Are you consuming hidden sugar?

Sugar is hiding everywhere and is in everything.

We are sabotaging our health and do not even know it when we consume foods with hidden sugar. A simple calculation can help pinpoint the amount of sugar that our body gets from the foods we eat.

Why be worried about sugar?

Sugar contributes mightily to obesity, type 2 diabetes and a host of other metabolic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, etc.

The problem is that most of us don’t really understand we are eating sugar everyday. Yes, even me!

But I don’t eat candy?

Cookies, candies, pastries and doughnuts are out there and in your face when it comes to sugar. No one eats a Krispy Creme doughnut and thinks they are not consuming sugar. These are the obvious sugar offenders.

Fruit juice, energy drinks, soda are also full of sugar. Real, whole fruit is one thing. Fruit juice is an entirely different beast. Fruit juice has removed the fiber so there is nothing to help slow the glucose spike.

If you have every juiced your own oranges, you know it takes many oranges to get a glass of orange juice. Would you ever sit down and eat 3 or 4 oranges? Even if you said yes, you would still be getting the fiber from the fruit and I promise you it would take much longer to consume those whole fruits vs. swigging a glass of juice.

It is recommended by the American Heart Association that men should limit added sugar to no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) a day and no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) a day for women.

A can of cola is about 8 teaspoons of added sugar which exceeds the maximum daily limit for women.

Hopefully you have already made the decision to start to unsweetened your life by cutting these out. They are mostly sugar with little to no nutritional value.

What about the foods that have sneaky sugars?

Sneaky Sugars

Food items such as bread, pasta, rice and bagels are simple carbohydrates that convert to sugar in your body. Most of these bakery items are not sold with a nutrition label so they are not easily identified.

Items that are sold in bags or boxes have new and improved labels so that they are easier to read and provide information like total and added sugars. Which should give us all the information we need. Or does it?

Calculating Hidden Sugar

Let’s take a look at white rice and organic edamame pasta. The rice nutrition facts reveal that there is 0 grams of sugars and 0 grams of added sugar. Wow! This must be a perfect food to help me unsweeten my life.

Comparing it to the edamame label which has 6 grams of sugars and 0 grams of added sugar. You might still be thinking who knew rice was the better option but wait for it…

Both simple sugar and starch are broken down by your digestive system into sugar. To calculate the actual sugar your body is reaping from your food you will need to do a little math.

The rice contains 38 grams of total carbohydrate per serving with 0 grams of fiber. The edamame pasta contains 22 grams of total carbohydrates per serving with 17 grams of fiber. The calculation is simple. Subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrates.

38 g carb – 0 g fiber = 38 grams of net carbohydrates in white rice

22 g carb – 17 g fiber = 5 grams of net carbohydrates in edamame pasta.

The edamame pasta is a much better option.

And if you need more convincing, take a quick look at the nutrition panel at the bottom of the label. The white rice has 0% of the nutrients identified compared to 120 mg calcium, 6.3 mg iron, and 950 mg potassium in the pasta.

Edamame pasta for the win!

Zero in on Food to Avoid or Limit

This simple calculation will reveal all the sneaky sugars lurking in your food. Whole grains, yogurt and cereal are touted as being healthy options. Most of these food products will have added sugar or digest as glucose. Make sure you are an astute label reader and are choosing unsweetened, low glycemic options. If in doubt, use the handy formula to reveal whether or not the food you are considering is truly the best choice.

The more fiber the food has the slower the digestive system is at breaking down the food into sugar.

Start your unsweetened journey by looking through your pantry and finding the foods with hidden sugar. Donate food that does not fit with your new lifestyle and make sure that future grocery purchases are inline with your health goals.