Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the supermarket and instead opting for “all natural” granola that comes packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts “made with real fruit,” “organic” plant-based milks and bottled “superfood” smoothies.
Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar.
Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot, because many companies use clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and Princeton University who has studied added sugars.
Photo: AP
While some health-forward brands know people are starting to become aware of the hazards of added sugars, “a lot of the bigger brands don’t worry so much about people’s health,” Avena said.
Along with saturated fat and salt, eating excess sugar is linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health risks.
The average American consumes 17 grams of added sugar a day, which adds up to 26kg per year, the American Heart Association said.
About half of that comes from beverages, but much of the rest is sneaked into cereal, salsa, prepared sandwiches, dairy products, bottled sauces and baked goods, including many brands of whole-grain bread.
To help control sugar intake, start by checking the nutrition label. Since 2021, food companies have been required to list the quantity of added sugars separately from total sugar content, but the plan backfired, Avena said.
Companies reduced common sweeteners such as refined beet sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, but added alternatives, such as monk fruit and the sugar alcohol erythritol, which are not considered “added sugars” under the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.
“Now our foods are even more sweet than they were back in 2020,” Avena said.
The current FDA recommendation allows for some flexibility, said Collin Popp, a dietitian and professor at NYU Langone Health.
People should get no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugar, which amounts to about 50g per day if eating 2,000 calories, or a bit more than what is in a typical can of soda.
However, that might be too flexible, Popp said.
“I would actually like to see that be less than 5 percent, and closer to zero for some, if they have diabetes or prediabetes,” he said.
The key is to be mindful of what you are eating, even if the product seems healthy or if the package is labeled organic, he said.
For example, roasted nuts, plant-based milks and wasabi peas can include a surprising amount of added sugars. So can English muffins and Greek yogurt.
One Chobani black cherry yogurt, for example, has zero grams of fat, but 9g of added sugar, or more than 2 teaspoons. Silk brand almond milk has 7g per cup.
Taking control of how much sugar goes into your food, Popp said. That could mean buying plain yogurt, and adding honey or berries, or asking the barista if you can put your own oat milk into your coffee.
Although they lower the calorie content of foods, artificial sweeteners such as stevia and sugar alcohols might not be better, because they can encourage people to overeat, Avena said.
Research shows that sweet flavors activate the reward center of the brain, not the sugar itself, she said.
That is not to write off sugar alternatives, including allulose for people with type 1 diabetes, as it does not affect blood sugar.
However, for the general public, minimizing dependence on the overall sweetness of food is key to improving health, Avena said.
“Don’t let the food companies decide how much sugar you’re eating,” she added.
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