Sugar might directly raise the risk of obesity, but the association could be tied to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and even some types of cancer.
It’s pretty clear now that the consumption of added sugar should be reduced for health benefits. What isn’t clear is how many products have sugar added to it. You could be surprise how many every day products content extra sugar. Manufacturers adding sugar because improves the taste, key component to colour and flavour, provide bulk and texture, helps in preservation of some foods.
Start reading labels to find out how much sugar is there!
You will be surprised.
In Western countries sugar in your diet shouldn’t go over 10 percent of daily calories consumed. To give you better idea how does it work, let’s use example. For a person consuming 2000 calories, this is about 200 calories per day (or 50 grams and about 12 teaspoons a day).
Here’s how to translate from calories to grams to teaspoons. Use the “divide by 4” rule of simple sugar math. Take the calories and divide by 4 to get the grams of added sugar. For 200 calories, this is 50 grams. And for teaspoons? Divide by 4 again to get around 12 teaspoons of added sugars daily.
Below are the top 10 foods that are surprisingly high in sugar
1. Low-Fat Yogurt
With the average low-fat fruit yogurt containing 12g of sugar in every 100g, these are not a low-calorie option. Supermarket Low Fat Yogurt with hazelnut contains 15.5g of sugar per 100g and 19.4g per pot.
Sugar: 19.4g per serving (almost 5 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 137kcal
2. Ketchup
Ketchups like well-known Heinz containing 23.5g sugar per 100g or 4g per serving. The amount of sugar can add up if used frequently.
Sugar: 4g per serving (1 teaspoon)
Calories per serving: 20kcal
3. Tomato Soup
Another savoury product that you wouldn’t assume had sugar in it. And a product often consumed by health conscious individuals as it counts as one of your five a day.
Sugar: 14.8g per can (almost 3 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 173kcal
4. Granola
Marketed as a healthy product and a substitute to breakfast cereals. Granola can be loaded with sugar. But instead of high-fructose corn syrup, which you might be scanning the label for; it goes by healthier-sounding names like cane juice, molasses, brown rice syrup, oat syrup solids.
Sugar: 10g per 50g serving (2.5 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 233kcal
5. Breakfast Bars
Many of us grab a cereal bar for breakfast in the morning in the belief that the snacks provide a healthy start to the day. Some popular cereal bars, can have over (!) 40% of sugar. On average that around a third of these products is pure sugar.
Sugar: 9.1g per 30g serving (over 2 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 113kcal
6. Canned Baked Beans
Tinned products with tomato sauces are one of the worst hidden sugar culprits. Well-known beans have 5g of sugar per 100g.
Sugar: 12.4g per half a can serving (over 3 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 155kcal
7. Pasta Sauces
Supermarket Tomato & Basil Sauce average product has 6.9g sugar per 100g. Sugar content by a lot, from 3g to even over 10g of sugar, so take extra cautions reading label!
Sugar: 7.3g per serving (almost 2 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 73kcal
8. Sports Drinks
A health product marketed towards those who exercise or play sport to improve performance and endurance. It contains sugar that is unnecessary unless you’re an elite athlete or marathon runner. Popular brand has shocking 13.8g in 100ml.
Sugar: 48g per bottle (12 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 236kcal
9. Vitamin Water
Two words are associated with healthy eating, water and vitamin. Don’t be fooled by this cunning marketing. Vitamin water is also loaded with added sugar, particularly fructose, 95% of the calories from a single bottle come entirely from sugar.
Sugar: 22g per bottle (4 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 92kcal
10. Alcohol
Cocktails are by far the worst culprits when it comes to sugar content in alcohol. Below is the sugar content for a single mojito. Very easy to add up and increase sugar volume if you’re having more than one.
Sugar: 25g per glass (over 6 teaspoons of sugar)
Calories per serving: 217kcal