Five Healthy Foods that Contains More Sugar than Colas and Candies!

It is no secret that consuming too much sugar on a daily basis can harm the body in a plenty of ways. Weight-watchers and those trying to lose those extra pounds off their waists swear by sugar avoidance.

However, there are many reasons why people should avoid consuming excessive sugary foods, let alone an
increase in the risk of obesity.

Obese individuals are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, the rates of which have almost doubled in the last three decades among young adults.  Excessive sugar can spike anxiety levels and also increase the risk
of heart disease and skin-related woes.

In fact, there are plenty of ways in which excessive sugar affects our body. Sugar triggers the brain to release the feel-good chemical called dopamine. This explains why our mind and body craves for sugary foods like candies and chocolates after a meal because the brain wants to generate that same feeling of euphoria or pleasure again.

We are less likely to crave for apples or oats because they do not trigger the release of dopamine and initiate a sense of pleasure. Other than that, excessive sugar levels can mess up your mood, teeth, and joints. It can cause wrinkles and
saggy skin and damage vital organs in the body, including the kidneys, heart, liver, and the pancreas. But the sad part is that there are chances that you may be eating too many sugars in your diet already, knowingly or unknowingly. On an average, Americans take as much as 20 teaspoons of sugar every day, which is much more than what they should actually take. The daily recommended sugar consumption is around 6 teaspoons for women and 9 teaspoons for men (this does not include natural sugars contained in fruits and milk).

People who are told to avoid excessive sugar because of specific health risks usually think that having tea without sugar, skipping sweets after meals, or eliminating fruits from the diet should suffice. Unfortunately, this is not enough.

A majority of us, nowadays, rely on packaged foods and consumables that are considered apparently health. Little do we know that such products contain a huge amount of added or hidden sugars that are more harmful than sugar naturally contained in fruits and other things.

Listed are some of the apparently healthy foods that contain more sugar than the obvious foods such as candies and colas.

1. Flavored Water

Most of the flavored water brands are disguising their products under the “healthy” label category. People, especially who go to the gym every day to sweat it all out prefer to drink these refreshing drinks after a strenuous session.

They believe that these drinks restore the electrolyte balance, which is disturbed due to excessive sweating. However, they do not know that such drinks are often loaded with sugars, which actually does more harm than good.

2. Low-fat and Flavored Yogurts

Greek yogurt and other forms of the product is highly popular among weight watchers for its apparent health benefits such as high protein content and good fats. This product is mostly marketed as low-fat low- calorie consumable.

However, people do not actually know that this product is loaded with high amounts of sugars that are added to make it taste good after removing all the fat content that otherwise promotes satisfaction. The sugar content is all the way higher when the yogurt is combined with options such as granola and honey.

3. Packaged Fruit Juices

People often think that there could be no healthy beverage than a fruit juice. But in truth, it is not logical to ditch the cola for a glass of packaged fruit juice because the sugar content in them is almost the same. Most fruit juices contain a huge amount of sugars. Even if you drink juice that contains no added sugars, the burden of naturally sourced sugars is almost the same as drinking a glass of Pepsi or any other cola.

4. Breakfast Cereals

A bowl of breakfast cereals almost always seems like the best option to consume first thing in the morning. However, people often forget to check the nutrition facts mentioned on the back of the package.

It is important to consider the serving size when taking into account the sugar content.

Packaged breakfast cereals do contain added sugars and this is the reason why it is important to stick to just one serving for consumption in breakfast. People tend to fill a bowl with cereals for breakfast considering that it is health. However, they should know that it also doubles up the sugar content.

5. Dried Fruits

Including fruits in the diet is the easiest thing that one can do to maintain health. However, not all forms of fruits are healthy for people who have been specifically asked to avoid sugary foods and stuff. Dried fruits, for example, dried cranberries and raisins, are devoid of all the moisture. Therefore, their sugar concentrate is extremely high.

As compared to their fresh version, the sugar content in dried fruits can sometimes be more than 10 times. Therefore, it is important for people to keep the portions of dried fruits small and choose the varieties with no added sugars. It is always better to choose the fresh versions.