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clara k.showalter, clara showalter, fitness, healthy, how many types of sugar, nutrition, sugar, types of sugar
One of the easiest ways to start cutting unwanted calories from your diet is to reduce sugar. This is a no-brainer for most of us. Sugar is a treat food, plain and simple. It’s not something the human body is used to consuming in bulk, it’s designed as a source of quick energy, and bottom line is we eat way too much of in the US.
Thing is, the manufacturers are sneaky. They know sweet is a trigger for higher consumption. So they hide sugar in a variety of ways by changing the type. Take a look at some of the types of sugar out there.
- Barley malt
- Beet sugar
- Brown sugar
- Buttered syrup
- Cane juice crystals
- Cane sugar
- Caramel
- Corn syrup
- Corn syrup solids
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Carob syrup
- Castor sugar
- Date sugar
- Demerara sugar
- Dextran
- Dextrose
- Diastatic malt
- Diatase
- Ethyl maltol
- Fructose
- Fruit juice
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Galactose
- Glucose
- Glucose solids
- Golden sugar
- Golden syrup
- Grape sugar
- High fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Icing sugar
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Maltodextrin
- Maltose
- Malt syrup
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Muscovado sugar
- Panocha
- Raw sugar
- Refiner’s syrup
- Rice syrup
- Sorbitol
- Sorghum syrup
- Sucrose
- Sugar
- Treacle
- Turbinado sugar
- Yellow sugar
I imagine some of those caught your attention. Take a look at the boxes you have in the house again. Do you see rice syrup listed in the first three ingredients for a child breakfast cereal? Guess what, that’s sugar. Yes it’s “healthy”, yes it’s organic. It’s still sugar. If you are looking to reduce calories then this is something you can look at cutting back on.
As you start looking more, you’ll find sugars in all kinds of products from ketchup to breads. Take a look in your pantry. How many sugars can you find right now? Let me know.
Clara Showalter 
I did not realise some of these were sugar (eg: maltodextrin)! Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome! It’s really pretty scary how much added sugar shows up in American foods.
Yep, and I hate ’em, and I hate the fact that my taste buds and those of the fam are so addicted to ’em. Dangit.
Hey knowing is half the battle. 😉
Sugar is a problem when consumed in excess, but some of those forms of sugar are better choices that others. Some have trace minerals and some are not supposed to give the same insulin spike as processed sugar.
Thing is insulin spiking may not be the problem. Fructose based sweetening agents cause their own issues metabolically. Agave is a great example. It’s not designed to be consumed in the quantaties Americans use it.