Be Aware of Foods With Hidden Sugar
If you have diabetes, you’ve undoubtedly been told to watch your carbohydrate intake. High carbohydrate intake = high blood sugar levels, right?
Well, foods that are high in sugar are high in carbohydrates, as I’m sure you’ve noticed after years of looking at food labels. However, if you’ve gotten lazy or out of practice with label reading, it may be time for a refresher.
The foods and beverages we will discuss here are high in sugar, which means they are high in carbohydrates.
Remember, this does not mean you need to omit these foods and beverages entirely from your diabetes diet. However, you should balance these foods with other foods in your diet, and you may need to eat them with less frequency or limit them significantly.
No food is inherently "bad" — different foods just have different components of macro-nutrients that may need to be limited, balanced, and managed for your specific dietary needs.
Juice
Juice is often touted as a healthy food in the health and well-being community. It’s true that juice may be loaded with vitamins and minerals — but it is often also loaded with sugar.
Juice can come in a variety of types: some types of juice will have sugar added (do your best to avoid these), and some types will be 100% juice — meaning they are made completely from fruit. Regardless, they will all contain carbohydrates because even the juice made completely from fruit is chock full of carbs.
Drink juice with caution and keep the portions in control. Know that while it may be "healthy", it will still make your blood glucose rise if you do not account for it with insulin or your diet plan.
Fruit
In the same vein, fruit is a carbohydrate, meaning it has sugar in it. While there are a variety of different types of sugar, the type of sugar in fruit is called fructose.
Fruit also contains fiber, making it a great choice for a snack because the fiber will help to fill up the stomach. The average serving of fruit is about 15 grams of carbohydrates, so this is an adequate serving size for a snack for most people, but individual needs will vary.
However, pieces of fruit can also vary. As stated previously, the average fruit serving is 15 grams of carbohydrate. But, a small banana is actually closer to 30 grams of carbohydrate. Berries can be harder to estimate because their portions are not in "single" servings. Be mindful of these exceptions and if you are unsure, read the label. It can also be helpful to keep track of carbohydrate content.
Low-Fat Foods
Low-fat foods are also often touted as health foods. However, keep in mind that when something comes out of the food (fat), something may have to be added into the food to make it taste good — and sometimes that may be sugar!
Low-fat foods can contain as much as 20% more sugar than full-fat equivalents, making them incredibly misleading for people thinking they’re making a healthy choice. Also, remember that not all fats are created equally; certain types of fat can be very beneficial.
Diet Soda
Here’s a confusing one for all of you!
Diet soda will not really increase your blood sugar. After all, we’ve all looked at the labels — there is no sugar, sodium, carbs, calories or fat.
In fact, when you read down the label, there is basically nothing but zeros. So why in the world is diet soda included in this list?
Well, recent research is currently still inconclusive, but it is worth mentioning that diet soda may wreak havoc on the gut microbes in our stomachs and set the stage for type 2 diabetes to develop. Indirectly, it may cause blood sugar levels to rise, but not immediately.
In a studyartificial sweeteners and diabetes if you still want to add some additional sweetness to your life.