Sugar content in foods

impactzone
impactzone Member Posts: 551 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I read this recently as was pretty surprised at the sugar content of some drinks and food ( I love the CPK salad):


Refined sugars and high-fructose corn syrup are considered by many experts to be the biggest contributors to obesity and poor health in Western civilization.

In her book What To Eat, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at NYU and blogger at Food Politics suggests that any food that contains more than 15 grams of sugar per serving is closer to dessert than anything else. Though this number is arbitrary, it is a good benchmark for evaluating food products.

Just for fun I looked up the sugar content of a few common foods and menu items. I hope you’re as horrified as I am.

Listed values are as close to a normal serving as I could approximate. Units are listed as grams of sugar.

Sugar Content of Common Food Products

1. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut …………………………………………………10 g

2. Luna Bar berry almond ………………………………………………………………………11 g

3. Froot Loops breakfast cereal 3/4 cup ……………………………………………………12 g

4. Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream ………………………………………………………………16 g

5. Starbucks caffè latte grande 16 oz ………………………………………………………..17 g

6. Godiva 2 truffles ………………………………………………………………………………17 g

7. Subway 6″ sweet onion teriyaki chicken sandwich ………………………………. 17 g

8. Ms. Field’s chocolate chip cookie …………………………………………………………….19 g

9. Tropicana 100% orange juice 8 oz …………………………………………………………25 g

10. Yoplait original yogurt ………………………………………………………………………27 g

11. Craisins dried cranberries 1/3 cup ……………………………………………………….29 g

12. Vitamin Water 20 oz bottle ………………………………………………………………….33 g

13. Oscar Mayer Lunchables crackers, turkey & American cheese …………. 36 g

14. Coca-Cola Classic 12 oz can ………………………………………………………………39 g

15. Sprinkles Cupcake red velvet ……………………………………………………………….45 g

16. California Pizza Kitchen Thai chicken salad …………………………………………. 45 g

17. Jamba Juice blackberry bliss 16 oz ……………………………………………………….49 g

18. Odwalla SuperFood 450 ml bottle ………………………………………………………..50 g

19. Starbucks caffe vanilla frappuccino grande 16 oz ……………………………… 58 g

Take home messages:

Foods we recognize as dessert (e.g. doughnuts, ice cream, cookies) often have far less sugar than things we consider “healthy” (e.g. juice, yogurt, dried fruit).
Froot Loops aren’t necessarily better than doughnuts.
Energy bars are glorified candy.
Dessert is sometimes hidden in things like sandwiches.
Some foods marketed to children aren’t much better than soda.
A salad can have as much sugar as one of the biggest cupcakes I’ve ever seen.
“Natural” foods can have lots of sugar.
The worst offenders are drinkable.
Starbucks is why you’re fat.
How much sugar is in your favorite foods?

chip

Comments

  • JR
    JR Member Posts: 139 Member
    #2
    Health food ...........
    Who would have thought .......... Krispy Kreme = Health Food. Just kidding. Thanks for the info, very informative.

    John
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #3
    wow
    Wow! Not that surprising to me now, actually, as I've been researching what's in what we eat/drink a lot more carefully lately. The orange juice is one I knew about- still amazing to me, though. When a diabetic's bloodsugar levels drop really low, drinking orange juice is one thing that can help. My mother in law was told to stop drinking orange juice, as she was recently diagnosed diabetic.
    The Subway teriyaki chicken gets its sugar from the teriyaki sauce, I'm sure. The same with the Thai salad- it's in the sauce.
    Ay- I knew there was a good reason to stop getting caramel lattes from Starbucks! (the sugar, coffee in general hadn't been agreeing w/ my gut, and it's too darn expensive,anyhow!)
    There's the theory that sugar "feeds" cancer. I heard about this back a couple of years ago, but my then-oncologist quickly put my "unfounded fears about sugar" to rest, by telling me it didn't matter what I ate since the body converts everything to sugar anyhow. That didn't sit well with me, especially when I think about how a PET scan works- basically it sends nuclearized sugar into our blood, which then goes and attaches itself to anything cancerous pretty quickly. So- I am trying to eliminate sugar (well, greatly reduce, anyway) from my diet. Not easy. My daughter wanted to do some baking today & I'm sorry, but stevia just doesn't cut it as a sugar replacement for me. I've been really good about using stevia or blue agave nectar instead of sugar lately(which both have a low glycemic index and are good for diabetics to use), but not in baking. I don't do too much baking anyhow, but I did use the "real stuff" in our homemade shortcake tonight.

