Am I Wrong about "Added" Sugar?

[travelover]

And, even with all that sugar (and I remember pouring it into the jug), Kool-Aid has less sugar than a Coke (8oz serving: Kool-Aid=16g sugar, Coke = 26g sugar). A veritable health food! And with Vitamin C!. Ooops, dang, lost another tooth............

Part of my job with MegaMotors was going to the various assembly plants. I was astounded at one plant cafeteria in the south to see people buying "Cokes" and grabbing a handful of sugar packets to sweeten it further. Seemed to be a local thing.

 

[Walt34]

Part of my job with MegaMotors was going to the various assembly plants. I was astounded at one plant cafeteria in the south to see people buying "Cokes" and grabbing a handful of sugar packets to sweeten it further. Seemed to be a local thing.

It makes sense though. If lots of sugar makes it taste good, then more sugar will make it taste even better, right?

 

[GravitySucks]

And, even with all that sugar (and I remember pouring it into the jug), Kool-Aid has less sugar than a Coke (8oz serving: Kool-Aid=16g sugar, Coke = 26g sugar). A veritable health food! And with Vitamin C!. Ooops, dang, lost
).

DM used to only put half the sugar in the KoolAide. She said I tasted better, but I think it was the cost of sugar...

 

[Amethyst]

Apparently, you have a naturally sweet flavor.

DM used to only put half the sugar in the KoolAide. She said I tasted better, but I think it was the cost of sugar...

 

[Katsmeow]

I am glad they are putting added sugars on the label. I think it is of value.

For me, there are a couple of factors that make it really important (first let me say that I am not a fan of drinking fruit juice -- I am talking about foods in this not drinks):

1. In general, if I am buying a food that has a label on it, I want to know what part of the sugars in it come from natural foods versus added sugars. The sugar that comes naturally in the food is more likely to come with nutrients and is sugar that is naturally part of the food. Sugar that naturally occurs in foods usually comes with nutrients. So, yes, I like blackberries and they have some sugar but the nutrients make it worthwhile to me to eat half a cup of blackberries.

With foods that have a label, part of evaluating the food for me is figuring out how much of the sugar that is in the food is there because it is natural to the ingredients in the food versus what is simply added in. Now -- none of that is dispositive by itself but it is a factor to me. I do watch the amount of total sugar I eat in a day. It is usually under 30g in a day and typically most of that is from natural sugars not added sugar. I actually go over ingredients on the food label to see the source of the sugar. There are days I eat much less and days I eat more.

2. Added sugars are often a mark of food processing. I do eat processed foods, but I am careful about it. I have certain things that I look for in a processed food and certain things that I don't want in a processed food. Usually I want natural ingredients and foods that I know what it is. In general, I find that the more added sugar there is in a product then it is more likely to have more processing than I want and is more likely to have other ingredients.