 teaspoons. Yikes! Overconsumption of refined sweets and added sugars in everyday foods has led to an explosion of hypoglycemia and type 2 diabetes. Not to mention inflammatory and gut health problems. Alzheimer’s is now labeled three diabetes because it is now understood how sugar affects the brain.
BROWN SUGAR: sugar with some molasses added for color
CONFECTIONER’S SUGAR, OR POWDERED SUGAR: finely ground sugar
CORN SYRUP DEXTROSE, OR GLUCOSE HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS): a food syrup created from corn. It has varying degrees of oligosaccharides ( another fancy-schmancy name for sugar)
LACTOSE, OR MILK SUGAR: sugars present in milk
LEVULOSE, OR FRUCTOSE: if you noticed the trend, mostly anything that ends in “-ose” is still sugar
RAW SUGAR: still sugar
SORBITOL, MANNITOL, MALITOL, AND XYLITOL: these 4 are sugar alcohols and though low in calories because they are not absorbed or digested fully and can cause gastric upset.
This is just a dip in the sugar names list. There are many more, including honey, coconut sugar and maple syrup.
What about artificial sweeteners like sucralose? You may be surprised by this, but many foods secretly contribute to your sugar craving. Eating artificial sweeteners can condition our taste buds to crave sweet food (not to mention they are unhealthy for you!). Eating too many “natural” foods with added sugars works sneakily too. As previously mentioned, there are so many names for sugar, so natural sources like raw honey or maple syrup may sound harmless, but in the end, they’re all converted into glucose. Finally, you should treat low-fat and fat-free foods with caution. They tend to be processed and loaded with sugar to make up for taste, so always be sure to read labels before you purchase.
So what do you do?
READ LABELS. Reading Labels can be eye-opening. Here is an example from your health coach. I recently purchased a Braggs apple cider vinegar drink, thinking I was doing something good for my gut. After taking the first sip, I thought, wow, that is sweet. So here we go. In the 16 oz bottle, there are two servings and 5 grams of sugar in one serving. This means one bottle has 10 grams. So as you are reading, keep serving size in mind. So even those “healthy” drinks and snacks can be loaded with sugars.
ENJOY your sweets in moderation. Treats once in a while means just that. Our society has gotten into the habit of dessert every night. Beware of natural sugars. Our fruits and vegetables are hybridized to be bigger and sweeter, having less nutrient density and more fructose. But in general, sticking with whole foods, even fruits, provides fiber which lessens the sugar’s impact on the system.
AVOID sugary drinks. Even juices give you a massive hit of pure sugar. I recently discovered Spindrifts, a sparkling water drink with just a squeeze of juice, low sugar, lots of flavor and none of the questionable “natural flavorings”.
USE SPICES and ESSENTIAL OILS. Cinnamon bark, clove, fennel, spices or essential oils can help cut those sweet cravings. Fennel makes me think of sweet licorice, cinnamon red hots, and clove imports the flavor of spiced cookies. Make sure your oils are labeled for consumption and use caution with hot oils like cinnamon and clove. Make sure you dilute them and a little goes a long way.
If you are looking for support in making changes in your health, I have the tools to help you on your way! Let’s talk!