5 Ways Sugar Sneaks Into Your Food

We naturally are attracted to sweet foods. I mean, they’re delicious, but our sweet tooth may be getting us in trouble. Try weaning yourself off of added sugars by limiting sweet foods and drinks, whether it contains sugar or not (sweetener). The idea is to minimize the intake of sweet flavors, so that you can maintain your sweets cravings. This takes time.

Most importantly, know what you’re eating. Avoid processed foods with added sugar and go for whole foods with natural sugar. While this sounds easy, there are sneaky sugary culprits out there that you may not be aware of—check out our list.

In your drink. At your next meal, be aware of what you're drinking. Liquid calories from sugar are a major culprit for weight gain. By cutting one soda a day for a year, you could lose up to 15 pounds. When it comes to alcohol, cocktails made of bottled mixers, juices, sugary sodas or tonic water—added with liquor—are sugar-filled. Have a glass of wine or your spirit of choice with soda water.

Coffee break. Ever wonder why Starbuck’s iced coffee is so delicious? It may be because you’re getting the sweetened version. Ask for your grande, unsweetened, and add your own sweetener (one Splenda makes perfect) or no sweetener, so you have control over your drink. With this trick, you could cut up to 24 grams of sugar—you entire day’s worth of sugar in one drink.

Snack time. The next time you pick up a yogurt. Choose wisely. The fruit at the bottom is sugar-packed. I’d try Fage 0% Greek yogurt with fresh fruit and a teaspoon of honey.

Dining out. Most of the time, dishes with the keyword "glazed" in the name usually means high sugar. Stick with simple grilled foods, if you're watching your weight.

Sometimes I think I’m being pretty healthy when I eat anything with fruit in it. While that may be the case, we still need to watch our portion control when it comes to foods and drinks with fruit juice concentrate, which generally is a red flag for sugar. For example, juices, jams, jellies or fruit snacks.

While you can’t cut out all sugar (or life would be miserable), the best thing to do is to think of sweets as an extra—not a requirement at every meal—and treat sugar as an added flavor enhancer to nutritious whole foods. Now that’s the sweet life.

By Linda Vongkhamchanh