The biggest challenge I’ve found in minimizing added-sugar foods while on the bike is convenience / form factor I.e. easily being able carry them and then unwrap them while riding.
My “go to” food for long outdoor training rides are jam (aka jelly) sandwiches. Yes, these have added sugars - in the jam (but I don’t put much on, really just for taste), and some in the bread (I use Dave’s bread). But overall a lot less sugars vs gels or carb mixes.
I’ll also bring the odd banana for training rides, but they don’t carry well - a hot mushy banana isn’t super palatable.
I tried rice cakes but they are a pain to make. Certainly a lot more work than making a jam sandwich.
Most of my indoor rides are 1 hr, and I don’t eat anything during them.
The problem however in races is that jam sandwiches are difficult to eat - hard to unwrap and fall apart easily. Last year in the grand junction off-road I swear it took me 5 minutes to unwrap and eat half a sandwich while riding, and trying not to crash. maybe I need to find a different consistency bread and wrap them differently.
I’ve switched to cliff bars for races (I pre-open all the packets and cut the bars in two). And yes, do also use gels that I reserve for climbs/intense efforts.
When it comes to gels, is there much of a difference between artificial gels, vs the “naturally occurring” kind (eg maple syrup, honey)?