Deciphering Hidden Sugar On Food Labels

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I know a lot of you folks out there are trying to diet and eat healthier. Here is something I compiled that might be of help to you when looking for healthier food choices. Food packaging now days is not always easy to read. How does a person on a low sugar diet or with diabetes know for sure how much sugar a product has in it? Labels are required by the federal NLEA on food products but are not pre-approved by the FDA before use. Fast food restaurants are very bad about adding sugar to food items you might not expect to have any in them. Many places have nutritional information on their websites but not all and others have them available if you ask for them. The bad thing is that not all packaged food labels are the same. Usually sugar can be found lower down on the list on the label and is measured in grams. The amount shown is usually per serving and the label should also show at the top how many servings are in the package. These contents are denoted usually as a percent of intake which is based on 2,000 calorie diet. Look for other ingredients such as dextrose, fructose and glucose, sugar, raw sugar, pancake syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, malt syrup, maple syrup, honey, and fruit juice concentrates. The "empty calories" in the more sugary products such as candy and cookies are definitely not a good choice for the diabetic and those on a low-sugar diet. Fruits are nutritios but do contain sugar. The difference is sucrose sugar in the cookies and fructose in the fruit but is still made into glucose once it is in the body. Fruit is always the best choice for those on low intake diets. To calculate the glucose load of certain food products check on the Center for Disease Control's website. Using the Glycemic Index can determine the blood glucose effect of a given food. The website will give you the amount of fruit and vegetables a healthy person needs each day and it is calculated by gender, age, amount of physical activity. It also gives you a daily calorie level based on your age. Frozen foods, fast food restaurant foods and other prepared meals can contain fructose or corn syrup and even high levels of sodium. Cooking meals from scratch is the best way to insure how much sugar goes into the meal. Using substitutes for sugar is not a good habit to get into due the negative health consequences over time. Hope this is of help to you.