December 06, 2016 · Written by Foodtolive Team
12 Foods with Hidden Sugar That You Need to Watch Out For
Whether you are trying to lose weight or just want to start eating healthier, you definitely need to cut down the amount of sugar in your diet. The tricky thing about sugar is that even when you stop adding it to your tea/coffee and cut down on sweets, you may still get a large dose of the sweetener. This happens because there are many foods with hidden sugar that feed it to you despite your wishes. It’s imperative to be aware of what those products are so that you can design a truly healthy diet.
However, first, you need to understand why exactly sugar should be avoided. This sweetener is very harmful and contributes to a variety of problems. Eating too much of it is also extremely hard on your liver as this organ is working on transforming glucose and fructose into glycogen. Small amounts of sugar will be digested without any issues, but increasing your intake makes your liver work overtime, which is never a good thing.
Inspect Your Pantry for These 12 Foods with Hidden Sugar:
Condiments and salad dressings
Your favorite ketchup or barbecue sauce may seem ‘innocent’, but each of these and the overwhelming majority of store-bought condiments contain huge amounts of sugar. Sometimes it gets as much as 7 g per a single serving.
Commercial soups and sauces
A spicy curry or even a basic tomato pasta sauce that comes in a jar is sure to contain a fairly large amount of sugar. Read the label to know exactly how much of it you’ll get.
Chinese food (takeout)
The danger of Chinese takeout is that you don’t know with a 100% guarantee what exactly went into making this food. In many cases, these products contain lots of sugar because it comes from the sauces used to flavor them.
Tinned baked beans
While baked beans are great for your health, tinned varieties always contain a lot of sugar, as well as colorants and other potentially harmful additives.
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Bread
All kinds of bread have sugar as one of the ingredients, this includes the seemingly healthy multigrain and brown bread.
Alcohol
Rich spirits are some of the ‘worst’ foods with hidden sugar as they can contain up to 40 g of it, and ‘lighter’ drinks about 20 g (a pint of cider, for example).
Fruit yogurt
This ‘healthy’ breakfast option contains sugar, and often also includes chemical colorants and flavor enhancers.
Soda
Soda is a real ‘sugar bomb’ and the vast majority of people don’t realize just how much sugar it actually contains. On average, you get 29 grams of sweetener per every 8-ounce can of soda. Diet soda is NOT a solution in this case as it contains a variety of other harmful elements and can contribute to the increased risk of numerous diseases. It also won’t ‘save’ you from obesity as overindulging in diet sodas messes up your metabolism.
Energy drinks
Energy drinks have even more sugar than regular soda and should be avoided at all costs.
Agave syrup
Many people consider it a ‘safe’ sweetener, but it’s 85% fructose, which means it’s just as hard (if not worse) on your liver as plain sugar.
Dried fruit
In most cases, dried fruits you see in stores are covered with sugar-laden syrup.
Breakfast cereals and granola bars
Granola and many cereals, such as Fruit Loops, often contain a ‘safe’ daily dose of sugar in a single serving.
As you can see, you definitely need to be very careful if you want to avoid foods with hidden sugar. Be sure to study product labels before buying and make your own sauces and condiments.