    If the sugar feeding cancer theory is true, then I'd be an absolute fool to keep on feeding the cancer when I'm taking chemo at the same time to kill it, wouldn't I?!

    Lisa
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #4
    lisa42 said:

    wow
    Wow! Not that surprising to me now, actually, as I've been researching what's in what we eat/drink a lot more carefully lately. The orange juice is one I knew about- still amazing to me, though. When a diabetic's bloodsugar levels drop really low, drinking orange juice is one thing that can help. My mother in law was told to stop drinking orange juice, as she was recently diagnosed diabetic.
    The Subway teriyaki chicken gets its sugar from the teriyaki sauce, I'm sure. The same with the Thai salad- it's in the sauce.
    Ay- I knew there was a good reason to stop getting caramel lattes from Starbucks! (the sugar, coffee in general hadn't been agreeing w/ my gut, and it's too darn expensive,anyhow!)
    There's the theory that sugar "feeds" cancer. I heard about this back a couple of years ago, but my then-oncologist quickly put my "unfounded fears about sugar" to rest, by telling me it didn't matter what I ate since the body converts everything to sugar anyhow. That didn't sit well with me, especially when I think about how a PET scan works- basically it sends nuclearized sugar into our blood, which then goes and attaches itself to anything cancerous pretty quickly. So- I am trying to eliminate sugar (well, greatly reduce, anyway) from my diet. Not easy. My daughter wanted to do some baking today & I'm sorry, but stevia just doesn't cut it as a sugar replacement for me. I've been really good about using stevia or blue agave nectar instead of sugar lately(which both have a low glycemic index and are good for diabetics to use), but not in baking. I don't do too much baking anyhow, but I did use the "real stuff" in our homemade shortcake tonight.

    If the sugar feeding cancer theory is true, then I'd be an absolute fool to keep on feeding the cancer when I'm taking chemo at the same time to kill it, wouldn't I?!

    Lisa

    I read this so often here


    Re:
    "There's the theory that sugar "feeds" cancer. "
    "I am trying to eliminate sugar (well, greatly reduce, anyway) from my diet."

    Cancer is a normal cell that's been damaged in such a way, that
    it no longer can receive signals from the brain/body, so it manages
    to stay alive by the fermentation process. The cancer cell takes
    in sugar to stay alive, and it "steals" the sugar (glucose) from
    our body, robbing good cells of their needed glucose.

    That is why, when the tumor is large enough, or there is an
    overabundance of cancer cells, the host gets skinny and weak;
    the cancer cells are using their required glucose.

    So when you try to starve those cancer cells by withholding
    or limiting your sugar (glucose) intake, you are actually doing
    your good cells more harm than good; you will be starving them
    first, since the cancer can't hear the brain/body telling it to
    stop taking glucose. The cancer cells will continue to get their
    energy, while your good cells starve.

    Eat a good diet, forget about the natural sugar intake, and
    try to eliminate the "high fructose" garbage. Our body knows
    how to deal with "natural" things, and "high fructose" isn't one
    of 'em..... Fat's OK, added fats and oils aren't... etc..

    Good health!

    John
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #5
    JR said:

    Health food ...........
    Who would have thought .......... Krispy Kreme = Health Food. Just kidding. Thanks for the info, very informative.

