NEWSFLASH: Your spices may be increasing your blood sugars
Picture this...You just finished meal prep or maybe just cooked yourself a meal. What an accomplishment!?!
You are confident that your blood sugars are going to look great because you did not add any sugar or sweeteners to your meal. You made tacos using lettuce instead of tortillas.
Two hours after dinner, you poke your finger and to your dismay and horror...Your number is high! How could this be???? You were so careful!
Unfortunately, I've heard this story so many times...
The problem isn't that you made a savory dish; the problem may actually lie on your spice rack. Take out your taco seasoning...look at the ingredients...(I'll wait). About the 4th or 5th ingredient in, you may see the dreaded word...SUGAR.
You may be asking, "Why is there sugar in savory spice mix????". Great question...while you are checking your spices, also peek into your pantry.
Look at your pasta sauce, canned soup, and even peanut butter....Sugar is likely to show up there as well.
Then open your fridge and take out your ketchup bottle...look at the ingredients...SUGAR.
Why is sugar showing up in these foods that are meant to be savory??? Well, sugar has addictive component and overrides your tastebuds. It makes everything more desirable and taste better.
So be extra cautious and buy foods without added sugar. For example, peanut butter and pasta sauce. Buy the variety that has just peanuts, salt and/or oil for peanut butter and for tomato sauce, look to for ingredients that are just tomatoes and spices. You can create your own spice mixes to avoid added sugars from premade store bought versions.
Be very diligent about checking the ingredients for hidden sugars. Some company's are very sneaky, and add in sugar under other names such as high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrose (anything with an -ose at the end is usually sugar), any ingredient with syrup at the end (rice syrup, golden syrup, maple syrup), and fruit juice.
Be careful out there!!
