Are You A Sugar Sleuth?

Benzene in sodas and cancer, trans fat in desserts and heart attack, sugar and calories….so much to know that it can be overwhelming. Pull that can of soda away from you lips for a minute and let’s focus on sugar. Do you have any idea how many teaspoons of sugar the average soda has added to it? Try eight to twelve…yes, you read that right. Grab your sugar bowl, a teaspoon and measure that out. It’s shocking.

Look at the Nutrition Facts label on the can. It’s hard to tell the difference between naturally occurring sugar and added sweeteners. Under Total Carbohydrate you will see Sugars. The label tells you the total grams of sugar that a food contains but that’s it—not the source. By the way, 4 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar. What’s a sugar sleuth to do?

After you look at the total grams listed under Sugars, head right for the ingredient label which is listed in descending order from most to least. If sweeteners have been added to the product you will find some of the following terms, all synonymous with sugar, in the ingredients:

Corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup
Brown sugar
Cane sugar
Corn sweetener
Raw sugar
Molasses
Maple sugar
Invert sugar
Honey
Confectioner’s sugar
Crystallized cane sugar
Dextrose
Turbinado sugar

Become a sugar sleuth!

Dr. Susan