    John

    Krispy Kreme
    I hear if you eat the donut hole it has the fewest grams of fat.
    -p
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #6
    John
    Hi John,

    Thanks for the input. When I said I'm trying to greatly reduce my sugar intake, I was referring to the processed white table sugar, sucrose. I know that I still probably get more than I need elsewhere, so no worries- I'm not withholding glucose from my other cells-I get plenty.
    I do know that the "sugar" in orange juice is natural fructose & is definitely ok vs. the sucrose. I was just pointing out that oj has a high glycemic index and that, even though it's natural sugar/fructose, that it does spike the blood sugar(glucose) levels in diabetics. There's no problem w/it for non diabetics.
    I'll point out again, that for people who want to try a sweetener that is low in calories, natural, and has a much lower glycemic index (doesn't raise the glucose/blood sugar level as much as table sugar/sucrose does), then either stevia and/or blue agave nectar would be good to try. Some people I know use stevia in baking, as well as in their coffee, tea, etc. I do find that it has a bit of an aftertaste, so it takes some getting used to. The agave nectar, on the other hand, is wonderful- it looks like honey but has a thinner consistency & you don't need as much of it to sweeten.

    Lisa
  • nudgie
    nudgie Member Posts: 1,478 Member
    #7
    Every since
    DX in 2006 I have made changes to my diet and I was very happy when I did not see any of the foods or beverages I use on your list.

    Juices are your biggest liars for health reasons. Especially those so called heathly juices you see advertised on TV. Serving of fruit and veggies in each glass, but if you read the label it's like 20+ grams of sugar PER 8oz serving. 8oz's is small. When I buy juices I read the labels and buy the no sugar, but then you have to worry about the sugar substitute, or the less sugar juices. Like orange juice, I buy the Tropicania Top50 that has have the sugar of the regular OJ.

    I drink an average of 96oz of water per day which does not allow me to drink much of anything else. So I am lucky to have a soda per week.

    For rood, I eat fruits and fozen veggies (birds eye steamgfresh or green giant). Cearls I eat normally Kashi High Fiber Cearls. The General Mills Fiber One cearls have an average of 6 grams of sugar per cup. To me that's alot of sugar.

    I also eat alot of salads, soups and protein shakes.

    I also started not eat past a certain time in the evening which helps with my reflux and weight control. I am usually in bed (not asleep) between 7:30pm - 8:00pm (EST), but up at 4:30am to get ready for work, so I won't eat past 5:00pm

    I am still surprised by the food labels when I go the grocery store, but now-a-days, nothing really surprises me too much anymore.
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #8
    nudgie said:

    Every since
    DX in 2006 I have made changes to my diet and I was very happy when I did not see any of the foods or beverages I use on your list.

    Juices are your biggest liars for health reasons. Especially those so called heathly juices you see advertised on TV. Serving of fruit and veggies in each glass, but if you read the label it's like 20+ grams of sugar PER 8oz serving. 8oz's is small. When I buy juices I read the labels and buy the no sugar, but then you have to worry about the sugar substitute, or the less sugar juices. Like orange juice, I buy the Tropicania Top50 that has have the sugar of the regular OJ.

    I drink an average of 96oz of water per day which does not allow me to drink much of anything else. So I am lucky to have a soda per week.

    For rood, I eat fruits and fozen veggies (birds eye steamgfresh or green giant). Cearls I eat normally Kashi High Fiber Cearls. The General Mills Fiber One cearls have an average of 6 grams of sugar per cup. To me that's alot of sugar.

    I also eat alot of salads, soups and protein shakes.

    I also started not eat past a certain time in the evening which helps with my reflux and weight control. I am usually in bed (not asleep) between 7:30pm - 8:00pm (EST), but up at 4:30am to get ready for work, so I won't eat past 5:00pm

    I am still surprised by the food labels when I go the grocery store, but now-a-days, nothing really surprises me too much anymore.

