Know Sugar

Last time, we talked about overcoming sugar cravings. 

This time, we'll show you how to "spot" sugar on foods' ingredient labels, and recommend a few healthy sweeteners, too.

Sugar as an Ingredient

Sugar occurs naturally in grains, legumes, milk, vegetables and fruit.  As we discussed last time, your body needs sugar for energy to perform all of its functions.  But in many products, from brownies and cookies obviously, to less suspected products like ketchup and salad dressings, sugar is added, and most of the time, is refined (stripped of nutrients and in a form that is not healthy for the body). 

Sugar is one of the hottest commodities in the food processing industry...but its not the pure unrefined sugar from sugarcane or beets or even natural maple syrup that's so popular to food processors.  It's the stripped down, ultra-refined sugary sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup that make it into processed foods.

When reading the ingredient panel on a food, it will list sugars in grams.  This includes sugar that occurs naturally, as well as any added sugars.  To find out if there is any added sugar, skim the ingredient list for one of the following terms (these are the most common):

Brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, dehydrated cane juice, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, maple syrup, molasses, raw sugar, rice syrup, saccharose, sorghum or sorghum syrup, sucrose, syrup, treacle, turbinado sugar, xylose.

Not to confuse or overwhelm you, of course!  Definitely watch out for fructose and high-fructose corn syrup.  Lots of research has shown the health detriments these sugary sweeteners have caused.

Healthier Alternatives

Unfortunately, truly healthy sources are usually harder to find.  Raw honey is a great natural sweetener, especially if you can get local honey.  This usually helps with allergies.  Honey does not usually upset blood sugar levels, and its full of enzymes that help with the digestion of carb's.  Here are a few other natural sweeteners recommended in the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon:
-Maple Syrup (natural, formaldehyde-free)
-Rapadura (brand name for dehydrated cane sugar)
-Stevia (very popular natural sweetener, available in droplets or powder)
-Date Sugar
-Molasses

Sometimes if you can't find these natural sweeteners locally, some of them can be found online. 

Remember: Your health is in your hands.  Daily dietary decisions really add up!

-Aaron