# RKS: SUGAR ENTRAPPED BELIEFS

“ADDED SUGAR”

RKS / 2026-2027 / Ser 8 / Blog 2

1st May 2026

ALL THAT WARNS ON PACKAGED FOODS IS NOT ENCOMPASSING

THE HIDDEN ‘SUGARS’ GLEEFULLY CONSUMED

Dear Reader,
The packaged food industry has come under a cloud of ill-health and the snacking facilitated has been equated to “junk” food. Food is called "junk" when it is high in calories, fats, sugars, or salt while providing little to no essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins, or minerals. Calories are a result of content of fats and sugars but the latter too, along with salts, are in today’s era have become the bane for Dieticians, housewives, and doctors from healthy lifestyle perspective!
The upcoming 6-blogs series discusses the futility of shunning packaged snacky foods just by evaluating added sugar, fat content and salt quantity present.

SUGARS

Approximately 66% to 90% of packaged food items in India contain added sugars, with high prevalence in biscuits, snacks, sauces, and even baby food. Sugars are of various types – for example, the sugar consumed in house is as sucrose. It is but necessary to enlighten oneself regarding the many types of sugars and how they impact the blood glucose levels.

CLASSIFYING SUGARS

Carbohydrates (carbs) is the one word to include all “sugars” types consumed, or added in packaged foods. Carbs are classified as ‘saccharides’ subtypes depending upon how many sugar molecules are combined with each other:

1 sugar molecule: monosaccharides
2 sugar molecules: disaccharides
More than 2 (>2) but lesser than 10 (<10) sugar molecules: oligosaccharides
10 or >10 (>10) sugar molecules: polysaccharides

Irrespective of the saccharide type, 1 gm of carbs always provides 4 Kcal of energy.

Fig: Classifying carbs.

FATE OF SUGARS WHEN CONSUMED

MONOSACCHARIDES

GLUCOSE

Glucose is absorbed from small intestine.
Glucose bypasses the liver and all the consumed quantity reflects in blood as plasma glucose levels.
Glycemic index (GI) of glucose is taken as a reference standard and denoted as 100.
Glucose as syrup is particularly added to candies, soft drinks, jelly / jams and processed snacks.

FRUCTOSE

Fructose, like glucose, is also absorbed from small intestine.
Unlike glucose which bypasses the liver, fructose enters liver to be converted to glucose.
GI of fructose is between 19 to 23.
Fructose is incorporated as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) especially in soda, fruit-flavored drinks, processed snack bars, condiments [ketchup, BBQ (barbeque) sauce], and canned fruits in syrup.

GALACTOSE

Galactose, like glucose & fructose, is absorbed from small intestine.
Like fructose even galactose is converted in liver but to glycogen (via formation of glucose-1-phosphate).
GI of galactose is approximately 20.
Processed cheese and yoghurt are highest in galactose content.

DISACCHARIDES

MALTOSE

Maltose is broken down into 2 molecules of glucose by enzyme maltase present in small intestine.
GI of maltose is 105.
Packaged foods richest in maltose are typically those containing high-maltose corn syrup, malted grains, or those that have been heavily browned/caramelized.

LACTOSE

Lactose is broken down into glucose and galactose by enzyme lactase in small intestine.
GI of lactose is roughly 46.
Packaged foods richest in lactose are generally dairy-derived powders, fermented foods (yogurt) and concentrated liquids.

SUCROSE

Sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose by enzyme sucrase in small intestine.
GI of sucrose is roughly 65.
Canned sugar juice, sweetened condensed milk, cookies, milkshakes, candy, chocolate, and sugary breakfast cereals are richest in sucrose.
Sucrose is commonly added in packaged foods, and is also commonly incorporated in mix corn syrup / HFCS. Corn syrup is essentially glucose / fructose + maltose combined.

OLIGOSACCHARIDES

Carbs are both digestible and indigestible. Indigestible carbs cannot enter the body or influence blood glucose and these are called fibres. Most fibres are oligosaccharides. Fibres can be either soluble (in water) or insoluble - but both types, however, are indigestible.

RAFFINOSE FAMILY

Raffinose is a trisaccharide fibre which is fermented by normally present anerobic bacteria in intestine to produce hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide gases.
No GI is applicable for raffinose since these are not absorbed.
Raffinose fibre is present in beans, cabbage, broccoli and whole grains.

FRUCTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES (FOS)

FOS are indigestible, soluble prebiotic fibers.
The GI of FOS is zero since it is a prebiotic sugar substitute.
FOS is found in Jerusalem artichoke, onions, garlic, bananas and chicory root.

GALACTOOLIGOSACCHARIDES (GOS)

GOS, like FOS, are indigestible carbohydrates that pass through the upper gastrointestinal tract largely unabsorbed, acting as prebiotics.
Similar to FOS, the GI of GOS is also zero.
GOS occur in soybeans, legumes and dairy products.

