And why should I care? Because you could be eating more sugars than you are aware of increasing your belly fat and your risk for diabetes, that’s why! Check out this recent post from MEN’S HEALTH and EAT THIS NOT THAT. You can fight back against diabetes–and obesity–by eliminating sneaky sugars from your diet!
Americans consume an average of 82 grams of added sugar a day. That’s more than you’d find in six Breyers Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches. But truth is, a good part of the excess sweet stuff isn’t coming from ice cream or cookies or even soft drinks–it’s coming from the sources we’d least expect. Open your pantry and start scanning ingredient lists. We’re willing to bet that nearly every food you buy contains at least one of these blood sugar- spiking elements: modified food starch, maltodex-trin, cane sugar, crystallized cane juice, evaporated cane juice, honey, tapioca syrup, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, barley, or anything with “ose” at the end of it.
Food manufactures have an arsenal of empty carbohydrates at their disposal, and they’re not shy about using them to make everything we eat taste like candy. Read on for eight of the most surprisingly sugar-riddled foods in your pantry.
Just because your favorite cereal doesn’t have a cartoon character on the box doesn’t mean it isn’t still loaded with sugar. Not even heart-smart logos and bloated health claims can salvage the contents of boxes like Post Raisin Bran, General Mills Basic 4, or Multi-Bran Chex, all of which have more sugar than the same-size bowl of Froot Loops. Stick to cereals with high fiber to sugar ratios ensure a wholesome start to your morning. (oh, and skip the granola completely!)
Eat This!
Post Shredded Wheat Original
(1 cup) 170 calories 1 g fat 0 g sugars 6 g fiber
There’s one ingredient in this box: whole wheat. Either eat it as is or add cinnamon and ground flaxseed–together they will give your blood sugar the smoothest ride possible.
Not That!
Kellogg’s Smart Start Original Antioxidants
(1 cup) 190 calories 0.5 g fat 14 g sugars 3 g fiber
The numbers don’t lie; this box has more blood sugar-spiking impact than Apple Jacks and about the same as Frosted Flakes. That’s because sugar in its various forms shows up no fewer than 10 times on the ingredient list.
Wheat Bread
American palates are used to the relatively bland flavor of white bread, which is why so many of us have trouble accepting wheat’s more robust and earthy tones. But instead of allowing our taste buds to work through the new flavors on their own terms, manufacturers use sugar to mask wheat’s true identity and make it more familiar to those unaccustomed to eating whole foods. The result? Aside from perpetually confused taste buds, these sticky loaves of “wheat bread” are spiking our blood glucose levels nearly as badly as the white loaves we’re trying to leave behind.
Eat This!
Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Bread Sprouted Grain
(2 slices) 160 calories 1 g fat 0 g sugars 6 g fiber
If you were to find a loaf of bread that had been fossilized for 1,000 years, it probably wouldn’t be much different from this one from Food for Life. Looking to shave a few more calories? Try Nature’s Own Sugar Free 100% Whole Grain Bread. It uses a small shot of sugar alcohol to give it a light sweetness while capping the energy load at 50 calories a slice.
Not That!
Sara Lee Hearty & Delicious 100% Whole Wheat Bread
(2 slices) 240 calories 3 g fat (1 g saturated) 10 g sugars 6 g fiber
Ten grams of sugars isn’t uncommon for full-size sandwich breads, but it is more sugar than a single Twix bar. In this loaf, Sara Lee reaches dismal heights with a combination of brown sugar, molasses, and raisin juice concentrate. That last one might sound healthy, but your body won’t be able to tell it apart from pure table sugar.
Few foods create more nutritional anxiety than the still relatively new concept of meal replacement bars. Should you be looking for high protein? High fiber? What’s the ideal amount of calories? Unfortunately, sugar seems to be the one thing that all meal replacement bars have in common. And to get around it, they hide the sugar under highfalutin monikers like crystalline fructose, brown rice syrup, or–in Powerbar’s case–C2 MAX Carbohydrate Blend. Your goal: Eat only those bars that earn the large majority of their calories from protein, fiber, and healthy fats. That will ensure your blood sugar stays at safe levels.
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Odwalla Sweet & Salty Almon
(1 bar) 220 calories 11 g fat (1 g saturated) 8 g sugars 6 g fiber 7 g protein
This bar has every one of the big three essential elements: protein, fiber, and healthy fats. These are the nutrients responsible for filling your belly and keeping your internal sugars in the healthy range. Now you know why we call almonds a superfood.
Not That!
