What is added sugar?

As the debate rages on regarding what you should be eating and what you should not be eating, there is something everyone can agree on; you need to know WHAT you are eating.

And how much of it.

It’s not as always as simple as it might seem.

I was looking online for some sugar-free recipes, as well as some snack suggestion for my kids. And I was absolutely SHOCKED to see some pretty well known and respected healthy eating websites advertising ‘sugar-free recipes’ – that were full of ingredients like honey and maple syrup.

Firstly, I want to say that I love maple syrup. LOVE it.

Secondly, there is a place for sugar, including added sugar, in a healthy diet.

And while it is true that some sugars have additional health benefits (like raw honey), here’s the catch; your body, when it comes to sugar and what it does with it, does not really know the difference between organic unpasteurized raw honey, and white processed cane sugar.

Natural added sugars are not considered more healthy than their counterparts as they have similar metabolic effects.

I am going to say that one again;

When it comes to added sugar, your body does not know the metabolic difference between ‘healthy’ sugar like raw honey, and white cane sugar.

So what is added sugar?

Added sugar is any sugar that has been added by the manufacturer in pre-packaged food, or in the food prep. This is not the sugar that is intrinsically part of the food (like lactose in milk and fructose in fruit). Added sugar can be a ‘natural’ sugar, in or close to its original states like honey and maple syrup. Or it can be heavily processed sugar like cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

How can I tell if sugar has been added to my food?

If you are looking at packaged food, the upside is that there is an ingredient label (called the Nutrition Information Panel or NIP in Australia). The downside is that food labels are not as straightforward as they should be, particularly regarding the inclusion of added sugar.

In Australia, NIP labels do not tell us exactly how much sugar has been added to our food. They list the ingredients, and the total quantity of sugar in the product is listed.
This total amount does not differentiate between what occurs naturally (the sugar that is part of the fruit, vegetables, dairy products) and what has been added.

Does it matter?

Yes. It does.

Adding sugar to food that has been commercially processed drastically increases the amount of sugar we consume. It upsets the balance of naturally occurring sugar with the other ingredients found in sugar-containing foods, such as fibre, vitamins, antioxidants, and water. For example, when eating a piece of fruit, you are ingesting sugar in the form of fructose. But you are also consuming the other parts that make up the fruit, including fibre that will help fill you up. It is the fibre in particular that creates a significant distinction between sugar naturally occurring in fruits and vegetables, and added sugars. Fibre slows the digestion of the sugars, allowing your body to use the glucose, not sore it as fat. Adding sugar throws off balance the naturally occurring synergy between sugar, fibre, and other essential ingredients, disrupting digesting and leading to insulin spikes.

This does not only apply to processed food. You get the same result when you add a cup of sugar or a cup of honey to a baked good, put sugar in your coffee, or substitute brown rice malt syrup to a recipe.

I’ll tell you this: My kids might have more energy after eating an orange. But they have more tantrums after eating a granola bar from the health food aisle at the supermarket.

There is a further complication when it comes to processed sugars. Sugar that comes from a fruit, that contains the entire (edible portion!) of the fruit is generally considered to be much healthier. However some foods we purchase claim they are made entirely from whole food; a claim made to imply it is therefore a healthy dietary choice. Often this is the case in commercially produced juices and smoothies. What we are not told on the label is that during processing the manufactures significantly alter the fruit’s properties, changing the way our bodies process the sugar contained in the fruit. What that means is that even if a food product contains whole food ingredients that eaten on their own would be healthy, after being heavily processed they no longer can be digested as in their original form.

They become added sugar.

It’s all in the name

When looking to include less added sugar in our diet, we have to know how to find it.

Sugar has over 42 different names as an additive to your food, and that can certainly be confusing. Several of these types of sugar might appear in one item but spread out through the ingredient list, therefore none individually appearing to be in high quantities. Combined they present the problem of too much added sugar. Being familiar with the different names for added sugar can help identify them in your food.

Sugar itself should not be labelled as evil or the source of all our current health issues. As a society, we consume too much sugar, and it is impacting our health. However, in far too many cases, the response to this knowledge is to swing in the complete opposite direction. We have diets that claim to be ‘sugar-free.’ It takes only a basic understanding of nutrition to know that to eat healthy food rich in fruits and vegetables is to consume sugar.

It is also essential to debunk the notion that if something in small quantities can be positive for your health, more must be better. Such is the case with the sugar honey – there are numerous health benefits to eating raw honey. But it is still sugar, and regarding quantity, it should be consumed as such.

Conversely, just because something is unhealthy in large quantities does not mean it is always bad for you in smaller portions. Such is the case with sugar. Most people do not consume enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis – unless advised by a medical professional, they should not be removed from a diet to decrease sugar intake.

There is a place for sugar, including added sugar, in a healthy diet. However we need to be able to know how much we are eating, and our kids are eating, to able to make healthy choices.

Added Sugar: 15 Tips to Avoid the Excess!

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References

Natural and Added Sugars: Two Sides of the Same Coin – Harvard University

Added Sugar in ‘Health’ Foods – CHOICE 

Is Sugar From Fruit Better For You Than White Sugar? – Huffington Post

14 Simple Ways to Stop Eating Lots of Sugar – Healthline