10 Sneaky Sugar Culprits

By Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D. for YouBeauty.com.

Sugar seems to be inescapable. It isn’t only found where we expect it to be (cookies, candy, cakes), but also in places that surprise us. Regardless of the source, sugar is a beauty buster. Perhaps the biggest.

Several studies have shown that excess sugar in the diet contributes to increased risk of heart disease, increased triglycerides, diabetes, weight gain and malnutrition.

Scary? Si! But what’s most frightening to beauty buffs is that it also wreaks havoc on your skin. The more sugar you eat, the more likely you are to have skin that is dull and wrinkly. Researchers think this occurs due to a process called glycation, in which sugar in the bloodstream attaches to proteins to form something called AGEs, or advanced glycation end products. AGEs damage collagen and elastin, two structural proteins directly related to how great... or, in this case, not so great, your skin is.

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The two lists provided here outline the main sources of sugar in the American diet. If either of these lists resembles a daily diary of food choices for you, it may be the perfect time to kick the sugar habit! After all, you don’t want a bunch of AGEs waging war against your skin, right?

Top 10 sugar foods

• Cola


• Sweetened cereals


• White bread


• Candy


• Granola/energy Bars -- up to 25 grams for one bar


• Juice and other sweetened beverages


• Bakery Items (muffins, cookies, etc)


• Frozen yogurt and ice cream


• Canned or dried fruit


• Smoothies -- can have up to 60g in a 16 ounce serving

Top 10 foods that surprisingly have a lot of sugar

• Frozen entrées


• Low-fat or fat-free salad dressing


• Crackers


• Ketchup and BBQ sauce


• Soy milk


• Tomato sauce


• Flavored yogurts


• Fat-free “diet” products


• Instant flavored oatmeal


• Specialty coffee drinks -- large

Whether you want to kick the habit completely or just modify your choices, here are a few tips to avoid the sugar high and beauty low.

Distract your taste buds
Using flavoring like cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla powder on your oatmeal or coffee, or lemon, grapefruit or mint in your water, can make the sugar reduction process a little more exciting. Also, go to town on any and all roasted vegetables. The roasting process brings out their natural sweetness and will satisfy your need for sweet.

Just walk it off
Got a sugar craving? Studies show that you’re much less likely to crave sweet foods after exercise. Even just a 30 minute brisk walk would suppress the craving and allow you burn calories to boot!

A girl has got to have standards
Next time you’re grocery shopping, use the following as a reference point for your purchases:

• Main dishes and desserts should contain no more than 4 grams of added sugar per serving


• Side dishes should contain no more than 2 grams of added sugars per serving

In total, you want to keep your added sugar to less than 24 grams, or 6 teaspoons per day and going even lower than that will improve your health and beauty significantly more!

Keep it real -- Using a sugar substitute might create a “bigger” problem
Recent studies suggest that the use of calorie-free sweeteners may contribute to over-eating and inevitable weight gain. Slowly reduce your sugar intake and you will learn to appreciate sweetness, rather than using sweetener and “trying to get your lunch for free.”

Comments

[apposite01]

01:25 AM on 09/19/2011

Not sure how baked potato didn't get on this list, it's at a whopping 85 on the glycemic index.

[tomteboda]

01:46 AM on 09/10/2011

Most of the "sugar" in ketchup (at least commercially prepared brands such as Heinz) comes from the natural sugar of tomatoes. Even still, there's not much there, with 4g of carbohydrates in a 17 g (1 tbsp) serving.

The glycemic index of ketchup of 2 means that it is a condiment that shouldn't be necessarily shunned if it can make something that is fairly unpalatable but healthy taste good. Just don't pour a cup of it on your food.

[Hugh Betcha]

05:44 PM on 09/12/2011

Many brands of ketchup contain high fructose corn syrup, too.

[tomteboda]

09:26 PM on 09/12/2011

So people should read labels instead of paying attention to ridiculous blanket lists.

[derekhenry]

03:37 PM on 09/18/2011

I but Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup. I actually think it tastes better.

[tomteboda]

03:41 PM on 09/18/2011

If you look at the carbohydrate difference between the two its nearly zilch. Mostly its a marketing ploy to sucker people in.

[Karl Wilder]

02:11 PM on 09/09/2011

How ignorant would you have to be in order to be surprised by any of those?

[HerrMonk]

11:47 AM on 09/06/2011

That any of these are surprising to anyone is amazing.

It just shows you far the high-carboyhfrate diet has been pushed and engrained in our culture that someone could eat something like breakfast cereal or breads and not think that they're consuming a bunch of sugar...

[rawfoodsphd]

12:05 PM on 09/03/2011

Great article, thanks! When checking a label, if sugar is in the first 5 ingredients (and it shows up in some very strange places, like Garlic Tostitos, for instance!) it is going to spike your blood sugar = weight gain. Also, most sugar nowadays is cane juice combined with sugar beets, which are genetically modified. While we are not used to reading labels, it's crucial. www.rawfusionliving.com

[Kenz300]

08:48 AM on 09/03/2011

There is too much fat, sugar and salt in our processed foods today.

I wish companies would just cut back on the amount they put in foods.

Maybe an email to the company's customer service department would help.

[HerrMonk]

11:48 AM on 09/06/2011

What's an example of too much fat in our processed foods?

I'm all about avoiding processed foods, but I don't see too much fat in them as being a problem.

[DrP]

11:19 PM on 09/02/2011

Pretty good article. I'm glad to see Huffpo publishing a post that rightfully implicates sugar in the "diseases of civilization." It will be even better when it is made clear that all carbohydrates metabolize as glucose - that is, sugar. It is also important to understand that fruit is a source of fructose which should be limited to around 25 gr/day. By not purchasing any packaged, processed foods and eating a low-carb, whole food diet, one can easily eliminate added sugar.
One question - why would main dishes need added sugar at all? Or even side dishes, for that matter. There is no sugar in my house and I can't imagine adding it to anything I would cook!

[Jennifer Walker]

05:05 PM on 09/02/2011

"Main dishes and desserts should contain no more than 4 grams of added sugar per serving"

What the hell kind of dessert is that?!

[PELAGIUS2]

08:34 PM on 09/02/2011

Imagine my surprise when I found high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup in sausage or Italian sausage. So I read labels very carefully.

[Jennifer Walker]

08:47 PM on 09/03/2011

Absolutely! Tomato and pasta sauces are another huge culprit. It's pretty difficult to find prepared foods without added HFCS or other sugars - yet another reason to prepare your own meals with whole ingredients. Time, of course, is always a problem. (I've found that Hunts brand spag. sauce has no added sugar for those 20-minute dinner kind of nights) All my healthy habits aside, a dessert with less than 4 grams added sugar doesn't seem like it would go over too well at the Labor Day potluck!

[richieroo]

01:32 PM on 09/02/2011

Interesting piece - I never knew salad dressing contained so much sugar.

Here's another great list I found - Top 10 Deceptive Diet Foods - foods you think are good for you but really aren't!

http://www.angrytrainerfitness.com/2011/08/top-10-deceptive-diet-foods/

There's some really good diet pieces on this guy's site...