Five (5) “healthy” foods with surprisingly high sugar levels.
We all know that too much sugar in the system is bad for the body even though the complete absence of sugar can have some serious adverse effects on your body– “healthy” foods with surprisingly high sugar
It is almost impossible to do without sugar because it is found in almost everything we consume. Certain foods have zero sugar if you are looking to walk the sugar-free path. There are such alternatives worth exploring.
As a way to cut down on our sugar levels to the optimum, we make certain food choices that we believe can help us achieve our goals.
Unfortunately, we fail to realize that those other food choices we make to curb our sugar intake contain the same amount of sugar or even more.
The notion that such foods are healthy has led to many abusing them thinking that they are making the right dietary choices.
We will delve into such food options below and explore why taking too much of it could be bad for our bodies.
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1. Fruit juice:
first on the list of sugar-rich “healthy” food options is fruit juice. Just because it is fruit juice doesn’t mean its content is 100% made of fruits.
Fruit juice is bad for you because it’s high in sugar and calories, and lacks fiber. The fibers present in most fruits end up lost during fruit juice processing.
To make it taste addictively pleasant, manufacturers mix it with different forms of sugar and other ingredients including harmful preservatives.
This can lead to weight gain, which can cause other health issues like high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes.
Juice can also cause blood sugar spikes, which can be dangerous for people with diabetes or insulin resistance
2. Honey:
Honey is a concentrated carbohydrate solution that contains a variety of simple and complex sugars, including Fructose (The main sugar in honey, and the sweetest of all sugars), Glucose, and Sucrose.
Honey may be a better alternative to sugar but take it in moderation as you would take normal sugar because Honey has a high glycemic index.
This means it can cause blood sugar levels to spike and then drop rapidly. This can be problematic for people with diabetes or insulin resistance
3. Ketchup:
Asking for extra ketchup is something we are all guilty of but what you don’t know is 1 tablespoon of ketchup could contain 7% or more of your Daily Value (DV) of sugar.
If you love ketchup and have 4–5 Tablespoons with a single meal, you could consume 35% or more of the DV for sugar from the ketchup alone. Each 100 grams of ketchup contains 20g of sugar.
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4. Chocolate Milk
Many commercial chocolate milk products contain added sugars to enhance flavor. These added sugars contribute to the overall sugar content of the beverage.
Even with unsweetened cocoa, the bitterness has to be countered with lots of sugar to give it the pleasant taste you desire.
While chocolate milk does provide some nutritional benefits, such as calcium and protein, it’s essential to be mindful of its sugar content and consume it in moderation as part of a balanced diet.
Opting for unsweetened or lower-sugar varieties, or making your own with unsweetened cocoa powder and a natural sweetener, can help reduce the negative effects associated with high-sugar chocolate milk.
5. Vegetables (carrots, potatoes and corn)
starchy vegetables that taste sweet, like beets and peas, contain the most sugar and carbohydrates. They are relatively not bad for your health.
This is just to tell you that they contain some amount of sugar therefore you should be mindful of how much you consume in the name of eating healthy.
Below is a table of vegetables and the amount of sugar in them:
| Vegetable and Percentage of Sugar (%) |
|---|
| Beet: Up to 8% sugar |
| Sweet corn: Up to 6.3% sugar |
| Green pea: Up to 5.9% sugar |
| Sweet potato: Up to 5.5% sugar |
| Onion: Up to 4.7% sugar |
| Carrot: Up to 4.7% sugar |
| Red bell pepper: Up to 4.4% sugar |
| Rutabaga: Up to 4% sugar |
| Shiitake Mushrooms: Up to 3.8% sugar |
| Turnip: Up to 3.8% sugar |
| Red cabbage: Up to 3.8% sugar |
| Canned pumpkin: Up to 3.3% sugar |
| Winter squash: Up to 3.3% sugar |
| Summer squash: Up to 2.6% sugar |
| Tomato: 2.5% sugar |
6. Cereals
Cereals are made mainly with children in mind. Therefore they are made to taste very sweet. The addition of extra sugar to cereals also helps to preserve it and give it that fresh and crunchy taste even when added to milk.
Eating too much-refined cereal can cause blood sugar levels to spike, which can lead to diabetes over time. Cereals also often have a high glycemic index (GI). This means the body breaks them down quickly, causing blood sugar levels to rise quickly
Conclusion
It is important to note that everything we consume is made up of some sugars. This is because our body needs it, however, too much of it is bad for one’s health.
We often make the mistake of thinking some of the above-mentioned foods are healthy because they are low in sugar.
Even though they are a better alternative to processed sugar you wouldn’t be completely safe if you abuse such foods.
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