Sugar is an extremely addictive substance that is in almost everything we eat. The brain reacts to sugar the same way it reacts to certain drugs. A 2013 study by Connecticut College showed that Oreo cookies activated more neurons in a rat's brain's "pleasure center" than cocaine and morphine did. This is just the start of why hidden sugar is problematic.
The average American adult consumes more than 2-3 times the recommended amount of added sugar every single day. Annually, that amounts to 60 pounds of added sugar consumed per adult! The numbers are not any better for Americans aged 2-19. Over 53 pounds of added sugar is being consumed annually by children in America. That is an insanely high amount, but also logical considering 66% of packaged foods analyzed in 2015 contained at least one added sugar. Unless you make all of your food from scratch (nobody has time for that), avoiding all sugars is nearly impossible.
Problematic Hidden Sugar
If you think you are not consuming added sugars because the ingredients list doesn’t specifically list “sugar”, think again! Nutrition labels often try to hide the fact that their product is full of sugars. In fact, added sugar can be listed as over 50 different ingredients!
List of 50 different names sugar can go by on a packaged food label:
Agave nectar | Corn syrup | Golden sugar | Maltodextrin | Rice syrup |
Beet sugar | Date sugar | Golden syrup | Maltol | Sorghum syrup |
Brown rice syrup | Dextrin | High-fructose corn syrup | Maltose | Sucrose |
Brown sugar | Dextrose | Honey | Mannose | Sweet Sorghum |
Cane sugar | Evaporated cane juice | Icing sugar | Maple syrup | Syrup |
Caramel | Fructose | Isoglucose | Molasses | Table sugar |
Carob syrup | Fruit juice | Invert sugar | Nectar | Tapioca Syrup |
Castor sugar | Fruit juice concentrate | Lactose | Palm sugar | Turbinado sugar |
Coconut sugar | Glucose | Malt | Powdered sugar | White granulated sugar |
Confectioner's sugar | Glucose syrup solids | Malt syrup | Raw sugar | Yellow sugar |
Keep in mind that ingredients are listed in order of their quantity. Meaning, the first ingredient is the most prominent, and the last ingredient is the least. Often times, sugars will be listed more than once in an ingredient list under different names.
Let’s look at Udi’s Gluten Free Chocolate Coconut Granola as an example. The second ingredient, after oats of course, is tapioca syrup. Typically, any ingredient that has “syrup” in the name is a sugar. Farther down the ingredients list is cane sugar (listed twice), and then brown rice syrup. Thus, “sugar” is listed as three different names in a rather small ingredients list.
Negative Effects of Sugar
Why care about the amount of sugars we consume? We all know that sweets can cause weight gain. However, as someone who has never struggled with being overweight, that isn’t reason enough for me to stop overindulging in sugary treats. So let me tell you more!
Acne
Processed sweets have a high glycemic index, which means they rapidly raise blood sugar levels. This quick spike causes an increase in androgen secretion, oil production, and inflammation. All of which contribute to acne development.
Increased risk of cancer
High sugar consumption can increase a person’s cancer risk in a couple of ways. For one, a high-sugar diet can lead to obesity, which significantly increases cancer risk. And two, sugar is inflammatory. Inflammation in the body can cause insulin resistance, which again increases a person’s risk of cancer.
Depression
Eating a slice of cake may make you temporarily happy, but the long term effects may be doing the complete opposite. Blood sugar swings and inflammation caused by eating excess sugars may be severely hindering mental health. A 3-year study showed a high-sugar diet increased the risk of depression and other mental disorders in individuals aged 35-55.
Accelerated skin aging
Compounds formed by the reaction between sugar and proteins found in the body are called advanced glycation end products (AGEs). These compounds may cause skin to age quicker because they damage collagen and elastin. These two proteins are what help the skin stretch, and ultimately keep a youthful appearance. Basically, eating plenty of sweets may be giving you wrinkles.
Fatigue
Ever felt great after eating a box of cookies just to experience the “crash” a short while later? That’s because when we eat sugary products our blood sugar and insulin levels spike, giving us a temporary increase in energy. That spike is followed by a sharp drop, which is what causes the sudden feelings of exhaustion.
Make Informed Choices!
I do not expect or want anyone to avoid all sugars forever. That would lead to an extremely time consuming and stressful lifestyle. However, I do believe we need to be more aware of what we are putting into our bodies and the impact those decisions have on our health. Since the majority of company’s that produce our food do not want us to be informed, it’s sadly up to us to do the research.
Challenge: read the labels on a few of your most frequently consumed packaged products. Look for all of the ways sugar is listed on the ingredients list and how high up on the list they land. Are you surprised or are you happy with the choices you are making? Let me know in the comments!
Very informative! I'll pretend the brownies I'm making don't have sugar 🙈