10 Foods High in Sugar to avoid for a healthy lifestyle

Regular consumption of sugar leads to sugar addiction. Here’s a list of foods high in sugar to avoid to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Sugar-laden foods can not only give you obesity, diabetes, heart diseases but can give you sugar addiction too. According to WHO about 1.9 billion adults and 41 million children are obese around the globe. Sugar addiction is on a rise with regular consumption of sugar in the form of fast food, packaged drinks. Under sugar addiction, you can start to crave for sugary food at a particular time of the day or under any emotional distress. You will be surprised to know even a savory snack like French Fry or a Frozen Pizza have enough sugar in it. It’s better to educate yourself to stay away from sugar-laden food and read the labels while buying! Here are 10 Foods High in Sugar to avoid for a healthy lifestyle.

10 Foods high in sugar to avoid

Sports Drinks

Sports drinks are particularly infamous for being loaded with sugar. Sports drinks are meant for athletes and marathon runners who need instant energy in the form of glucose while running or during any activity that requires physical exertion. But for people leading a less active life or a sedentary life, this extra sugar tends to be stored as fat because you are not burning out that enormous amount of sugar.

 

Packaged Fruit Juice & Cold Drinks / Soda

Packaged fruit juice are easier to grab and store but they are less in fiber. They contain added sugar, flavors, concentrates, and preservatives. Always check the label while buying package drinks – stay away from the packaged fruit juices that don’t mention “No Added Sugar”. Colas and other aerated beverages are on top of the tier of foods high in sugar to avoid. A can of Cola has an astounding 39-40g of sugar! That is a lot of sugar. Even the diet versions have high sugar content. Replace cold drink/ soda consumption with fresh fruit juice or infused water.

 

Granola Bars

Granola bars are made of oats but have sweetening in the form of honey, caramel, dried fruits. It is not as healthy as having a bowl of plain oats. There are plenty of benefits of oats since it’s a whole grain but a 100g of granola bar can have 6-7 teaspoons of sugar. If you are having 2 granola bars a day you end up consuming a lot of sugar. Homemade granola bars with less sugar are a better choice.

 

Cakes, Pastries, Entremets, Cookies, and Donuts

Everyone likes the flavourful and colorful cakes, pastries, entremets, cookies, biscuits, and donuts. They uplift your mood in times of low because they give you a sugar rush but they definitely are foods high in sugar to avoid. When you consume any of them you are consuming an incredible amount of sugar through them along with preservatives, refined flour, artificial colors, stabilizing agents and much more. Try restricting the dessert intake or baking sugarless flourless cookies at home.

 

Iced Tea and Cold Coffee

With the popularity of various café chains in India, the consumption of beverages like iced tea, flavored tea, mocktails, cold coffees and other caffeinated beverages have gone up considerably. While iced teas taste great they are also loaded with sugar syrup which can lead to an insulin spike. Whereas, cold coffees and flavored coffees have around 100g of extra sugar per serving.

 

Ready-to-Eat Soups

They are convenient, you just need to add hot water to a cup of warm soup. But did you know, 1 teaspoon of packaged soup powder has 4 grams of sugar? The thickening agent in these soups is cornflour or refined flour which add in calories. Instead, try roasting some vegetables and making a soup out of them or make a healthy soup in a slow cooker.

Read: Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup

Dried & Canned Fruits

Canned fruits can be convenient and delicious but they are preserved in sugar syrup which not just increases the calorie but also reduces the fiber and vitamins in the fruit. Try consuming fresh fruit.

 

Packaged Salad Dressing

There are plenty of packaged salad dressings available in the market and they are convenient to use. But 2 tablespoons of packaged salad dressings contain 4 grams of added sugar. Along with it they also contain taste enhancers and additives. Make salad dressing at home by adding mustard to olive oil, or olive oil and chili flakes and herbs. You can even use fresh lemon or orange juice in your salad dressings.

Read: Cucumber Tomato and Avacado Salad

Bread

A regular sandwich bread is made of refined flour, sugar, and yeast. This simple carbohydrate breaks down into glucose and is stored in the body. Avoid plain white bread and opt for multigrain bread to add complex carbs in your diet.

 

Frozen food or packaged ready to eat meals

Frozen food contains a high amount of sugar, preservatives, colors, and flavor. Foods with sauces and ketchup have not only have a high amount of sugar in them, they also contain a high amount of salt and preservatives.