Sugar Blues Part 2
To find out how to compare products to better understand added sugars, click on Natural vs. Added Sugars. Use the chart on the second page as a guide to compare products.The chart compares applesauce and Greek style yogurt. You will see the products with only naturally occurring sugars, products with added sugars and “light” versions of the product. You will also see that the product with the most amount of sugar has the most calories.The front part of the food label usually doesn’t have any clues that the product can have a lot of added sugars.
You must be a detective and investigate the Nutrition Facts Label and the ingredients list. Start your sugar hunt by using foods and beverages in your pantry or fridge to discover where added sugars are lurking in your food choices. Like any hunting expedition, it will take some time and practice to find the healthiest products to use on your journey towards health.
Sugar Comparison Chart
We are born with a preference for sweet tastes. However, sugar carries calories without any fiber, vitamins or minerals. Sugar is basically empty calories. For bariatric patients, too much sugar can lead to dumping.
Natural Sugars vs Added Sugars
- Naturally occurring sugars are in fruits (fructose) and milk and dairy (lactose). The current Nutrition Facts label doesn’t tell us the difference.
- A teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams of sugar.
- If you drink a 12 oz. can of regular pop or 12 ounces regular fruit juice, that means you’ve consumed 40 grams of sugar. This translates to 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s almost 1/4 cup of sugar!
Other names for sugar
When you read the ingredient list, look for words like syrup (corn, high fructose, maple, pancake, maltose), corn syrup solids, agave, molasses, beet sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, invert sugar, cane juice, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, nectar (peach, apricot, pear), powdered or confectioner’s sugar, raw sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, malted barley, honey and anything ending in “–ose” (maltose, dextrose, glucose, fructose). These are all types of sugar.
When you see these words in the ingredient list, look for foods that have sugar listed after the 3rd or 4th ingredient. When you see several sugar ingredients, look at the total amount sugar. Decide if it’s worth it to eat that food.
Sugar alcohols
These have less impact on your blood sugars. They are more slowly digested than sugar. Sugar alcohols have anywhere from 2 to 4 calories per gram. If your weight loss stalls, check to see if your “sugar free” foods have high amounts of sugar alcohols. You may be getting more calories than you think. Caution…eating too many sugar alcohols can laxative effect!
Alternative Sweeteners
- Artificial sweeteners include Splenda (sucralose), Sweet ‘N Low (saccharin), NutraSweet (aspartame), Sweet One (acesulfame potassium) and Neotame.
- Stevia is extracted from the stevia plant and is considered a natural sweetener.
- Monkfruit is extracted from the monkfruit and is considered a natural sweetener.
Natural vs. Added Sugars:
How do I find the amount of added sugars in a food?
One way to find out what the added sugars are is to compare similar products. Comparisons of applesauce and Greek yogurt are detailed below. The order of appearance is the unsweetened, sweetened and light or low sugar version.
Use this chart to compare other products you might choose.
Remember that natural sugars are in milk/dairy and fruit.
Is all that sugar worth it?
Rene Norman, RD/LD
René Norman, RD/LD is a registered and licensed dietitian. René has provided medical nutrition therapy for cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity, celiac disease, wellness and disease prevention in a variety of settings. While working in a private practice, René enjoyed counseling individuals and families and delivering presentations to schools, community groups and corporations. Guided by evidence based practices, emerging research, non-diet approaches to weight management and nearly a decade of experience with bariatric patients, René works with bariatric patients to educate them about nutrition before and after surgery.
Rene’ graduated from the University of Tulsa and completed her dietitian internship through Oklahoma State University. Rene’ is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Oklahoma Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and has served in leadership positions in local and state dietetics associations.
Alex Brecher 10,512
Posted
Rene, thanks for this help! Sugars can be super complicated, and you’re helping us figure out how to find and avoid them.
Thanks for the link to the sugar comparison chart – very interesting! Do you think the second entry for Dannon Oikos plain Greek yogurt with 18 grams of sugar is a mistake? Is it referring to a different kind of yogurt, maybe a flavored one?
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