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Human consumption of sugar has increased exponentially over the years and has been linked to many health conditions such as type II diabetes, obesity, tooth decay, heart disease, dementia, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer and the incidence and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (1). However, these health conditions can occur from the over-consumption of sugar. Sugar can even cause the release of dopamine which is similar to the drugs that people abuse.


People are consuming sugar and don't know it! Are you consuming sugar and don't know it?

You could be because on an ingredient list the word sugar may be absent because manufacturers are using other words for sugar. This is so because sugar has different sources and hence many names and so we might not recognize them on labels. So it does not mean sugar is absent from a food if the food label doesn't have the word sugar listed.



Our kids are also over-consuming sugar!

Young children are also over-consuming sugar because there are so many treats and snacks in the supermarkets these days for kids that are full of sugar and adults are purchasing these for their kids. What's very disturbing is that our childhood diet can impact our choices on the foods that we seek as adults and also increase our risk for obesity according to a study by Frazier et al. (2008) who tested the hypothesis that dietary experience during childhood and adolescence affects adult obesity risks. They found that mice exposed to sucrose early in life preferred and consumed this food as much as non-exposed animals, but in this environment gained more weight than controls (2).



A little background on sugar.

Sugar is basically a carbohydrate that gives our foods and drinks a sweet taste that humans so badly crave.


Where does sugar come from?

Sugars occur naturally in many foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and so on. This sugar/sucrose is extracted from the tissues of plants such as sugar cane and sugar beet and refined for human consumption. The sugars that are produced commercially are added to our foods (called added sugars) by manufacturers or by us when we cook our foods. The sugar that we commonly use is called sucrose and sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose.

Sugar can be found in lots of foods and drinks. They can even be found in foods and drinks that we might not expect to find sugar in. Examples of foods and drinks that contain sugar are sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda, fruit juices and energy drinks, pasta, bread, granola, BBQ sauce and canned soups.


Sugars come in several forms and they are:

• monosaccharides
• disaccharides
• polysaccharide

Sugars that are made up of single sugar molecules are called simple sugars/monosaccharides. Examples of these are glucose, fructose, and galactose.

When two simple sugars are joined together by a chemical bond they are called disaccharides, the most common of which is sucrose or table sugar. Table sugar is made up of equal amounts of the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

Carbohydrates that are made up of more than two simple sugars are referred to as polysaccharides.

1. sugar
2. high-fructose corn syrup
3. fructose
4. corn syrup
5. buttered syrup
6. brown rice syrup
7. evaporated cane juice
8. molasses
9. honey
10. malt syrup
11. nectars
12. fruit juice concentrate
13. brown sugar
14. malted barley
15. barley malt
16. lactose
17. maltose
18. rice syrup
19. maple syrup
20. caramel
21. carob syrup
22. raisin syrup
23. cane sugar
24. beet sugar
25. castor sugar
26. blackstrap molasses
27. sorghum
28. corn sweetener
29. corn syrup solids
30. white sugar
31. raw sugar
32. date sugar
33. brown rice syrup
34. concentrated fruit juice
35. fruit juice concentrate
36. confectioner's sugar
37. mannitol
38. xylitol
39. sorbitol
40. diaccharides
41. galactose
42. agave nectar
43. coconut sugar
44. grape sugar
45. Florida crystals
46. coconut sugar
47. coconut palm sugar
48. sorghum syrup

References

1. Moore JB, Gunn PJ, Fielding BA. The Role of Dietary Sugars and De novo Lipogenesis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Nutrients. 2014; 6(12):5679-5703.

2. Frazier CRM, Mason P, Zhuang X, Beeler JA (2008) Sucrose Exposure in Early Life Alters Adult Motivation and Weight Gain. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003221