Reading food labels and understanding types of sugar

There has been a lot of debate about the the different kinds of sugar put in many popular foods consumed by children.  In particular, there was been a lot of concern about high-fructose corn syrup.   I think it is important to look at the ingredients on food labels but if you don't know what you are looking at, it can be a bit confusing.

So here is the 101 on sugar and the food labels:

Glucose:  This is the basic molecule of sugar.  The converts the foods we eat, breaks it down to glucose, so that it can be used by the body for energy.

Fructose: This is another basic molecule of sugar but it comes from fruits naturally.  Fruits are high in fructose but when eaten whole you get lots of other vitamins, fiber and nutrients.   But when you drink fruit juice, you are getting a lot of the vitamins but the fructose (sugar)  is concentrated in the juice.  This is why it is recommended that a child only get one serving of their fruit requirement from juice.  It is much better to get the rest of their fruit from whole fruits.  Another way to look at it, you would have to eat several pieces of fruit to get the same amount of sugar as one glass of juice.

Sucrose:  This is the plain white sugar that comes from sugarcanes or beet roots.  This is usually a combination of glucose and fructose sugar.

Lactose:  This is the sugar found naturally in milk.  Some people who can't tolerate milk are allergic or have an intolerance to the lactose.  There are now lactose-free milk with the same amount of calcium as regular milk.

High-fructose corn syrup: This is a man made sweetener that is a combination of glucose and fructose.  The problem with this syrup is it is a very easy and cheap to make so food manufacturers can easily add this to their foods.

There are many studies that indicate the more sugar you have in your diet, the more your body will crave it.  I know, for myself, I have weaned myself off of adding sugar to my foods or coffee.  I did it gradually so it wasn't too hard for me to get used to less and less sugar.  I have noticed that my taste buds are now much more sensitive, so a little bit of sweet goes a long way for me.

It's better to teach your children to enjoy fruits and cereals and other foods without adding sugar.  Look for foods that say "no sugar added".

Other resources:

Guidelines on how much fruit juice is okay for kids to drink

Learn about our free healthy food pyramid games for kids!