30 Foods With More Sugar Than a Donut
Since sugar consumption has been linked to such severe health problems as obesity and type 2 diabetes, indulging in a doughnut seems like one of the unhealthiest ways to start your day. But is it? Odds are, you're probably ingesting just as much sugar (if not more) with the drinks, snacks, and condiments you consume every day.
How much sugar is in a doughnut?
One Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut has 10 grams of sugar, an amount that's easy to bypass with one small glass of juice, a handful of granola, or a bowl of "healthy" cereal, according to research in the new book Zero Sugar Diet: The 14-Day Plan to Flatten Your Belly, Crush Cravings, and Help Keep You Lean for Life.
The American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugar a day. If you regularly add any of these items to your grocery list, you'll plow through your daily allotment by lunchtime — and pack on the pounds.
To cut back on added sugar in your diet, make sure you steer clear of these supermarket finds. And if you really want to lose weight and swear off sugar for good, order a copy of Zero Sugar Diet today!
Kind Bar Almonds & Apricots in Yogurt
Nutrition: 190 calories, 11 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 25 mg sodium, 23 g carb, 2.5 g fiber, 16 g sugar, 3 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Don't let the fruit or yogurt part fool you; with this much sugar, you might as well have a candy bar.
Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond Milk
Nutrition (1 cup): 80 calories, 2.5 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 130 mg sodium, 14 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 13 g sugars, 1 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Almond milk may have the reputation of being a healthier alternative to dairy milk, but this brand lists "cane sugar" as its second ingredient.
Activia Vanilla Greek Nonfat Yogurt
Nutrition (5.3 oz): 130 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 50 mg sodium, 21 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 20 g sugar, 12 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: No wonder Greek yogurt is so popular; its protein-to-carb ratio usually makes it a healthy and satisfying breakfast or snack. Just not this brand — it has as much sugar as two doughnuts! Pick one of our 25 Best Yogurts for Weight Loss instead.
Ken's Fat Free Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette Dressing
Nutrition (2 Tbsp): 70 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 260 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Salads are healthy… until you drench them in pure sugar. Sure, this dressing is fat free, but you might as well be taking the sugar dispenser directly to your veggies.
Bear Naked Fruit and Nutty Granola Goodie Bag
Nutrition (½ cup): 280 calories, 12 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 0 mg sodium, 38 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 14 g sugar, 6 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Granola is more like junk food in disguise; it's packed with calories, carbs, fat, and yep, tons of sugar.
Thomas Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bagel
Nutrition (1 bagel): 270 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 400 mg sodium, 55 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 11 g sugars, 9 g protein.
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Bagels are notorious carb and calorie bombs, but this brand packs a triple-whammy with all the sugar.
Healthy Choice Sweet & Sour Chicken
Nutrition: 350 calories, 3.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 590 mg sodium, 68 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 12 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Despite the brand name, this frozen entree is anything but healthy. You might as well grab two doughnuts for dinner — the sugar count is the same.
Mott's Original Applesauce
Nutrition (4 oz): 90 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg sodium, 24 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Not only does Motts manage to cram a whopping 22 grams of sugar into 4 tiny ounces, but it's the fake stuff; the second ingredient listed is "high fructose corn syrup."
Campbell's Slow Kettle Style Tomato & Sweet Basil Bisque
Nutrition (1 cup): 290 calories, 16 g fat (10 g saturated fat, 0.5 g trans fat), 790 mg sodium, 33 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 24 g sugar, 4 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Campbell's really puts the "sweet" into this sweet basil bisque with almost as much sugar as your recommended daily allotment.
Ocean Spray Original Craisins
Nutrition (¼ cup): 130 calories, 0 g fat, 0 mg sodium, 33 g carbs (3 g fiber, 29 g sugar), 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Not only does dried fruit naturally have more sugar than regular fruit, Ocean Spray went an extra step to add even more sugar to its dried cranberries, making them basically pieces of candy (or almost three glazed donuts).
Chunky Ragu Tomato, Garlic & Onion
Nutrition (½ cup): 90 calories, 2 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 460 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 2 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Jarred pasta sauce is always a sneaky culprit of extra sugar, but Ragu isn't even discreet about it. Sugar is listed as the third ingredient, before the onion or garlic.
Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon
Nutrition (1 packet): 160 calories, 2 g fat 0 g saturated fat, 200 mg sodium, 33 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 4 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Don't be fooled by the "Heart Healthy" label slapped on the front of the box. This flavor should be called "Sugar & Artificial Flavors" instead of "Apples & Cinnamon" with how much of the sweet stuff is packed into each pouch.
Digiorno Small-Sized Four Cheese Traditional Pizza
Nutrition (1 pizza, 260 g): 710 calories, 29 g fat (14 g saturated fat), 1,190 mg sodium, 88 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 25 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Pizza is a notorious junk food, but Digiorno decided to up the ante by packing more sugar into its small pizza than most bakeries do into their donuts.
Raisin Bran
Nutrition (1 cup): 190 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 210 mg sodium, 46 g carbs, 7 g fiber, 18 g sugars, 5 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: This nostalgic cereal was once-upon-a-time considered a health food. But with almost as much sugar as two doughnuts, there's a reason it made our list of The 28 Worst Breakfast Cereals.