HUMAN MILK OLIGOSACCHARIDES (HMO)

Only 1-2% of HMO present in breast milk is absorbed as 2′-fucosyllactose (primarily) by infants during feeding. The rest functions as a prebiotic fiber.
HMO has very low to zero GI.
Breast milk is the source of HMO.

MALTOTRIOSE

Maltotriose breaks down into maltose (which is itself further metabolized to 2 glucose molecules) and glucose molecules prior to absorption in small intestine.
The GI is close to glucose (100) and maltose (105).
Maltotriose is mainly present in honey and maple syrup.

POLYSACCHARIDES

Important polysaccharides are starch and glycogen. Starch is the only complex carb important from human consumption. Glycogen is not consumed as any food item but it is the stored form of glucose in liver and muscles and other tissues.

STARCH

Main storage polysaccharide in plants.
Starch is broken down to maltose and dextrins which, in turn, is disrupted in the small intestine into glucose.
Legume starches have low GI of <55 whilst white bread, potatoes, cornflakes and instant noodles have high GI of >70.
Commonest sources of high starch are potatoes, rice and corn. Starches are added to packaged foods as thickeners (puddings, salad dressings, sauces), binders (frozen meals) and texture enhancers (bakery products).

MALTODEXTRINS

Maltodextrins are highly processed, rapidly digested powder derived from starch which is used as a filler or thickener.
Maltodextrins possess 3 to 17 d-glucose molecules (polysaccharide) which is eventually converted to glucose rapidly.
Maltodextrins have a high GI of 110-136.
The added sugar in juices and drinks is essentially fructose and maltodextrin.

SACCHARIDES & BLOOD SUGARS

The ONLY carbs that flow in blood as final digestive products are primarily glucose, with small amounts of fructose and galactose. These are all monosaccharides.

While all three monosaccharides are absorbed into the bloodstream, the liver quickly converts nearly all fructose into glucose and a significant portion of galactose is also similarly metabolized. Because of this efficient conversion, blood levels of galactose are usually very low, and while some fructose circulates, it is also rapidly processed by the liver into glucose, glycogen or triglycerides during its recirculation.

For adults without diabetes, normal post meal blood levels of carbs are:

Glucose: <140 mg/dL
Fructose: <1 mg/dL
Galactose: <5 mg/dL

Insulin transports glucose in blood to tissues for its utilization for energy purposes. Insulin also plays a role in transport of fructose and galactose into their respective target tissues.

FRUCTOSE

Fructose in blood is primarily taken up by liver, intestine and kidneys.
Intestine breaks up fructose to glucose whilst kidneys convert it to glycogen.
In liver, fructose is converted to be stored as glycogen or triglycerides.

Insulin resistance does not raise blood fructose levels. Rather, high fructose consumption can cause insulin resistance. Glycogen and triglycerides also provide energy but first by converting to glucose.

GALACTOSE

Galactose from blood is 91-95% taken up by liver and only 2-5% circulates in blood.
The galactose present in blood, that has bypassed the liver, reaches other tissues (primarily brain, erythrocytes, mammary glands).
In tissues, galactose is utilized for energy generation, just like glucose.

High galactose blood levels are associated with insulin resistance. Both glucose as well as galactose provide same i.e. 4 Kcal/gm but the galactose needs to be first converted to glucose before it generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the ultimate utilizable chemical form of energy.

CARBS CONTAINING PACKED FOODS

In India, the packaged foods are classifiable as:

SNACKS: These are either cereal-based (idli, dhokla), vegetable-based [aloo bhujia, chana jor garam, bitter gourd (karela) chips] or legumes/pulses based [roasted chickpeas (chana), besan bhujia, ready-to-eat kebabs].
CEREALS: These are many cereal-based products consumed like millet puffs, cereal bars, popcorn, muesli.
READY-TO-EAT/COOK MEALS: Instant noodles, soup and porridge-mixes, vegetables, etc.

The snacking category includes:

Baked Snacks: Cookies, biscuits, cream biscuits, crackers.
Chips & Puffed Snacks: Potato chips, popcorn, banana chips, tortilla chips, extruded corn/cheese balls.
Traditional / Namkeens: Bhujia, sev, chivda, bhakarwadi, roasted snacks like chana jor.
Ready-To-Prepare / Eat: Frozen foods, roasted nuts, dried fruits, millet-based snacks [ragi-based flakes, millet (jowar / bajra / ragi) puffs].

Depending on the quantity of added sugar the packaged foods are qualified - based on guidelines from various international health organizations, as:

HEALTHY / BEST CHOICES: <5 gm per 100 gm
LESS HEALTHY / MODERATE: 5-15 gm per 100 gm
UNHEALTHY / HIGH INTAKE: >15 gm per 100 gm

It would be interesting to expose the folly of the guidelines based on mere ‘added sugars’ by comparing various packed foods of different categories and understanding their content of carbs.

