Sugar is everywhere! It is added to a wide variety of foods because it is highly prized by the American palate. How big is the problem? The CDC estimates that the average American adult consumes 57 pounds of sugar in a year.
Surprising high-sugar foods include: salad dressing, ketchup, BBQ sauce, yogurt, beef jerky, energy drinks, breakfast cereal and packaged fruits. A popular brand of yogurt (5 oz cup) contained 22 grams of sugar! And the average soda (12 oz) has about 40 grams of the sweet stuff. That is almost your entire daily allowance of sugar in one drink.
Georgetown university provided this article which details 65 alternative names for added sugars. Arm yourself with this knowledge because reading labels is basically the only way to be sure of what you are consuming. This Healthline article also contains solid and syrup names of hidden sugars.
If sugar is everywhere, what can you do? Be an informed consumer. Thankfully, the FDA now requires labels to differentiate total sugar and added sugar. This allows you to see if the food has been additionally sweetened or if the sweetness is intrinsic to the natural ingredients. Try to get your sweet fix from whole foods - fresh fruits and vegetables like beets and carrots are high in naturally-occurring sugar. Eating real food means that the sugar is paired with other nutrients like vitamins, micronutrients and fiber which helps your body process the sugar more slowly. Avoid juices, soda and read labels to find products without large amounts of added sugars.
Read my full article published on June 1st at She is You.