How To Reduce Your Sugar Intake


Over the last 20 years, we have become more aware as a global population of how much damage the food we eat can do to us. The fast foods that were a treat became more regular and affordable – and cheaper than cooking in the house sometimes. Sugar, salt, and preservatives were added to regular foods in enormous amounts to help stabilize and preserve the contents – and then one of the leading flavor enhancers. Let’s find out how to reduce your sugar intake.

 

Over time the body gets used to having high levels of sugar and salt in our foods, and it becomes the taste that we like too. What this means is that almost everyone will have too much sugar in their food – all day, every day. Reducing your sugar intake is essential to take care of your health. You can reduce your sugar, reduce your chances of diabetes and prediabetes, and live a more heart-healthy lifestyle. 

So, what can you do to reduce your daily sugar consumption?

Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash

 

Labels 

The labels of your food are required to tell you how much of what ingredient is in it – and the levels of things like fat, protein, sugars, and carbs. If you haven’t spent much time looking at the labels on your food before, there is no better time than now to start. Check the label and look for the total amount of sugar. It is estimated that the average American will eat anywhere between 55-92 grams of sugar a day, which is around 22 teaspoons.

 

Most people wouldn’t voluntarily eat 22 teaspoons of sugar, but when it is spaced through your food, it is easy to underestimate what you are eating. WHO recommends that you get no more than 5% of your daily calories from sugar; however, for many people, it can exceed 16% a day.

 

Homebaking

If you are partial to biscuits and cakes from the store but you have a mission to cut down on the amount of sugar you consume – these are some of the first things to do. But you can switch to home baking and have a full grasp of everything that goes into your treats. And the best part is that when you use recipes like this sugar free no bake cookies, they are packed with flavor without the sugar.

 

Table sauces

Table sauces can be sneaky because they are often packed with sugars and salts to make sure that they are filled with flavor and last a long time. Shockingly, even a sauce like ketchup (which is one of the world’s favorite table sauces) 1 tablespoon has one whole teaspoon of sugar in it! What that means is that ketchup is about 29% sugar and actually has more sugar in it than ice cream.

 

Healthy

A shocking issue in the food industry is that many healthy food brands switch out fat and replace it with sugar. It can be hard to believe that green packaging and the big zero-sugar branding can be bad for you. But in the end, it is more important that you check the packaging of healthy foods than it is for regular foods. You can either make your own oat bars and energy balls, or you can swap them for a handful of nuts instead.

 

Protein

High sugar diets are linked to feeling hungry more often, and because of that, weight gain too. One of the first things that people who want to lose weight will do is switch from high-sugar and high-fat diets to moderate-fat and high-protein. Protein reduces food cravings and helps us to feel full for longer. Add some extra protein like avocado, eggs, fish, meat, and full-fat dairy (sometimes with added protein) into your diet.

 

Sleep 

It cannot be stressed enough how much a good sleep can impact how much or little you eat during the day – and of what. When we are feeling tired or lacking energy, one of the first things we reach for will be sugary snacks and drinks. Why? Because our brains know that within a short time, we will get an energy bump. If you know your sleep is lacking, then that can be one of the most important things for you to tackle.

 

A diet that is high in sugar doesn’t just mean that you may gain weight – it is a lot more serious than that. Heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes are all linked to diets that are high in sugar. Part of the challenge for many is learning to cook really delicious vegetable meals: Vegetables, Turnips 2 Tangerines.