Whenever you go to your local grocery store, there’s always that one person with a small basket meticulously navigating the shelves, picking one item at a time, reading the labels, and contemplating deeply, before deciding to either return the item to the shelf or place it in their basket.
You would think they are probably going to get tested at the point when they check out their selected items.
Bruh, why the detective work? The name is literally screaming at you in caps!
Some probably spend close to an hour at the grocery store just to come out with 3 or 4 items. Their sheer diligence might seem oddly peculiar. I used to find these folks weird, that is, until I became one of them.
When I decided to live a healthier lifestyle by prioritizing nutritious whole foods, exercising, and regularly fasting, part of that process included being more conscious of what I consumed and how it could affect my health.
Careful label reading helped me identify additives that could potentially derail my dietary plans, so it became a routine task during my grocery shopping.
Now, I don’t spend an eternity scrutinizing every single ingredient on the label of the item I want. I look out for certain things, and their presence or absence influences my decision on whether I pick the item or not.
One simple rule I follow is avoiding food items with complex-sounding ingredients, especially if they are found in simple items like beef or chicken.
If it sounds like something Einstein would come up with, that’s a red flag in my books.
Over time, I’ve discovered grocery stores that simplify my shopping experience as they consistently stock items with familiar ingredients, allowing me to spend less time reading labels.
Inside the Mind of a Label Reader
I was preparing dinner some time back, and while waiting for my water to boil, I decided to take a peek at the label on my salt container.
The ingredients listed were salt (obviously) and something that caught my attention as rather unusual: dextrose.
In my first semester in college, I took an introductory course in Chemistry. While I didn’t go on to pursue a related major, I learned a lot about different things. The Chemistry knowledge I gained was screaming at the back of my head that dextrose sounded familiar to something I already knew.
Dextrose… Kinda sounds like glucose.
A quick Google search proved me right. Dextrose is a simple sugar that is chemically identical to glucose. Dextrose is actually D-glucose. It is used as an additive in baking to add sweetness, added to processed foods like pastries and creamers, and can be used to alleviate low blood sugar in medical settings.
When I was a child, I once mixed sugar and salt in my chai tea.
Why? Well, why not?
My 8-year-old mind embraced no limits on what flavor combos deserved exploring, and sugar-salt chai was the order of the day. The resulting taste was terrible, conclusively proving to my 8-year-old self and my little experiment showed that such a combo doesn’t work.
This made me curious about why there might be even tiny amounts of sugar in salt. Some of the reasons why sugar is added to salt include:
- To prevent salt from caking or clumping in humid conditions as it forms a thin coating on the individual grains of salt.
- To stabilize and distribute iodine more evenly throughout the salt, thereby ensuring consistent iodine levels.
Dextrose serves functional roles in salt where it is present and it is usually added in miniscule quantities. However, if you are trying to monitor your carbohydrate and sugar consumption or you prefer salt without additives, you may opt for pure salt without dextrose.
Sugar’s Sneaky Alter Egos
Discovering dextrose in salt prompted me to investigate what other stealthy sugars may be inserted into common food items.
Broadly, sugar is categorized as either naturally occurring or added. Fruit, dairy, and some starch-based foods contain inherent sugars that provide sweetness.
Meanwhile, manufacturers introduce additional sugary ingredients to food items, dubbing them with different names:
- Agave nectar
- Brown sugar
- Evaporated cane juice
- Malt syrup
- Fructose
- Maple syrup
- Cane crystals
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Molasses
- Cane sugar
- Raw sugar
- Corn sweetener
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Sucrose
- Corn syrup
- Honey
- Syrup
- Crystalline Fructose
- Invert sugar
- Maltose
This is just a subset of the different names or sweeteners which are sugar. you can find a more comprehensive list here.
You’d expect something dubbed “fresh juice concentrate” to be the epitome of wholesomeness, right? Turns out that innocent-looking ingredient is just a sugar trap masquerading as a healthy ingredient.
Regardless of the form, natural or processed, the body metabolizes most of these sugars the same way.
Sweet Surprises Around Every Corner
Armed with these codenames, if you visit your local grocery store, you will be surprised to discover added sugar in some of the strangest places.