LABELS OF POPULAR PACKAGED PRODUCTS

BAKED SNACKS

WHEAT BREAD

COMMENTS: 100 gms (30 biscuits) contains added sugars 3 gms. Hence, this snack technically qualifies as ‘Healthy’. However, the total carbs (excluding the added sugar) is 60.1 gms! WHETHER ADDED SUGAR OR INHERENT CARBS CONTENT, ALL IS CONVERTED TO GLUCOSE IN INTESTINES BEFORE ENTERING THE BLOOD!

CHIPS & PUFFED SNACKS

NACHNI (RAGI) CHIPS

COMMENTS: 100 gms (two-third pack) contains added sugars 2 gms. Hence, this snack technically qualifies as ‘Healthy’. However, the total carbs (excluding the added sugar) is 76.1 gms! WHETHER ADDED SUGAR OR INHERENT CARBS CONTENT, ALL IS CONVERTED TO GLUCOSE IN INTESTINES BEFORE ENTERING THE BLOOD!

NAMKEENS

SOYA STICKS

COMMENTS: 100 gms (half pack) contains added sugars 4.2 gms. Hence, this snack technically qualifies as ‘Healthy’. However, the total carbs (excluding the added sugar) is 40.8 gms! WHETHER ADDED SUGAR OR INHERENT CARBS CONTENT, ALL IS CONVERTED TO GLUCOSE IN INTESTINES BEFORE ENTERING THE BLOOD!

READY-TO-EAT SNACKS

ROASTED NUTS

Farmley Panchmeva Dry Fruits Mix, 405g I Fit for Fasting | Healthy Snacks Mixed Nuts Contains Almonds, Cashews, Dates, Black Raisin, Green Raisin

COMMENTS: 100 gms (one-quarter pack) contains ZERO added sugars. Hence, this snack technically qualifies as ‘Healthy’. However, the total carbs (excluding the fiber) is 32.5 gms! WHETHER ADDED SUGAR OR INHERENT CARBS CONTENT, ALL IS CONVERTED TO GLUCOSE IN INTESTINES BEFORE ENTERING THE BLOOD.

MORAL OF THE STORY

The idiom "don't judge a book by its cover", a 19th-century proverb by George Eliot of The Mill on the Floss (1860) fame, is very apt to be applied to the confusion regarding health vs junk food analysis. The ‘added sugar’ being the sole culprit is a misguidance galore and the whole carb content of any snack is ultimately going to influence blood glucose levels. The body deals with carbs in food exactly the same way as it deals with ‘added sugar’ content in packaged foods. This is the medical reality – believe it or not.

CONCLUSION

Added sugar is frowned upon by layman and even healthcare providers. The psyche of the enlightened consumers is on the basis of their being Google-qualified doctors. The Dieticians have flourished by their fuelling the consumer beliefs and perceptions especially bearing in mind the scenario that the qualified medical professionals are too busy treating their patients with no time to probe and ponder into basics.

Understanding of biochemistry and physiology are critical to understanding diseases. However, qualified doctors concentrate on diagnostics, treatment guidelines and updating knowledge / information on drugs and their available brands. So all their overweight and diabetic patients or cardio-diabetic cases are showed off to the Dietician regarding diet guidance. The Dieticians print out their routine diet recommendations and give ‘Gyan’ on healthy foods vs junk foods on basis of mere 'added' sugar content. The Indian patient gleefully laps up the advice since it only reinforces his / her perceptions and beliefs.

Research indicates that searching online to evaluate the truthfulness of false or misleading news articles actually increases the probability of believing them, contradicting the assumption that "Googling" reduces misinformation. This phenomenon, often referred to as a "search effect," happens because searching for unverified or false information can lead users into "data voids," where search engine results return low-quality, inaccurate information. The same has been the reason of myths behind categorizing packaged foods with added sugars and salts and fat content as unhealthy (junk) foods.

All the carbs present in a packed food is going to have an ultimate say on the blood glucose and not the only ‘added sugar’ component. The healthy vs junk food concept on the mere basis of quantity of added sugar is flawed and indeed misleading for health and diabetes care. The bottom line is the Dietician community has more flourished by junking junk food irrationally than the Companies marketing junk foods!

Another concept floating and gaining acceptance is the GI of carbs. The next blog will be dedicated to understanding the nitty gritty about insulin, insulin sensitivity and its working, and relation to GI of carbs entering the blood.

DR R K SANGHAVI

Prophesied Enabler
Experience & Expertise: Clinician & Healthcare Industry Adviser

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POWERED BY -

# fuzionnutra.com