Obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes… Sugar is undoubtedly one of the main enemies we face on a daily basis, often without knowing it. This common ingredient in the diet of many people should be limited, as it can cause many health problems.
To reduce sugar consumption, we can start by removing sweets, sweets or chocolate. But there are many other foods rich in sugar that can go unnoticed, and that can also cause complications or more serious illnesses.
Do you know which products you should eliminate at all costs from your daily diet? We tell you what are the foods with too much sugar that you should avoid to maintain a diet as healthy as possible.
The importance of labels
- Before you start figuring out which sugary items to avoid, it’s important to remember that you should learn how to read product labels correctly. Sugars are found within carbohydrates, and their amount will be indicated on the back of the product.
- There are many natural sugars that carry the product itself, however, on the labels of some foods you can read “added sugars”. Manufacturers add more sugar, which is not recommended at all.
Foods with excess sugar that you should limit
There are a large number of foods that you should avoid, beyond the typical chocolate or sweets with saturated fat. Here we leave you a small list of some of the less healthy foods, although there are many others.
-
Cocoa powder
As we have indicated before, reading labels is crucial to knowing what ingredients a product is made of. This is the case of cocoa powder, a product in which cocoa should be the main ingredient, however the truth is that this title goes to sugar.
With just two tablespoons of cocoa powder in a glass of milk they would provide 15 grams of sugar, and if the most recommended is 25 gr. of sugar a day, is an excessive amount. You can either reduce your consumption, or eliminate it completely.
-
Breakfast cereals
There are certain breakfast cereals that are quite healthy, such as those made of oats, for example. However, as a general rule, small cornflakes contain a large dose of sugar.
Therefore, it is important that you take into account what cereals you are going to consume, and its nutritional information. In this way, you will know which cereals you should eliminate from your daily diet so as not to consume excess sugar.
-
Soft drinks, energy drinks or alcohol
Sugary drinks, or those alcoholic, have a huge contribution of simple sugars that we ingest without practically realizing it. In the case of energy drinks or soft drinks, they are used by athletes, since they can replace the salts that we have lost during the activity.
However, you should reduce the consumption of these drinks if you want to eliminate sugar consumption. These types of drinks can contain up to 35 grams of sugar per can or bottle, which is a real bomb for our health.
-
Jams
When you go to the supermarket you can find jams of all kinds, and all the flavors you can imagine. Jam has become an essential part of breakfast for many people, but it is not as healthy as it may seem.
As a general rule, these jams are made with 50% fruit and the other 50% sugar. An advice? You can reduce your consumption by adding less quantity to the bread. Of course, remember that a piece of natural fruit is always a better option.
-
Certain sauces
There are some sauces on the market that have a high sugar content, so the ideal is to put less quantity on the plate, or make them at home to control the sugar that you add. You should reduce the consumption of these packaged sauces, which are usually not very healthy.
For example, tomato sauce is not as good as you may think. Although they do not have a huge amount of sugar, manufacturers often add it to avoid the acidity of the tomato. But, if you decide to make it at home, you can add a little onion instead of sugar. You’ll see how good it looks!
-
Flavored yogurts or industrial shakes
There are certain yogurts that may have an advertising claim of being 0% fat, and may contain up to 20 grams of sugar. This means that most of the dairy desserts that we think are healthy are not so healthy, but what to do in these cases? It is best to buy natural yogurt (always looking at the labels) and manually add the sugar you want.
And the same goes for industrial shakes, or even bottled coffees. All of them tend to have a huge amount of sugar, so it is highly recommended to read the label to discover its composition.
-
Candies
Candies, caramels, and certain sweets are made almost exclusively with sugar. That is why they are called products for sporadic consumption, that is, not to be eaten daily but once in a while.
-
Pastries and cookies
Industrial pastries and cookies also have a very high sugar content. Both products should be avoided if you want to reduce your consumption, since in certain cases they contain up to 20 grams of sugar per 100.
All you have to do is eliminate them completely from your diet, or treat yourself very occasionally. In this way, you will see how your health improves at times and you will not have any need to consume them.
-
Too fatty foods
There are certain foods, such as pizzas, hamburgers or French fries, whose consumption should be limited not only because of sugar, but also because of the carbohydrates it contains. These types of products accumulate sugar for much longer, so they favor diseases such as obesity or overweight.
In short, sugar is used excessively in foods that, a priori, should not contain it. The objective of adding so much sugar is usually to rectify the taste, enhance the flavor or even extend its consumption period.