Food items like sugary drinks (sodas, juice, sports drinks), bread, cakes, cookies, pies, and ice cream, have sugar in them so that’s nothing new.
Some of the unexpected food items I discovered added sugar include:
- Salad dressing
- Sauces: ketchup, barbecue sauce, sour sauces, soy sauce
- Bacon, and processed meats like sausages
- Broths
- Flavored water & vitamin drinks
- Tomato paste
- Pickles
- Canned vegetables & canned soup
- Fries
- Fried food like chicken
- Dried fruit (which already have sugar)
Food manufacturers and fast food restaurants include sugar in their offerings to serve functions like extending shelf-life, reducing production costs, or boosting flavor appeal.
Consequently, this boosts the profits they make from their food options. Moreover, most products containing added sugars are inexpensive and conveniently accessible for consumers.
However, there may be hidden health costs over time, especially for those unaware of how these stealthy sweeteners accumulate through regular dietary intake, exceeding safe limits.
Health Implications of Added Sugar
We are consuming a lot more sugar than we did 2000 years ago, especially in highly processed forms non-existent back then. Historically, foods containing natural sugars inherently provided protective components like fiber which help limit sugar absorption.
According to the CDC, the average consumption of added sugars for adults aged 20 years or older is 17 teaspoons, which exceeds the recommended limit of 12 teaspoons or less.
WHO advises that adults and children should restrict their sugar intake to less than 10% of their daily caloric intake. Consuming too much sugar has negative health implications including:
Weight Gain/ Obesity
Obesity rates have been going up, and a major driver of this is sugary drinks like sodas and juices and processed food. These food items contain fructose, a sugar notorious for making you hungry and desire more food.
Three boiled eggs will satisfy you more than a 500 ml Coke would, even though they contain roughly the same amount of calories. The Coke will leave you craving more of it, or hungry for food.
Even if you’re exercising diligently, your weight loss efforts may be hindered by a diet rich in sugar. To effectively shed extra weight, it’s recommended to make dietary changes alongside exercise.
A common approach is the 80–20 rule — 80% focus on diet and 20% on exercise. Cutting down on sugar intake is a significant step toward reducing body fat.
Increased Risk of Type II Diabetes
The prevalence of diabetes has increased by over 100% in the past 30 years, and this trend is expected to continue. Excessive sugar consumption contributes to insulin resistance and obesity, which are significant risk factors for developing Type II diabetes.
Gut Microbiome Disruption
Consuming too much sugar leads to an imbalance in the gut by allowing sugar-loving bacteria to overwhelm healthy gut flora. This could lead to inflammation and hinder proper absorption of nutrients as these harmful microorganisms coat the gut wall.
Skin Acne
The reason your skin acne remains stubborn and persistent, despite trying various skincare routines like slime facials and charcoal lotions, may be due to a diet that is rich in sugar.
Research indicates that consuming foods rich in sugar increases the likelihood of developing acne compared to those with lower sugar content. High-sugar diets can increase androgen secretion, oil production, and inflammation, all of which can raise your risk of developing acne.
Negative Impact on Dental Health
Consuming too much sugar leads to cavities. Sugar provides a thriving environment for harmful bacteria in the mouth, and these bacteria release acidic byproducts which lead to this issue.
As awareness of the adverse health effects of sugar has grown, various initiatives have emerged to encourage reduced sugar intake. In the United States, for example, since the year 2000, these efforts have resulted in decreased sugar consumption, contributing to a decline in obesity rates among both adults and children.
Conclusion
I strongly believe that our health is our greatest wealth. In an era where there are less nutritious dietary options available with the consequent increase in metabolic ailments, safeguarding one’s health has never been more important.
For those trying to be mindful of what they consume, a good first step is being able to decipher the ingredients on nutrition labels is vital, especially with the increased intake of sugar and its disguises.
Prioritizing home-cooked meals over packaged or processed food is also a good measure to incorporate.
Of course, do your best, and don’t get paranoid about everything. Stressing over minute ingredients misses the bigger picture. The goal is to maximize your awareness as much as you can so that you can make informed decisions that will help you achieve your dietary goals.
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