Clearing Up the Confusion: Comparing the Sugar Impact of Foods
Many people would like to lessen sugar’s impact on their body to lose weight and reduce the risk of many health problems, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and even colds and flu.
However, there appears to be a lot of confusion about which foods have the greatest sugar impact. Below are some foods that have a low sugar impact, as well as some ones with a high sugar impact that may be surprising.
Spaghetti Squash
This is a great substitute for regular spaghetti, which has a high sugar impact. Just cut it in half (carefully!) scrape out the ;seeds and pulp, oil the cut part, then put each half, cut side down, on a baking sheet and roast at 375 for 40 minutes.
Homemade Salad Dressings
This is a lower sugar impact substitute for bottled salad dressing. Just whisk together one part vinegar (not balsamic) and three parts olive oil and season to taste. Salt and pepper are fine, I also add some Dijon mustard, crushed garlic and Italian Seasoning.
How to Soak Beans
(excerpted from JJ Virgin’s Sugar Impact Diet)
If you can, buy your beans dry, and rinse and soak them before cooking them. They’ll be more nutritious, lower in salt and less expensive than canned beans. Soaking also ensures they’ll cook evenly and cuts down on the gas they generate.
There are two main ways to soak beans: the long-soak method and the quick-soak method.
- Long soak: To long soak, rinse the dried beans, put them in a bowl, and add enough water to cover them by about 3 inches. Then just put them in the fridge overnight, and they will be ready for you to drain, rinse, and cook in the morning.
- Quick soak: When you’re in a hurry, pour the beans into a large pot and add water until they’re covered by about 3 inches. Boil for 1 minute, then cover and let stand for an hour. When the beans are tender and have doubled in size, they’re done and ready to drain.
Here are the sugar impacts of several types of foods:
VEGETABLES
Low Impact
Acorn squash
Artichoke
Asparagus
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Butternut squash
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Cucumber
Eggplant
Kale
Kale chips
Lettuces
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Peppers
Pumpkin
Snow peas
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Turnips
Zucchini
Medium Impact
Beets
Parsnips
Rutabaga
Sweet potatoes
Yams
High Impact
Beet Juice
Carrot juice
French fries
Mashed potatoes
Potato chips
Root veggie chips
Sweet potato fries
White potatoes
FRUITS
Low Impact
Acai berries (no sugar added)
Avocado
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Cranberries
Gazpacho
Grapefruit
Guava
Lemons
Limes
Nectarines
Olives
Oranges
Peaches
Persimmon
Raspberries
Star fruit
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Medium Impact
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Cherries
Dates
Fresh figs
Grapes
Honeydew
Kiwi
Mango
Papaya
Pears
Pineapple
Plums
Pomegranate
Sundried tomatoes
Tangerines
Tomato juice
Tomato paste
Tomato sauce
V8 juice
Watermelon
High Impact
All dried fruit
Fruit leather
Fruit juices
Jams
Preserves and conserve
Nectar
Sorbet
Fruit juice concentrates
Canned fruit cocktail
Fruit juice Popsicles
SWEETENERS
Low Impact
100% dark chocolate
85% dark chocolate
Erythritol
Inulin
Chicory
Monk fruit
Stevia
Xylitol
Medium Impact
Blackstrap molasses
Cane syrup (non-GMO)
Coconut palm sugar
Coconut sugar
Glucose (aka dextrose non-GMO)
Local, organic, raw honey
Mannitol
Raw brown sugar (nonprocessed)
Rice syrup
Sorbitol
High Impact
70% dark chocolate
Acesulfame-K
Agave
Candy
Caramel sauce
Chocolate syrup
Crystalline fructose
Fruit juice concentrate
High fructose corn syrup
Honey (processed)
Licorice
Maltodextrin
Maple syrup
Marshmallows
Milk chocolate
Molasses
Neotame
Processed brown sugar
DAIRY
Low Impact
Flax milk (unsweetened)
Full-fat cheeses (avoid blue cheese due to gluten)
Full-fat cream cheese
Full-fat grass-fed milk
Full-fat organic milk
Full-fat plain cottage cheese
Monk fruit sweetened coconut ice cream
Mozzarella
Coconut creamer (no sugar added)
Coconut, cashew or almond milk (no sugar added)
Organic creamer
Organic, plain full-fat Greek-style yogurt
Plain dairy or coconut kefir
Ricotta cheese
Medium Impact
Cream cheese spread (low-fat or full-fat)
Half-and-half
Low-fat cheese
Neufchatel cheese
Organic low-fat or non-fat plain Greek-style yogurt
Part-skim mozzarella
Part-skim ricotta
Soy cheese
Sweetened coconut milk creamer
Unsweetened rice milk
Whipped cream cheese
High Impact
94% fat-free microwave popcorn and/or kettle corn
Breakfast bars
Carnation Instant Breakfast
Creamsicles
Dried fruit snacks
Ensure
Fat-free baked chips
Fat-free muffins
Fat-free pudding
Flavored almond milk yogurt
Flavored kefir
Frozen yogurt
Fruit-added cream cheese
Fudgesicles
Gelato
Granola bars
Hot cocoa
Ice cream
Lite Cool Whip
Low-fat and Fat-free cookies
Low-fat graham crackers
Low-fat or fat-free ice cream
Low-fat or light frozen dinners
Low-fat Oreos
Low or reduced-fat crackers
Non-fat cheeses
Non-fat cream cheese
Pineapple cottage cheese
Pretzels
Protein bars
Pudding
Reduced-fat macaroni and cheese
DRESSINGS AND CONDIMENTS
Low Impact
Avocado oil
Hot sauce
Macadamia nut oil
Mustard
Olive Oil
Olives
Pesto
Salsa
Sesame
Sour Dill pickles
Tabasco
Tapenade
Vinegar
Walnut oil
Wheat-free tamari
Medium Impact
Bread and butter pickles
Caesar dressing
Fish sauce
Green curry sauce
Italian dressing
Marinara sauce (no sugar added)
Pickle relish
Red curry sauce
Sweet pickle relish
Sweet pickles
Tomato sauce
High Impact
Asian-style salad dressing
Balsamic vinaigrette
Balsamic vinegar
BBQ sauce
Blue cheese dressing
Brown sauce
Catalina dressing
Cocktail sauce
French dressing
Hoisin sauce
Honey mustard
Honey mustard dressing
Hot and sour sauce
Ketchup
Marinara sauce (sugar added)
Peanut sauce
Ranch dressing
Raspberry vinaigrette
Steak sauce
Sweet chili sauce
Tartar sauce
Teriyaki sauce
Thousand Island dressing
Worchestershire sauce
DRINKS
Low Impact
All teas
Green drinks (greens only-no fruit, carrot or beet added)
Green tea (no sugar added)
Coffee and decaf coffee
Sparkling mineral water
Unsweetened coconut water
Unsweetened fruit essence teas
Water
Medium Impact
Tomato juice
V8 (not with fruit juice)
Kombucha tea (no sugar added)
High Impact
Capri Sun
Carnation Instant Breakfast
Carrot juice
Commerical “smoothies”
“Enhanced” waters (with sweeteners)
Fruit juices
Fuze
Gatorade
Kool-Aid
PowerAde
Rockstar energy drink
Slim-Fast
Sobe
Soda
Sweet tea
Sweetened coconut water
Vitaminwater and most vitamin-supplemented waters
For the original article, visit cbn.com.