Sugar is Sneakier Than We Tought

How much sugar do you consume each day? You might be surprised by how much of the sweet stuff is sneaking into your diet, without your consent. Hidden sugars are rampant in the food industry, especially in ultra-processed foods. But the good news is that new FDA labeling requirements may help. Under the new requirements, food manufacturers must specify the amount of added sugar in most products.

Since excessive sugar consumption can lead to health problems like diabetes and heart disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends keeping added sugars between 5% to 10%, or less, of your daily caloric intake. A diet tracker app may help some of us to stay within those numbers. Let's look at where sugar is sneaking in and why it matters.

New Label Requirements

The FDA released a statement updating its food labeling guidelines. The update requires labels to include “added sugars” in addition to the total sugars in a food or drink. The changes also reduce confusion over the sugar content in single ingredients like maple syrup and baking sugar.

Consumer Reports sees the change as potentially life-saving, with greater available information allowing consumers a better grasp of what’s in their food. Just being aware of your sugar intake is a start, especially if you eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, like boxed meals, chips and sodas—and once awareness grows, control and elimination get easier. The labeling requirements might also work as an incentive for manufacturers to reduce the amounts of sugar they’re adding to their foods as once consumers are paying attention, these manufacturers are more likely to be held accountable.

An Ingredient With Many Names

Food labels have become tricky when it comes to identifying a lot of added sugars. According to research conducted by the University of California, San Francisco, sugar can hide on labels as it has over 60 different names. Some of these alternative terms include "barley malt," "rice syrup," "dextrose," "maltose" and "high-fructose corn syrup." "Nectar," "crystals," "sucrose" and the seemingly simple "sweetener" are also common terms.

Read labels carefully. The WHO recommends working toward keeping added sugar intake, regardless of the source, between 5% and 10% of total daily calories. Excessive sugar consumption can lead to diabetes, heart disease and other serious health issues so it's pretty important to get it under control.

Reining in Sugar Consumption

Keeping sugar intake low can feel like a near-impossible feat, but most of us can go a long way by cutting soft drinks and ultra-processed foods from our diets. A good step after soda and packaged food awareness is to be wary of pre-made sauces, soups, salad dressings and yes, even smoothies, which can be jam-packed with hidden sugars. After that, it really helps to keep track of the sugar content in every food consumed, at least for a while. Consider downloading a diet tracker like My Plate or MyFitnessPal.

Sugars are hidden everywhere these days because they trick our brains into falling in love with that food, so get in the habit of reading labels—and take charge of what's happening to your food. Know how to identify tricky language meant to fool you into overlooking sugar in some of its forms by reading lists of the tricky names manufacturers use to hide sugar. And most importantly, track consumption and keep sugar intake as low as possible to enjoy a healthy body for as long as possible.

Copyright 2020, Wellness.com