How To: Eat Less Added Sugar

What is added sugar?
Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages during processing and/or preparation.  Though they can be tricky to spot, simply being aware of these calorie culprits will help you start to make healthier choices.

How to spot it
The trickiest part of spotting added sugar is that it’s not always obvious when reading the Nutrition Facts label. Instead, the label lumps all sugar together, including all natural sugar. The only way to know for sure if your food has added sugars is to look at the ingredient list.  If you see any of the following sugar synonyms listed, you’ve determined a source of added sugar:

Sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, confectioner’s sugar, cane sugar, turbinado sugar, agave nectar, corn syrup, raw sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar, dextrin/dextrose, lactose, maltose, honey, fruit juice concentrates, molasses, maple syrup, corn sweeteners, evaporated cane juice, malt, fructose, high fructose corn syrup.

The closer to the beginning of the list an ingredient is, the more of it there is – so leave products on the shelves that have sugar listed as one of the first few ingredients. Don’t be fooled by words on packaging like “healthy,” “heart healthy,” “heart-smart,” “wholesome,” “multi-grain,” “all-natural,” or “lightly sweetened”.  These words don’t tell you anything about how much sugar has been added. And be wary of low-fat/non-fat products- the missing fat is often replaced by added sugar!

How to eat less added sugar
The first step to cutting down on added sugar is to make an effort to consume as little processed food as possible, since sugar is often added to packaged foods as a preservative to increase shelf life.  In other words, stick with foods in their most natural forms - foods that have a one or two word ingredient list.  Or, better yet, eat more foods that don’t have a package at all (like fresh fruits and veggies!)  Buying whole grains; meat, fish, poultry; fresh or frozen fruits and veggies that don’t have any flavorings added also ensures that you’re limiting added sugars.  Instead of pre-seasoned or sweetened foods, buy plain foods and add your own flavoring with fruit, spices and herbs, etc.

When it comes to determining how much sugar was added to a food, it helps to also know how much natural sugar is found in foods.  This way, when you look at the “total sugars” on the  Nutrition Facts panel, you’ll have a good idea of how much is natural sugar and how much is added sugar.   Milk, fruit, and veggies all have natural sugars, so when you’re looking at the total sugar for those foods it helps if you are prepared with this info:
    ·    1 cup of nonfat milk has 12 grams of natural sugar
    ·    1 piece of small fruit has 10 grams of natural sugar
    ·    ½ cup of veggies has 1 gram of natural sugar

By knowing how much sugar these natural foods contain, you’ll easily be able to determine how much sugar is added when reading the label.

Contributions to this article by: Jackie London