Added sugar or natural sugar?

This Is the Difference between sugar and added Sugar on a Nutrition Label:

Over the year people become worried about food ingredients in the products and especially when it comes to sugar as it is impossible to differentiate if the sugar is a natural source or added. As food products just labelled sugar source as only “Sugar”.

The USDA noted the importance of differentiating between added sugar and natural sugar as the first ones are linked to more calories without additional benefits.

In order to make it easier for consumers to know how much added sugar is in the packaged food, the FDA in 2020 will make a great change to nutrition labels by writing how much added sugar in this product.

What are added sugar?

Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods and drinks during processing or preparation. This includes sugars from sugar and honey and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices in excess of the amount of sugar you would expect to see from the same volume of the same type of 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice.

How the ‘added sugars’ line will help you eat healthier.

This label change will help people eat less than the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidlines for Americans recommended limit of 10% of calories per day. For someone following a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s the equivalent of 50 grams of added sugars.

In addition it will help people to differentiate between added sugar and natural sugar as honey, molasses, white refined sugar, and maple syrup are added sugars, the sugar found in foods like fruit or milk are not.

On nutrition label, total grams of sugar is for both natural and added. For example in some products both added and natural sugar are used and both counted as total grams of sugar so the consumer is not able to differentiate really the natural for the added. Upon this label change you will be able to know how many X grams come from added sugar.

It is important to differentiate how your body processes both added and natural sugar as well how differently they affect your health.

We all know that natural sugar like fructose in fruits offer your body not only sugar but other nutrients.

For example, along with fructose in apples you are likely to get more fibre, minerals and vitamins.

From the yogurt that contains lactose (a natural sugar found in milk), you’ll also get calcium and plenty of other vitamins and minerals.

On the other hands added sugar is a straight sugar that causes inflammation upon excess consumption. In addition consumption of added sugar has been linked to weight gain, cavities and diabetes.

Moreover, once you consume added sugar you will have less space for healthy food that provides your body with plenty of benefits. For example, oranges are rich in potassium, fructose and fibre while ice cream is full of fat and added sugar only.

How to navigate your sugar vs. added sugar intake.

In order to lower consumption of added sugar you need to consume more natural sugar sources like fruits or whole fruit juices instead of packaged food.. When you’re shopping for juice, words like ‘beverage,’ ‘drink,’ ‘-ade,’ ‘punch,’ or ‘cocktail’ are keywords to indicate that the product may not be 100 percent juice”.

When it comes to desserts, I recommend to eat some of them without added sugar. You can make healthy dessert and snacks at home by using more natural sugar sources while leaving a very little space for unhealthy sources.

Sources:

https://www.eatthis.com/sugar-vs-added-sugar-nutrition-label/

https://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-much-added-sugar-is-too-much.html