Sugar has been shown to be really bad for everyone’s health. It has been linked to the increase of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. It is no surprise that numerous people are choosing to reduce their sugar consumption. But what people do not realize is that it is easy to miscalculate how much sugar you are actually consuming. Read this article and learn the 18 high sugar foods and drinks you consume daily without knowing.

The American Heart Association recommends that men should eat only 9 teaspoons of sugar, and women to have only 6 teaspoons. Typically products that are labeled as ‘light; or ‘low-fat’ will contain more sugar than their regular counterparts. Here is the list of foods with high sugar content.

17 High Sugar Foods and Drinks:

1. Bottled Smoothies

Having a nice smoothie can be a great start to your day. Sadly, not all smoothies are created to be healthy. Lots of commercially made smoothies are sweetened with things like fruit juice, ice cream or syrup. All of these extra additives will increase the sugar content of your smoothies. To decrease your sugar intake, make sure to watch your portion size and pick smoothie brands that have a small amount of sugar.

2. Canned Baked Beans

This is another savory food that has a surprising amount of sugar. For example, one cup of baked beans comes with around 5 teaspoons of sugar. Avoid baked beans brand that has a high amount of sugar, and look for low-sugar versions instead.

3. Canned Fruit

All fruit has natural sugars, but canned fruit has been preserved in sugary syrup. This canning process takes all of the fruits nutrients away and adds a lot of unneeded sugar into the mix. Your best option is fresh fruit since it does not have any added sugar into it.

4. Cereal Bars

Cereal bars are seen to be the healthy and convenient choice for on-the-go breakfasts. But these cereal bars are loaded with sugar, which makes these bars very similar to candy bars.

5. Pre-Made Soup

Soup is another food that you would not typically think of as having sugar in it, but it does. Vegetables tend to be naturally sweetened, which are typically fine in small amounts. But commercially prepared soups tend to add more sugar to the mixture. Check the ingredient label and look for sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, and other types of sugars.

6. Vitamin water

Over the years, Vitamin water has been marketed as being a healthy drink that has a lot of vitamins and minerals. But in reality, these drinks have a large amount of sugar added to them. For instance, one bottle of Vitamin water has 32 grams of sugar. It is probably a good idea to avoid these drinks and opt for plain or sparkling water instead.

7. Protein Bars

Foods that have large amounts of protein will help increase your fullness level. In many cases, this also helps with weight loss. These ideas have caused people to think that protein bars are actually a healthy snack. This is not true because many of these protein bars tend to have 30 grams of sugar added to them. All this added sugar makes these bars very similar to candy bars. The best thing to do when picking out protein bars is to read labels and avoid those that have a lot of sugar in them.

8. Iced Tea

Iced tea is a very popular drink chose that is typically sweetened with sugar or a flavored syrup. Being flavored with sugar or syrup means that this drink has a high amount of sugar. This is made evident by many commercially prepared iced teas that contain around 33 grams of sugar per bottle. Sadly, this means that you should pick tea that does not have any sugar added into it.

9. Flavored Coffee

The amount of sugar that can be found in these drinks is very high. A large flavored coffee can have up to 25 teaspoons of sugar. This is almost three times the amount of sugar that you would find in a can of coke. To help eliminate the amount of sugar that you eat, you should avoid these sugary drinks and stick to coffee that has a smaller amount of sugar in it.

10. Granola

Granola has come to be known as a low-fat food, but it has a high amount of calories and sugar. While plain rolled oats are packed full of protein, fat, and fiber that is not the case for the oats that are found in granola. Many brands of granola are mixed with nuts, honey, or other sweeteners, which all work to increase the amount of sugar that is found in granola. The best way to avoid the extra sugar is to choose a brand of granola that does not contain as much sugar. If you are unable to find a brand that you like, you can use the granola as a topping on your yogurt rather than eating a whole bowl of it.

11. Chocolate Milk

Milk is a nutritious drink that is a good source of nutrients that helps with bone health, calcium, and proteins. Chocolate milk is simply milk, which is flavored with the cocoa as well as sweetened with sugar. An 8-ounce glass of chocolate milk has 2 teaspoons of sugar. Which means that there is an added amount of sugar to chocolate milk.