    I Dont
    Buy anything with that high fructose crap, they must teach my kids this in school, because they are starting to read labels, and when things go in my cart, I see them pulling it out and saying "MOM, we don't want to eat this anymore, it's bad for you"...well, talk about my mouth dropping to the floor...the things they used to love to eat, they don't suddenly eat anymore lol...that's good for me, but I can't get over that Yoplait yogurt, I love yogurt and just assume it's good for you, just like I love cottage cheese, and pineapple in it. I also eat the raisin bran extra, thinking it's good for you, I wonder now how many grams of sugar is in that.

    I never do deprive myself though, when I see want a Starbucks Moccachino, you bet I'm gonna buy one, and that's only a once a month, if that, I don't go overboard, my oncs told me not to go overboard either, as they said we need some sugar like John said, because our cells need it. I am not obese, never have been, I eat more salads, I juice, I don't drink sodas, especially when I have a kid that tells me it's like battery acid in your body..and she's right!


    I do love the crystal light powders, and drink that mostly, I found out their lemonade even tastes good warm!!!

    I think it's more about moderation, exercise and portion, I hate krispy kremes, always have...Dunkin Donuts are WAY BETTER! so is their coffee...yummy!!!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • jscho
    jscho Member Posts: 62
    #9
    lisa42 said:

    John
    Hi John,

    Thanks for the input. When I said I'm trying to greatly reduce my sugar intake, I was referring to the processed white table sugar, sucrose. I know that I still probably get more than I need elsewhere, so no worries- I'm not withholding glucose from my other cells-I get plenty.
    I do know that the "sugar" in orange juice is natural fructose & is definitely ok vs. the sucrose. I was just pointing out that oj has a high glycemic index and that, even though it's natural sugar/fructose, that it does spike the blood sugar(glucose) levels in diabetics. There's no problem w/it for non diabetics.
    I'll point out again, that for people who want to try a sweetener that is low in calories, natural, and has a much lower glycemic index (doesn't raise the glucose/blood sugar level as much as table sugar/sucrose does), then either stevia and/or blue agave nectar would be good to try. Some people I know use stevia in baking, as well as in their coffee, tea, etc. I do find that it has a bit of an aftertaste, so it takes some getting used to. The agave nectar, on the other hand, is wonderful- it looks like honey but has a thinner consistency & you don't need as much of it to sweeten.

    Lisa

    orange juice
    Lisa, as you note, orange juice does have a high glycemic response (as a diabetic I use it to treat hypoglycemia). This is because it has a high concentration of sucrose (40 g/l, roughly 2 times the amount of fructose) and glucose (around 20 g/l). Sucrose is rapidly converted to glucose and fructose, and the combined glucose intake produces a rapid glycemic response. Fructose is primarily metabolized in the liver, and doesn't lead to the same degree of insulin spikes though it is efficiently converted to fat (not good for those trying to eliminate fats). As for non-diabetic cancer sufferers, insulin spikes (which promote growth factors) should also be avoided so it is best to stay away from juices or other high glycemic foods.

    The agave sweetener is effective because it is primarily fructose, which tastes sweeter than sucrose and less is required.

    Hope you are doing well on the gemzar. I don't know if you ever thought about trying to get perifosine, but it also sounds promising. Dr Lenz has written about it.

    Best,
    Jeremy
  • scouty
    scouty Member Posts: 1,965 Member
    #10
    Good Thread Chip
    I have always found it easier to identify with teaspoons versus grams for size/amount so I find the gram - teaspoon conversion the one that brings it home to me. 5 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar so that 6 ounce container of yoplait yogurt with 27 grams of sugar is like eating over 5 teaspoons of sugar.

    I agree with John and Jeremy that not all sugars are bad for you but like so many other things, "in moderation" is applicable.

    I really like that there is enough evidence out now that recommends smarter eating that people are starting to do their own research on what is best for themselves and their families. I started the organic/eating smarter life over 5 years ago and it is wonderful to see how much things have changed and how much the prices have come down.

