56 Tricky Names for Sugar Hiding in Your Food

As health conscious individuals, we should be trying to cut as much refined sugar out of our lives as possible.

Unfortunately, the majority of Americans still don’t know the truth about how much sugar they are consuming and how deadly it is. The main reason for this is that most sugars we consume are in processed foods, so we never even know that we are consuming them.

Also, manufacturers are cleverer than we probably give them credit for, as they deliberately and successfully mislead us by calling sugar different names so even if we read the label, we might not recognize it for what it truly is: plain old sugar. After all, how many people can recognize that maltose is actually a type of sugar?

Let’s mention briefly the different types of sugar, mainly glucose and fructose. While glucose is easily metabolized by every cell in the body, fructose can only be metabolized by the liver. Fructose has been shown in study after study to be very unhealthy. A high fructose diet eventually leads to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, fatty liver, and insulin resistance.

Although you should be cutting back on as much sugar as possible, it is particularly important that you avoid consuming sugars that are high in fructose.

Now let’s look at the most common names for sugar.

1. Sugar or Sucrose

This is the most common type of sugar, the kind you probably have sitting next to your coffee maker. Commonly known as “table sugar”, this is the naturally occurring type of carb that is found in most fruits and plants, such as sugar cane and sugar beets. Plain old table sugar is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, naturally bound together.

2. Agave Nectar

Also known as agave syrup, this is a very popular sugar alternative that comes from the leaves of the agave plant. Although it doesn’t spike blood sugar as much as regular table sugar, it still contains between 70-90% fructose and 10-30% glucose. This sweetener isn’t really a healthy alternative at all. It is highly processed and is might be even worse for your health than plain old white sugar!

3. High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Maybe even better known by its abbreviation: HFCS. This type of sweetener is extremely popular in the US and can be found in almost every type of processed food and drink in your supermarket today. This sweetener is a GM product and is so popular because it is extremely cheap.

Other sugars that contain a combination of both glucose and fructose are:

4. Yellow sugar
5. Grape sugar
6. Turbinado sugar
7. Honey
8. Icing
9. Treacle sugar
10. Invert sugar
11. Sucanat
12. Maple syrup
13. Sorghum syrup
14. Molasses
15. Refiner’s syrup
16. Muscovado sugar
17. Raw sugar
18. Panela sugar
19. Golden syrup
20. Fruit juice concentrate
21. Golden sugar
22. Beet sugar
23. Florida crystals
24. Blackstrap molasses
25. Fruit juice
26. Buttered syrup
27. Evaporated cane juice
28. Cane juice crystals
29. Brown sugar
30. Demerara sugar
31. Cane sugar
32. Caramel
33. Confectioner’s sugar (sometimes called powdered sugar)
34. Carbo syrup
35. Coconut sugar
36. Date sugar
37. Castor sugar

Most of these are fairly easy to recognize as the word ‘sugar’ is in their name.

The following items are types of sugar that contain only glucose. Sometimes they are pure glucose, other times they are combined with other types of sugar other than fructose:

38. Dextrin
39. Barley malt
40. Corn syrup solid
41. Corn syrup
42. Brown rice syrup
43. Dextrose
44. Rice syrup
45. Maltose
46. Diastatic malt
47. Maltodextrin
48. Malt syrup
49. Ethyl maltol
50. Glucose
51. Lactose
52. Glucose solids

The following sugars are strictly fructose sweeteners.

53. Fructose
54. Crystalline fructose

Lastly, there are two types of sugar that contain neither fructose nor glucose. They are not as sweet and, therefore, aren’t as common, but you often find these combined with other types of sweeteners:

55. D-ribose
56. Galactose

The sugar found in natural foods such as vegetables, and dairy products are all natural. You don’t have to worry about these types of sugar, especially when eating the whole food. You will also get fiber, nutrients, and other things Mother Nature intended for you to consume.

However, it’s the unnatural types of sugar that you should look out for. The best way to do this is by eating a more natural, whole food type of diet and removing as many processed foods as you can.

If you do buy processed foods, be aware that some foods contain far more sugar than you ever imagined. The following are the worst offenders:

• Fruit filled yogurts or yogurt drinks;
• Canned soup;
• Salad dressings;
• Tomato sauce, juice, or any type of canned tomato product;
• Bread;
• Granola bars;
• Cereals (even ones that use words like “natural” or “healthy”);
• Dried fruit (this is natural sugar but it is highly concentrated so limit your consumption);
• Juices of all kinds.

Other places where sugar hides is in condiments such as ketchup and soy sauce, as well as many types of canned vegetables. Always read labels carefully and opt to make it fresh (and organic) as often as possible.

References:

www.epi.grants.cancer.gov

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Melissa Bell

Melissa Bell has a strong background in nutrition education, fitness and yoga, and experience working on specialized stretching, bodybuilding and weight loss programs. She is actively studying Japanese, doing research and travelling for conferences while taking care of two children.

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