These are all forms of modified sugar (sugars that have been “transformed”) so I guess in a way they can be referred to as ‘Transformers”. Sugar is modified through a process known as refining. Refining extracts the sugar from the sugar cane plant and some other fruits and vegetables. Refined sugar is America America
If dextran, maltose, turbinado and sorbitol were transformers, they would be Decepticons. These sugars and others like them hide in food and drinks under all types of aliases. Products labeled “no sugar added” aren’t always telling the whole truth. You need to read the ingredients. If you have processed food in your house which is anything in a box (like your cereal, snack food, health bars), a bag (like frozen food, cookies), a can (like soda, soups, sports drinks), a jar (like jelly, peanut butter), a carton (like drink boxes, fruit juice), a bottle (like flavored water specialty drinks), or a plastic container (like precooked or prepared food) then you have food with refined sugar in it. As a matter of fact, most of your food will have one or more of these ingredients in it. Get ready. Here are some other names for sugar.
1. Barley malt 2. Beet sugar 3. Brown sugar 4. Buttered syrup 5. Cane juice crystals 6. Cane sugar 7. Caramel 8. Corn syrup 9. Corn syrup solids 10. Confectioner’s sugar 11. Carob syrup 12. Castor sugar 13. Date sugar 14. Demerara sugar 15. Dextran 16. Dextrose 17. Diastatic malt 18. Diatase 19. Ethyl maltol 20. Fructose 21. Fruit juice (any kind) 22. Fruit juice concentrate 23. Galactose 24. Glucose 25. Glucose solids | 26. Golden sugar 27. Golden syrup 28. Grape sugar 29. High-fructose corn syrup 30. Honey 31. Icing sugar 32. Invert sugar 33. Lactose 34. Maltodextrin 35. Maltose 36. Malt syrup 37. Maple syrup 38. Molasses 39. Muscovado sugar 40. Panocha 41. Raw sugar 42. Refiner’s syrup 43. Rice syrup 44. Sorbitol 45. Sorghum syrup 46. Sucrose 47. Sugar 48. Treacle 49. Turbinado sugar 50. Yellow sugar |
It is very hard to escape this invasion. If they were Decepticons we could fight them with Autobots. In this case the Autobots are information. Being informed is your best defense, but it is hard to fight against something if you don’t know how bad it is for you. These Decepticons often disguise themselves as health food. For example, I love pineapples, but I hate cutting them. So I went to the store looking for canned pineapples. Each one was packed in pear juice. Now you may ask what is so wrong with pear juice; it comes from something that is good for you. If you read yesterday’s article you may remember reading about the apple and how the natural sugar in the apple is bound together with the fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Once that sugar is separated from them, it becomes nothing more than a sugar cube.
To arm your defense, you should become familiar with reading labels. Not the front label that’s loaded with rich, colorful pictures of food and farms, or the bold lettering with eye catching phrases. And not even the nutrition labels because they can also be deceiving due to the changing portion sizes. You need to read the ingredients. If you don’t already know, the ingredients are listed in order from the greatest to the least amount. The ingredients will give you insight to things about the product the rest of the container cannot.
Reading labels is the first step to realizing what you are consuming. They will tell you if you are eating chemicals, preservatives, sugars, or anything else that can negatively affect you. Nothing is more important than your health. The best thing you can do for the ones you love is to take care of yourself so you can take care of them. What you are eating plays a large part in this. You wouldn’t put bad fuel in your car, and you shouldn’t put bad food in your body.
Now that you know how to find the sugar in your favorite food and drinks, do you know how much is actually in them? Come check out our next blog to see what you’ve been eating!
Written by Joann Agoglia
Edited by Robert Marshall
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