Let's talk Sugar

Product ingredients are listed on the label by quantity — from highest to lowest amount.

This means that the first ingredient is what the manufacturer used the most of.

A good rule of thumb is to scan the first three ingredients, as they make up the largest part of what you’re eating.

If the first ingredients include refined grains, a type of sugar, or hydrogenated oils, you can assume that the product is unhealthy.

Instead, try choosing items that have whole foods listed as the first three ingredients.

If the ingredients list is longer than two to three lines that product is highly processed. Sugar goes by many names — some of which you may not recognize.

Food manufacturers use this to their advantage by purposely adding many different types of sugar to their products to hide the actual amount.

In doing so, they can list a healthier ingredient at the top, mentioning sugar further down. So even though a product may be loaded with sugar, it doesn’t necessarily appear as one of the first three ingredients.

To avoid accidentally consuming a lot of sugar, watch out for these names of sugar in ingredient lists.

Many more names for sugar exist, but these are the most common.

If you see any of these in the top spots on the ingredients lists — or several kinds throughout the list — then the product is high in added sugar and should be avoided.