Thread: 9 Sugar-Packed Foods

You may not know it but the food you thought is healthy may actually contain loads of sugar.

1. Granola - you may think that this is healthy since it's packed with nuts, oats and other healthy ingredients but for most granola, one cup contains 8 teaspoon of sugar. Check the label, you will see brown, honey and cane sugar and these are the alternate form of regular sugar. One teaspoon is 15 calories and contains 0 nutritional value.

2. Teriyaki Chicken - This may sound healthy but one order of this dish contains 10-12 teaspoons of sugar. Request for the teriyaki sauce to be served separately to control the amount of sauce on your meal or don't use too much bottled teriyaki sauce at home.

3. Juice - 100% fruit juice does contain vitamins and minerals but it's also packed with sugar. A 15 ounce fruit juice nearly has 15 teaspoon of sugar and the small size juice box (6 ounces) contains 6 teaspoons. Choose the low sugar versions or mix them with water before drinking.

4. Muffins - Muffins from a deli or restaurant contains 10-12 teaspoons of sugar. Try making your own muffin at home so you can cut down on sugar and use healthier ingredients.

5. Coffee Drinks - A large size frappe (20 ounces) or other coffee blended drinks has 20 teaspoons of sugar. It's best to skip the whip cream or better yet, choose regular coffee or tea and use low fat milk and sugar free sweeteners.

6. Fruit flavored yogurts - A 6-8 ounce container has 8-10 teaspoons of sugar. The same with bottled smoothies. They use sugary preserves so the sugar content is high. Just make your own version. Use low fat or non fat yogurt and mix it with fresh fruits.

7. Chewing Gum - One stick of regular gum contains half a teaspoon of sugar. It may not sound much but if you chew down 10 pieces of gum a day, that's equal to 5 teaspoons of sugar or 75 calories.

8. Canned Fruits - One small can might say 100 calories per serving but contains nearly 6 teaspoons of sugar. Skip the canned fruits and choose fresh fruits instead.

9. Soda - a 20-ounce bottle contains 18 teaspoons of sugar. Choose low calorie carbonated drinks as an alternative or if you really want the real thing, choose the small 7 ounce can. That saves you at least 10 teaspoons of sugar.


Source: iVillage