When it comes to making desserts taste so sweet the only ingredient that comes to mind is sugar. Nowadays sugar is added to so many different foods, not only desserts, and it is not being labeled as “sugar” on the ingredients label but by one or several names for sugar. Unfortunately, sugar has 56 names it goes by making it difficult to avoid if you don’t know what names to look out for.
Consumers may not be aware that sugar is added to 80% of the foods we eat. The American Heart Association recommends a daily allowance of 6-9 teaspoons of added sugar a day. Many people exceed this limit since they are unaware that they are still eating sugar when the food they are eating is labeled as “fat-free” or “low-fat”. Your body absorbs all of these different sugars the same way, making them equally bad for you when you consume too much of it.
When avoiding added sugar be sure to read all of the ingredients written on the back of every package of food. Look out for any hidden sugars that may have been added by using the list below as a reference the next time you are food shopping.