    Lisa P.
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    #11
    scouty said:

    Good Thread Chip
    I have always found it easier to identify with teaspoons versus grams for size/amount so I find the gram - teaspoon conversion the one that brings it home to me. 5 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar so that 6 ounce container of yoplait yogurt with 27 grams of sugar is like eating over 5 teaspoons of sugar.

    I agree with John and Jeremy that not all sugars are bad for you but like so many other things, "in moderation" is applicable.

    I really like that there is enough evidence out now that recommends smarter eating that people are starting to do their own research on what is best for themselves and their families. I started the organic/eating smarter life over 5 years ago and it is wonderful to see how much things have changed and how much the prices have come down.

    Lisa P.

    That Was A....
    HUGE reason why I couldn't eat as healthy as I wanted too as well, I couldn't afford it! A bag of chips was alot cheaper then buying fruits and veggies, but I also see now that the prices have come down, maybe still alittle more in the summer, depends on the season, but sometimes you just have to spend that extra couple of dollars for those strawberries or artichokes...I spend most of my time in the produce aisle now, they come out with these hybrids--things I've never even seen before, but taste sooo wonderful in juices.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • bevsbest1
    bevsbest1 Member Posts: 1
    #12
    lisa42 said:

    wow
    Wow! Not that surprising to me now, actually, as I've been researching what's in what we eat/drink a lot more carefully lately. The orange juice is one I knew about- still amazing to me, though. When a diabetic's bloodsugar levels drop really low, drinking orange juice is one thing that can help. My mother in law was told to stop drinking orange juice, as she was recently diagnosed diabetic.
    The Subway teriyaki chicken gets its sugar from the teriyaki sauce, I'm sure. The same with the Thai salad- it's in the sauce.
    Ay- I knew there was a good reason to stop getting caramel lattes from Starbucks! (the sugar, coffee in general hadn't been agreeing w/ my gut, and it's too darn expensive,anyhow!)
    There's the theory that sugar "feeds" cancer. I heard about this back a couple of years ago, but my then-oncologist quickly put my "unfounded fears about sugar" to rest, by telling me it didn't matter what I ate since the body converts everything to sugar anyhow. That didn't sit well with me, especially when I think about how a PET scan works- basically it sends nuclearized sugar into our blood, which then goes and attaches itself to anything cancerous pretty quickly. So- I am trying to eliminate sugar (well, greatly reduce, anyway) from my diet. Not easy. My daughter wanted to do some baking today & I'm sorry, but stevia just doesn't cut it as a sugar replacement for me. I've been really good about using stevia or blue agave nectar instead of sugar lately(which both have a low glycemic index and are good for diabetics to use), but not in baking. I don't do too much baking anyhow, but I did use the "real stuff" in our homemade shortcake tonight.

    If the sugar feeding cancer theory is true, then I'd be an absolute fool to keep on feeding the cancer when I'm taking chemo at the same time to kill it, wouldn't I?!

    Lisa

    sugar
    Hiya. I'm new as of today. If you can have some patience, read "The Sugar Blues". It's from many years ago, in most libraries, & GREAT info. I liked ready your thoughts. I agree. Just got my diagnosis 4 days ago & definitely needing SUPPORT. Have a good day.
    Bev
  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    #13
    bevsbest1 said:

    sugar
    Hiya. I'm new as of today. If you can have some patience, read "The Sugar Blues". It's from many years ago, in most libraries, & GREAT info. I liked ready your thoughts. I agree. Just got my diagnosis 4 days ago & definitely needing SUPPORT. Have a good day.
    Bev

    Hi Bev
    Glad you found us. You will certainly get support here. I read your profile ( thank you for taking the time to write your info ). It is still very early in the journey for you so if you can, stick in here and you will learn a lot which might help you deal with things that will pop up in the near future.Knowledge IS power and we all need a lot of that power to fight colon cancer.

    Ask as many questions as you want. I don't think anyone on here is a medical doctor but someone will be able to voice their own experiences with treatments, etc.

    Best wishes.

    -Pat

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