Maltodextrin, fructose, and sucrose are all sugar.

I know most of you by now have heard me talk about how bad sugar is for us.

Sugar raises inflammation, is addictive, and increases the risk of heart disease.

I’ve talked extensively about how it’s inflammation that causes the body to raise cholesterol levels more than what we want (and also that we do need cholesterol and shouldn’t just randomly suppress it, especially when you consider increased cholesterol is a reaction to something else – so let’s fix the root cause, not put a bandaid on it).

Of course, sugar also adds to the obesity epidemic, impairs spatial memory and disrupts normal brain processes. It messes with impulse control and can even put you at risk for mental health issues. It also messes up metabolism, even if you’re healthy.

Sugar also suppresses your immune system. For instance, if you drink a glass of orange juice, your immune system is cut in half for the next 5-12 hours. If you then consider getting less than 8 hours of sleep per night as an adult you also cut your immune system in half. Is it any wonder when people get sick easily?

Many people are now aware that they need to read labels. That is an excellent start. But companies have gotten smarter, and will now use names besides “sugar” that you might not be aware of.

So here is a brief list of other names you’ll want to look for, to avoid all that added sugar that just doesn’t add to your life and health:

Are there more? Yes, of course. But this is a solid start. My preference for sweetening things are stevia or monk fruit. If you do choose stevia, make sure it’s a liquid and that it does not contain sugar (some companies really do that?!?!) My preference is Stevita, it is liquid, organic, and the only other ingredient is grapefruit seed extract as a preservative (which is also healthy).

Some of the things I listed might seem benign and natural, so why would they be on this list? Because, and this is important, to your body sugar is sugar is sugar.