Tuesday, May 26, 2015
A little sugar never hurts anyone. The problem is the body only needs about two tablespoons a day. Still many people are consuming up to fifty times the recommended amount of sugar. Ever since the focus of weight management has shifted towards fat-free foods, sugar consumption has sky-rocketed. This has not only contributed toward extra weight gain, it has led to an increase in health problems as well.
Most people are familiar with the term “table sugar,” but not everyone understands that there are many different kinds of sugar. Below is a list of the different kinds of sugars and where they are found. Becoming familiar with these terms will be helpful when determining how much sugar is in a product. All sugars provide four calories per gram.
Most people are familiar with the term “table sugar,” but not everyone understands that there are many different kinds of sugar. Below is a list of the different kinds of sugars and where they are found. Becoming familiar with these terms will be helpful when determining how much sugar is in a product. All sugars provide four calories per gram.
1. Barley malt - The same effect as brown rice syrup and has no nutritional value.
2. Brown rice syrup - Derived from grains and maintains a percentage of complex carbohydrates. Brown rice is absorbed more slowly than table sugar and therefore helps minimize the roller coaster effect of high and then low energy levels. Brown rice syrup has no nutritional value.
3. Brown sugar - Crystallized sugar with molasses added for color and flavor; no nutritional value.
4. Concentrated fruit juice - Often used as a sweetener in sweetened food products and provides no nutritional value.
5. Fructose - A natural sugar found in fruits, fructose is 15 to 80 percent sweeter than sucrose. Fructose provides no nutritional value, but other contents in the fruits provide essential nutrients.
6. Lactose - A natural sugar found in dairy products. Lactose does not provide any nutritional value, however lactose should not be confused with other contents in dairy products which do provide nutrient value.
7. Molasses - Absorbed more slowly than table sugar (sucrose) and is full of nutrients.
8. Sucrose - Also known as table sugar or refined sugar. Sucrose is found mostly in candies, desserts and fat-free desserts and provides no nutritional value.
9. Turbinado sugar - A highly refined sugar with no nutritional value.
10. Unsulfured molasses - Supplies some B vitamins and minerals to give minimal nutrient value.
A key to monitoring your sugar is determining just how much each serving contains. So check the nutrition label for total grams of sugar, and divide that by four (each teaspoon of sugar is equal to 4 grams.) That’s how many teaspoons of sugar are really in your cookie, salad dressing, and your no-sugar-added fruit juice.
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