Hidden Sugar: A Sweet Masquerade

Sneaky sneaky sneaky sugar! How did you get in there!?! You should have warned me that you would be in my food. You said you would be on the nutrition label, and I looked, but I didn't see your name. Where were you hiding? You would have fooled me completely but it definitely tasted sweet... so I looked again. Still didn't see your name! Where are you? Did you change your name? Why did you do that? Don't you want me to know that you are there? Or are you purposely trying to hide to trick me?

This could be an awkward but familiar conversation to have inside your head when you are looking at nutrition labels. We know that added sugar is generally not good for us, so we have made a better habit of watching out for it when we are making our purchases. Sometimes, the labels are misleading, listing sugar with other names to soften the blow to the consumer. Lets check out all the alias's that sugar uses to find its way into your food without your knowledge.

Sucrose, Evaporated Cane Juice, Agave Nectar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Blackstrap Molasses, Fruit, Juice Concentrate, 100% Fruit Juice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, just some of the names that sugar hides behind on your food label. So how does this affect you?

Added sugar can lead to a number of ailments and illnesses not limited to type II diabetes, high blood pressure, increased LDL cholesterol, and even risk of Alzheimer's disease. Keeping tabs on where it is finding its way onto your plate and into your mouth will limit your risk of falling into the sugar trap. Avoiding such problems may be easier than you think. You just have to CHANGE the way you think.

Next time you are at the supermarket, try purchasing foods WITHOUT nutrition labels on them. This will limit your selections more to fresh fruit and vegetables, and less to those with added chemicals, sugars and colorings. If you do purchase a product in a container or box, look to see if you understand what the label says and what the ingredients really are. If you can't pronounce or comprehend an ingredient, it's a good sign that it should not be in your food. It is truly hard to avoid every bump in the road, but making smarter decisions begins with educating yourself. Take this first step, give it a try.