Dannon Fruit on the Bottom Cherry
Nutrition (1 container, 150 g): 130 Calories, 1.5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 80 mg sodium, 25 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 22 g sugar
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: There's more than just fruit on the bottom of this yogurt: cane sugar, cornstarch, and carob bean gum are just some of the listed ingredients. Oddly enough, cherries aren't one of them.
Planter's Tropical Fruit & Nut Trail Mix
Nutrition (2 oz): 280 calories, 18 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 65 mg sodium, 26 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 17 g sugar, 8 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Bananas and pineapples already pack some of the most sugar of any fruit. Dry them out and toss them with yogurt-covered raisins, and you have this sugar bomb of a trail mix.
Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce
Nutrition (2 Tbsp): 70 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated), 300 mg sodium, 17 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 15 g sugars, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: "Sweet" and "honey" should be cues that this BBQ sauce is trouble. With high fructose corn syrup as the first (!!!) ingredient, you are better off drizzling chocolate sauce on your meat. Seriously.
Tropicana Original No Pulp Orange Juice
Nutrition (8 oz): 110 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg sodium, 26 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 2 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Starting your day with a sweet glass of OJ is the same thing as starting your day with two donuts. Store-bought orange juice is highly processed anyway and doesn't offer nearly as many nutrients as eating an actual orange.
Kashi Black Bean Mango Bowl
Nutrition: 340 calories, 8 g fat, 380 mg sodium, 56 g carbs, 7 g fiber, 11 g sugar, 10 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Mangoes already pack a lot of sugar. With the rest of this bowl swimming in mango and apple juice concentrates, its no wonder it has more sugar than a glazed donut.
Clif Bar Carrot Cake
Nutrition (1 bar): 240 calories, 4 g fat (1.5 g saturated fat), 150 mg sodium, 45 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 25 g sugar, 9 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: This "protein" bar isn't far off from an actual slice of carrot cake (which has around 27 grams of sugar). Do your taste buds a favor and just eat the donut.
Smucker's SeedlessStrawberry Jam
Nutrition (1 Tbsp): 50 calories, 0 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 0 mg sodium, 13 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Ahhh, the jam that makes classic PB&Js possible… it's a shame there's virtually no nutritional value in this sugar-packed jelly. Steer clear: HFCS, regular corn syrup, and sugar are all ingredients.
Special K Fruit & Yogurt
Nutrition (1 cup): 160 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 105 mg sodium, 36 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 13 g sugar, 3 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Yet another brand using "fruit" and "yogurt" to mislead customers. Special K manages to fit five different types of sugar into this box, with sugar being the third listed ingredient.
Silk Chocolate Soy Milk
Nutrition (1 cup): 120 calories, 3 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 80 mg sodium, 21 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 17 g sugars, 5 g protein.
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Even though it's plant-based, this soy milk isn't much different from any other bottled chocolate milk you'll find at the grocery store.
Bertolli Tomato Basil
Nutrition (½ cup, 125 g): 70 calories, 2 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 460 mg sodium, 13 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 3 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: You'd never season your pasta with the sugar bowl, so why dump such a sweet sauce onto your entrée? With more sugar than a donut, it's better to ditch this jar of marinara.
Nutri-Grain Strawberry Bar
Nutrition: (1 bar, 1.3 oz): 120 calories, 3 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 125 mg sodium, 24 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 11 g sugar, 2 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Nutri-Grain markets these as breakfast bars, but they're better off being served as a dessert.
Skinny Cow Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich
Nutrition (1 sandwich, 71 g): 150 calories, 2.5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 120 mg sodium, 29 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 15 g sugar, 4 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: There's nothing "skinny" about 150 calories and 15 grams of sugar. You might as well have a scoop of regular ice cream… or a donut and a half.
Gatorade Fruit Punch
Nutrition (20 oz): 140 calories, 0 g fat, 270 mg sodium, 36 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 34 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Replenishing your workout with a Gatorade undoes all the hard work you sweated out at the gym and then some — three donuts' worth.
Annie's Organic Swirly Strawberry Really Peely Fruit Tape
Nutrition: (1 roll): 80 calories, 1.5 g fat (0 g saturated fat), 5 mg sodium, 17 g carbs, less than 1 g fiber, 13 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Fruit snacks are just candy with better marketing, and this Annie's fruit tape is no different. With 13 grams of sugar, it's not exactly a nutritious snack for the kiddos.
Minute Maid Lemonade
Nutrition (8 oz): 110 calories, 0g fat, 15 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrates, 28 g sugar, 0 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: Sipping this lemonade definitely won't make you look like Beyoncé; a small 8-ounce glass will set you back almost three donuts' worth of sugar.
Nutella
Nutrition (2 Tbsp): 200 calories, 11 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat), 15 mg sodium, 22 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 21 g sugar, 3 g protein
Zero Sugar Diet Shocker: You can spread Nutella on whole grain bread, an apple, or even broccoli — that still doesn't make it healthy. With more sugar than two donuts, it's definitely something to skip at the supermarket.
