I’ve been reading food labels for many years. It started with looking to see how many calories per serving. At some point I switched to worrying about how much fat per serving. Then about five years ago, I started really looking at ingredients and shying way from long lists of words I could not pronounce in my foods. I’ve realized less is more when it comes to ingredients. I read somewhere that good food usually contains five ingredients or less. When I see a big paragraph of ingredients, it’s usually a NO for me!
Now I’m still reading labels but I’m also noticing a word and an ingredient I know and I can pronounce is showing up in just about everything. It’s an ingredient I know I could do with less of … probably all of us could stand to cut back on. What is it? SUGAR! I’ll be the first to admit I have a sweet tooth. I’m not anti- dessert or dark chocolate. But does sugar need to be in my main course items? NO!
Here are just a few of the recent items I’ve discovered sugar hiding in:
- Pasta Sauce
- Chicken Broth
- Sparkling Water
- Almond Milk
- Vitamins
- Soup
None of these are items that NEED to have sugar in them. I really believe as a culture we have become so addicted to sugar. Manufacturers put it in their products because they know it can produce cravings. Sugar sells but it’s not really good for us. Did you know when you consume too much sugar, your body stores it as fat? Sugar has it’s place in treats but it does not belong in my breakfast, my lunch or my dinner entree.
I’m saying no more to hidden sugar and I’m going to keep checking labels til I find items I like. I encourage you to avoid hidden sugars, too! Join me and see how sweet it is to eat wholesome and not rely on sugar to make something palatable. I don’t cook with sugar unless I am baking. It’s just not something that needs to be added to make real food taste delicious!
I will be curious to see as well if cutting out the hidden sugars helps to curb sugar cravings in general. I suspect over time once I acclimate to less sweet foods, I will find the sugared-up option too sweet. We will see and I will let you know.
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