Too much of anything is bad for you, especially sugars. We all stop our kids from eating candy and soda in the fear of them consuming too much sugar.
A diet rich in sugar for a child is harmful as he gets used to consuming the high amounts of sugar thereby increasing the chances of obesity and other health disorders as they grow older.
Basically you should avoid foods that contain more than 10 grams of sugar per portion or serving. More care should be taken when giving your child products that mention low-fat as they usually contain more sugars which is added to substitute the fat.
Here are some foods that you should take care while consuming as they contain hidden sugar:
- Cereal
It is not only the fancy rainbow colored or chocolate flavored ones that contain a lot of sugar in it, even the regular ones can contain a lot of sugar.
Simply check the information on the box. Ideally a serving should not contain more than 5 grams of sugar.
If it does contain more and you cannot do without that particular cereal, consider mixing it with the low fat and low sugared varieties.
- Canned fruit
It is alright to buy fruit that is stored in water. But stay away from those that are preserved in sugar syrup as they contain lots of sugar.
If you must consume canned fruit, wash off the syrup and consume.
- Low fat peanut butter
We might think that cutting out fat from our diet is good. But what these processed food manufacturers do is that they replace the fat content with sugars so as to maintain the same texture and taste.
Simply buy regular peanut butter. The fact is that peanut butter contains natural healthy fats that are required in the body in moderate amounts.
- Flavored yogurt and milk
Flavored yogurts in the market contain a lot of essence, flavorings, sugar and other high calorie stuff.
Milk and yogurt contain natural sugars so there really arises no need to add on additional sweeteners. Make your own flavored yogurt and milk without adding sugar. Use natural sweeteners like honey and fruits.
- Fruit leather
You might think that fruit leather is made of leather so it becomes very healthy. But that is not so. It contains lot of added sugars that makes it really unhealthy.
Check the ingredients of the fruit leather. If it specifies fruit derived or made from fresh fruit, only then it becomes healthy to actually consume.
Written by: Rasha Ashraf
