Sugar is present in many of the food we consume, although it sometimes comes in a form we do not usually recognize. According to registered dietitian Amari Thomsen, owner of Eat Chic Chicago, a nutrition consulting company based in Chicago, you may be eating sugar without knowing it. Even food that does not taste sweet, such as bread and sauces, contain a significant amount of sugar.

Added sugar is sugar that is mixed into the food during preparation, and excludes the natural sugar found in fruit and dairy products. The American Heart Association suggests an average of six teaspoons of this added sugar per day for women. However, studies on eating habits reveal that twice that amount is actually consumed.

High levels of sugar consumption can contribute to heart disease and diabetes, aside from causing you to gain weight and your teeth to decay. Reducing sugar intake smartly can make you avoid these possible misfortunes.


1. Food Labels Are A Clue
The next time you go shopping for your energy consumption needs, take a good, long look at the labels of the food that you usually buy. Those that have “unsweetened” or “no added sugar” in them are the ones you should put in that shopping cart. They are usually found in the organic section.

Pick canned food are not packed in syrup, but in fruit. Nut butters should be made only with nuts and salt, so you may have to check the ingredients for this.

2. Ingredients Are Key
Speaking of ingredients, you can find a more detailed composition of the food items in the ingredients details. According to Diane Sanfilippo, a certified nutrition consultant and author of The 21 Day Sugar Detox, “Even things that you don’t think are sweet, like tomato sauce, crackers, condiments, and salad dressings can be packed with sugar.”

The details for the food product’s ingredients indicate how much of each are present, with the highest quantity on top. If sugar comes first or is near the top, that should provide you with fair warning.

3. The Many Disguises Of Sugar
Food labels may hide sugar under a number of imaginative terms. Beware of the word syrup, molasses, or terms ending in “-ose”, such as fructose corn syrup and sucrose.

Honey may also contain added sugar. Even food advertised as healthy, including cereal and yoghurt, have been known to contain wisely-worded sweeteners that are composed of added sugar.

If you read more than one sugar type on the food label, you may think twice about including that item in your diet.

More: https://gofitday.com/10-ways-to-reduce-sugar/

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