How to Eat Less Sugar - Part1 Preparing to Change Your Die

Though we don't need refined sugars in our diet, humans seem hardwired to crave sweet foods. In fact, research suggests that sugar can act on the brain in the same way as addictive substances like tobacco! Unfortunately, the sugar we love is also the culprit in a wide range of diseases, from cavities and diabetes to fatigue and obesity. Reducing sugar's role in your life can only benefit you and your loved ones.

1 Set a sugar limit. You may only think about sugar when you add it to your recipes or coffee, but you likely eat large amounts of it without even thinking about it. Make a commitment to consciously count how many grams of sugar you eat on a daily basis, and limit your sugar to a healthy amount. The World Health Organization recommends eating no more than 25 grams of sugar per day — less than what’s found in a single soft drink.

·         Pace your sugar intake throughout the day by eating foods with a moderate amount of sugar, rather than one sugary food and a lot of sugarless food.

·         Less than 5g of sugar per 100g serving of food is a good, low-sugar product.

·         More than 15g of sugar per 100g serving of food is too high for healthy consumption.

·         If you are going to consume sugar, try to use healthy sugar alternatives like agave syrup, honey, coconut sugar, etc. Natural sugars (while still sugars) are much better for you.

2 Track your sugar. If you don't want to give up on all sugar, make a weekly chart to keep track of how much sugar you're eating. Decide how much sugar you are going to allow yourself to eat each day, remembering that you should eat no more that 25 grams, maximum.

·         For instance, on Mondays you might need an extra kick in your morning coffee, so you can allow yourself two sugars in it. If you have have plans to go out with friends on Saturday, allow yourself dessert.

·         You can decide how restricting or not your graph is.

3 Identify the sugar sources in your diet. Cut out or scale back on seemingly “healthy” foods that are actually adding large amounts of sugar to your diet. Look closely at the nutrition labels on all the food in your pantry to see how many grams of sugar they contain; four grams of sugar is equal to a teaspoon of granulated sugar. Even the healthier foods you eat might have surprisingly high sugar contents!

·         For example, a small cup of packaged applesauce can have 22g of sugar in it! That’s the same as eating five and a half teaspoons of sugar!

·         Other foods likely to be high in sugar include cereals, canned products, juice and canned fruits, flavored dairy products (like yogurt), microwaveable or other ready-made meals, and sodas.

·         If possible, eat non-packaged or canned products. For example, instead of a sugar heavy cereal for breakfast, make old fashioned oatmeal and add fruit to make it sweeter.

4 Recognize and avoid sugar aliases. Nutrition labels include a list of ingredients that often call sugar by different names. Know the different aliases for sugar so you can avoid sugar-heavy foods. Ingredients that end in “ose,” like glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose, dextrose, or maltose, are all forms of sugar. Other common aliases include:

·         High fructose corn syrup

·         Corn syrup

·         Molasses (Blackstrap molasses is better.—It has had much of the sugar removed as crystals.)

·         Invert, brown, or raw sugar

·         Corn sweetener

·         Syrup