Powerbar Energize Tangy Tropical Fruit Smoothie
(1 bar) 220 calories 3.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated) 30 g sugars <1 g fiber 6 g protein
No fiber and more sugar than two scoops of Edy’s Slow Churned Rocky Road Ice Cream? Yikes. Powerbar makes this bar for quick-burn energy, but it’s not the kind of energy you need unless you just turned the third leg of an Ironman Triathlon.
Yogurt
Here’s an interesting fact: Milk is the only animal product to be naturally sweetened. That’s probably why most people don’t think it’s odd to lift a creamy spoonful of yogurt to their lips and get a dessert-like blast of flavor in return. But the truth is that nature’s treats are more subtle. In fact, if you haven’t been skimming ingredient lists, you might never have tasted real, unadulterated yogurt. The stuff you’ve been eating is a candified version of the real thing, and it’s probably jacking your blood sugar ever higher with each cup you eat.
Eat This!
Stonyfield Farm Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt, Plain
(1 container, 5.3 oz) 80 calories 0 g fat 6 g sugars 15 g protein
At the very least, you should convert to plain yogurt and sweeten it at home with real fruit, but if you want to do one better, switch over to creamier Greek yogurt. It has three times as much slow-digesting protein as the regular version.
Not That!
Yoplait 99% Fat Free Cherry Orchard
(1 container, 4 oz) 170 calories 1.5 g fat (1 g saturated) 27 g sugars 4 g protein
The marketing brains at Yoplait are hoping that by painting 99% Fat Free on the label, they will divert your attention from the ingredient list, which exposes this yogurt for the dangerous snack that it is. By using more sugar, than fruit, they gave this cup as much sugar as three Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.
“Healthy” Drinks
Few people truly realize the dramatic effect that sugary beverages have on blood sugar. Bottlers wrangle you in with overblown promises of increased energy, improved immune function, or instant and long-lasting stress release, but what they neglect to tell you is that the sugar in most of these drinks far outweighs any unproven health benefit that might result from sucking down a bottle. At best, you’ll feel a placebo-like boost, but you can be certain that inside your body there’s a frenetic rush to cope with the unnatural influx of glucose. The reason is simple: Sweetened drinks don’t provide the safety net that real food does. There’s no fat, fiber, or protein, which leaves nothing but a torrent of pure sugar sloshing through your body. Want a real health drink? Water and tea are your best bets.
Drink This!
Honest Tea Just Green Tea
(16 oz) 0 calories 0 g fat 0 g sugars
Think that green tea is too simple to be a bona fide antioxidant powerhouse? Wrong. It does more good for your body than any smart or functional beverage on the market.
Not That!
Snapple Protect Antioxidant Water Tropical Mango
(20 oz) 150 calories 0 g fat 30 g sugars
New rule for choosing a beverage: Read the ingredient list before you read the claims on the front of the bottle. If you did this with Snapple’s Tropical Mango Antioxidant Water, you’d realize straight away that it is made from water and sugar. That makes those antioxidant and electrolyte claims on the front label absolutely meaningless.
Have you ever been to an Italian restaurant and had the waiter come by with a cup of sugar and ask if you’d like some sprinkled over your spaghetti? No, of course you haven’t. So why would you let the food scientists at Ragu or Prego add sugar to your marinara? The answer is you wouldn’t, not if you knew they were doing it. Half a cup of spaghetti sauce ought to have around 5 grams of sugar–that’s how much you’ll find naturally in the tomatoes. Any more than that is cause for concern, especially considering how many Americans rely on bottled tomato sauce for easy weeknight meals.
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Classico Tomato & Basi
(1/2 cup) 50 calories 1 g fat 5 g sugars 380 mg sodium
Classico makes some of the best sauces on the shelf, but that doesn’t mean the company is without fault. Even they sometimes succumb to the low standard of high sugar levels. Not this jar though–the only sugars here are all natural.
Not That!
Newman’s Own Tomato & Basil Bombolina
(1/2 cup) 90 calories 4.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated) 12 g sugars 620 mg sodium
All considered, this jar has 72 grams of sugar–42 of which don’t belong. The culprit is the 10 added teaspoons of sugar, which hold down a spot on the ingredient list between soybean oil and salt.
So you can see, there is alot more sugar than meets the eye in many of the foods we are eating, thinking they are even healthy choices! At Crossroads Bootcamp, we know our job as coaches is to take your education beyond the class room – because if you’re kitchen isn’t in order, you’ll never get the fat loss and fitness results you desire!
We’ll be starting a NEW FAT LOSS CONTEST this fall so keep your eyes on your inbox. And read your food labels.
Fitness in Kansas City is called Crossroads Bootcamp! Call 815 842 BOOT to get started today!
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