The Different Names For Sugar
Finding out where the sugar in your diet is coming from can be challenging! One of the big reasons why is that sugar in many products hides under different names. Here are some of the most common names you’ll see as part of the ingredients.
- Sugar
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Corn Syrup
- Honey
- Agave Nectar
- Pure Cane Sugar
- Syrup
- Cane Juice
- Glucose
- Sucrose
- Fructose
- Maltodextrin
- Sweet Sorghum
- Molasses
- Mannose
- Maltose
There are a lot of different variations even beyond these usually based on what source the sugar came from. Sure, some of these types of sugar have slightly more nutritional value than others (honey vs processed sugar for example) but overall, they all are highly concentrated versions of sugar that are added to many products.
Current recommendations are that you consume no more than 9 teaspoons (38 grams) of sugar if you are man and no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar if you are a woman. Many sugary drinks such as sodas or fruit juices contain more than this amount just in a single serving. Excess sugar consumption has been linked to a wide variety of health problems including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, and our favorite here, cavities!
Start reading those labels and avoid as much added sugar as possible.
