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.