Why Nutrition Labels Should Be More Clear About Added Sugars

When you pick up a food off the shelf and read the label, do you really know what to look for? Many of us have a strong desire to eat healthy and learn how to read food labels, but we may be a bit unsure of what we’re reading. If you skim over a food label and don’t think of the potential health benefit or harm that it can produce, then you are cutting yourself short. The truth is that there are some aspects of nutrition that you may not be in tune to such as added sugars, and these can equate to health and diet sabotage. You therefore want to learn what this all translates to so that you make healthier food choices overall. The majority of us consume far too much sugar in a given day, but you may wonder how that even happens. If you are doing the right thing and trying to make healthier choices overall, then you probably think that you’re exempt from this. Pick up a container of yogurt though, which is the perfect example. You might think that it’s healthy but the amount of sugar that you may find can be astounding. Even if a food sounds healthy it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is, especially if the sugar content is far higher than you really need in a single meal or serving. It is therefore time to get in tune to this and start making healthier choices overall.

This is why you have to be your own best advocate and why you have to learn all about added sugars and just why they are so bad for you. Here we look at why this is such an epidemic and why you have to break the cycle if you want to be your healthiest and best.

You may not really know what you are reading or eating: The problem is that even when you read a food label, you may feel totally unsure of what you are really eating. If you only look at the natural ingredients, then you’re missing out on what the chemicals and additives really mean. If the list of ingredients is overloaded with chemicals, preservatives, or additives, then it does not make up a sound food choice. Be on the lookout for ingredients such as “sucrose”, “glucose” or even food dyes, as these may be an instant and potentially harmful form of sugar that you don’t want to consume.

You need a true representation of what is healthy for you: If you’re like most people then you probably feel unsure as to how much sugar you can or should have in a day. As a general average you can aim for about 25 grams of sugar per day, but even that may be on the high end for some people. This is just an average and therefore you want to really look at the added sugars, the overall sugar content in a given food, and all of the chemicals and additives that make up a certain food too. If you don’t know what you’re eating then you’re not doing your research or your part to eat right, and more than likely you are eating far too much of the sugar and other ingredients that will only hurt you in the long run.

Just because something seems healthy, it may be far too much sugar for you: You turn to a food because it seems natural and healthy, but is it really? The problem is that so many foods that may seem good for you are loaded with sugar. Take our yogurt example and that’s just one of many. There are a large amount of products in the grocery store that are processed and therefore full of added ingredients, such as sugar, that they may do away with any natural health benefits. Go for foods that are healthy and natural with minimal processing and you can’t go wrong.

Using sugar to cover up or enhance flavors may mean harm to you in the long term: There is an entire industry out there that pushes foods that are considered “low fat” or “low calorie” or even healthy that use sugar to make up for the lack of taste. Just because you turn to a food that sounds healthy enough, don’t think for a second that it may not have added sugars. Learn to read the ingredient list and opt for foods that are healthy and come low in sugar or even salt. Covering up the taste with sugar will hurt you and that works against what you want in the long term.