Strictly control your sugar intake. Many people think that avoiding foods that taste sweet is enough. In fact, many foods that don't taste particularly sweet and have no obvious names in their titles are also major sugar reservoirs.
Li Yuanyuan, a master of nutrition and food hygiene, analyzed that an experiment at Connecticut College in the USA confirmed that high-sugar, high-fat foods can indeed be addictive, and sugar is more addictive than fat. Besides obviously sweet foods like candy, various sweets, and fruits, for example, the most common tomato sauce in supermarkets (which is different from pure tomato sauce as it is stir-fried again with sugar, oil, etc.), in the ingredients list of such products, besides water and tomato paste, the highest content is sugar, generally between 15% and 25%, and can reach over 30%. Lycopene in tomato sauce is indeed quite rich, but it is not recommended to eat too much of it.
Instant powdered cereals in supermarkets are also high in sugar. Because the texture of powders made from simple grains and beans is not good, and they even have a unique "earthy" taste from miscellaneous grains and beans, a lot of sugar is often added to instant paste-like foods such as soy milk powder, lotus root powder, and walnut powder to adjust the texture. In some products, sugar is even listed first in the ingredients list, so you must pay close attention when purchasing.
There are also sour snacks like hawthorn slices and preserved plums. Hawthorn and preserved plums are rich in organic acids and have a sour taste. A large amount of sugar is added during processing to make the taste sweet and sour. The sugar content in some hawthorn slices can be as high as 70%-80%; the sugar content in preserved plums is also impressive, generally ranking second in the ingredients list, second only to the plums themselves.
Braised pork in soy sauce and Fish-flavored shredded pork are both high in sugar. Zhao Jinmei, a senior engineer at the Nutrition and Health Research Institute of Chongqing Medical University and a national-level nutritionist, introduced that many people like to use sugar to season their dishes, especially chefs in restaurants who are fond of using large amounts of sugar to enhance the flavor. A serving of braised pork ribs, braised fish, or fish-flavored shredded pork might contain about 25-30 grams of sugar, while braised pork requires 40-50 grams. The highest are sweet and sour pork ribs and sweet and sour pork fillet, with each portion containing about 75 grams of sugar. In addition, some processed meat products that people love to eat, such as meat jerky and dried meat strips, also contain a significant amount of sugar.
Kiwifruit and grapefruit actually have higher sugar content than watermelon. Zhao Jinmei pointed out that don't be fooled by how sweet watermelon tastes; its actual sugar content is only 4.2%. However, kiwifruit tastes sour, yet its sugar content is 10%. Fruits with a sugar content between 9% and 13% also include apples, apricots, figs, oranges, and lychees. Fruits like persimmons, longans, bananas, bayberries, and pomegranates have a sugar content exceeding 14%.
There is also hidden sugar in yogurt and bread. If you make bread or yogurt at home, you will find that about 10-20 grams of white sugar is needed for every 100 grams of regular white bread, not counting its own starch content. The recipe for yogurt is 10 grams of sugar for every 100 grams of milk.
The World Health Organization has recently proposed that adults and children should reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 5% of their total energy intake, or about 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day. In addition to the foods mentioned above, canned foods, whole-wheat crackers, satay beef, dried pork slices, jam, and sandwich cookies are also major sugar reservoirs that don't taste very sweet, so be on guard.