5 Foods Low in Sugar

Statistics show that more than half of Australians are exceeding the World Health Organisation’s recommended daily intake of added sugars every day. According to the Heart Association, the maximum amount of added sugars a person should eat per day is for men, 37.6g (or 9 teaspoons), and 25g (or 6 teaspoons) for women per day. When you’re looking to cut down on your sugar intake, it’s not always easy. Sugar has crept into many everyday products that we wouldn’t always think of. It’s good to be mindful about the sugar that we put into our bodies, so here is a list of 5 foods that are low in sugar.

Hummus (Pipel Brand: 0.2g per 20g serving) Shop bought dips are often laden with added sugars, especially now that there are many fancy flavour varieties on the market. Stick with minimal ingredients in your dip and you’re likely to be safer. Hummus is a great option, and I would recommend the brand ‘Pipel’. The ingredients list is short, it’s a classic recipe that is gluten and dairy free and also has no preservatives! Why not try making some vegetable crisps of your own to dip into it with?

Protein Pancakes (3.5g per serving) Although you may think that pancakes are full of sugar, it’s the toppings that you put onto your pancakes that tend to give the added sugar. The Protein Bread co. pancake mix has only 3.5g of sugar per serving, and is also low calorie at 157Kcal. If you want to steer clear of sweet toppings, why not opt for savoury and try them with smashed avocado and lean bacon?

Strawberries (3.9g per 100g) Fruit is laden with sugar, some more than others, however we have to remember that these sugars are naturally occurring. Some may think that there is no difference between the sugar content of a bowl of strawberries vs. the sugar content of your favourite bag of lollies. But there is – and not all sugars are equal! Strawberries and other fruit have many more nutritional benefits than a bag of lollies - strawberries for example are low in calories, they contain fibre and vitamin C and are much more satisfying to your body than a bag of lollies. A bag of lollies typically would have little to no nutritional content.

Red Wine (varies) Believe it or not, red wine can actually contain low amounts of sugar and when cutting down on sugar, you can still enjoy a glass! The process of fermentation is the same for red and white wines to champagne and sparkling, but both champagne and sparkling tend to retain quite a lot of fructose from the grapes. If the wine is deemed to be ‘dry’, it is likely to contain very low levels of residual sugar (less than 1g per 1 litre). Red wine is lower in fructose than white, so stick with this.

Granola (Dorset Cereals brand, 5.6g per 45g serving) Possibly not an item that you would expect to see on this list, granola is a tasty option for breakfast on the go but usually contains lots of dried fruit pieces, chocolate flakes and sugary syrups. As much as I would recommend making your own, there isn’t always the time to do this. Dorset Cereals ‘Simply Nut Granola’, despite having golden syrup as the second ingredient on the list, only contains 5.6g sugar per serving which is very low in my opinion for a ‘shop-bought’ granola. The ingredients list also contains namely just oats and nuts!

In conclusion, it’s always best to check out the label on the back of the packet if you want to double check the sugar content of your groceries. Remember too that not all sugars are bad but sugar in general should be eaten in moderation - it’s all about balance!