If you've ever read an ingredient label you probably noticed that it is nearly impossible to figure out just what is really in your food. Once you get past the items you recognize like salt, spices, and flavorings you end up in an area that you practically need a chemistry degree to understand or identify.

This is how sugar hides in your diet. Though you try hard to eat healthy and to buy healthy snacks for your kids, how can you make a valid decision if you don't know what's in the food? Fortunately, there are easy ways to identify sugar in your food and here is how.

What Names Does Sugar Go By?

In some ingredient lists you actually see the word sugar. It may be cane sugar or refined sugar, but the word sugar is there. You can identify this as a snack with sugar. Another fact that will help you is that ingredients are listed in the order of most to least.

So, if beef is the first ingredient it is mostly beef, but if water is first it is mostly water. You can start there. If sugar is near the top of the list, move on to the next potential food.

Sugar comes in many forms, but the easiest way to identify them is from the ending of the word. Sugars end in "ose." So, when you see glucose, sucrose, maltose, fructose, and lactose. These words can all be translated as sugar. Sadly, they are found in fruit bars, yogurts, dried fruit and basically anything sweetened. Even cough medicine.

What Do I Do?
Change your habits. Try to avoid processed food. Make your own snacks or choose crunchy fruits and vegetables instead. Crackers and cheese make good snacks and cheese helps neutralize the acid in your mouth that causes tooth decay.

Please contact our office if you have any questions about sugars effects on your oral health.