How to Reduce Your Sugar Intake
by David Dack
According to the American Heart Association, the typical American consumes about 30 teaspoons of added sugar every day—that’s roughly 500 extra calories from sugar alone.
To put this into perspective, it's more than three times the recommended daily limit of the sweet stuff.
If you’re not horrified, you should be. Sure, I’d never want to vilify one food or nutrient, but added sugar is bad, and it’s bad for you so, so many reasons.
Excess intake puts you at a higher risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, some cancers—the list is long and full of terrors.
That’s why reducing sugar intake is one of the best things you can do to improve your health and well being. That’s where today’s post comes in handy.
Here are my best tips for reducing sugar intake and taming your sweet tooth without starving to death.
Enjoy
No Sugary Drinks
Want to remove colossal amounts of sugar from your diet almost overnight? Boycott sweetened drinks. This will have a significant impact on the rest of your diet.
Your regular 12-ounce cans of soda pack in as much as ten teaspoons of sugar. That’s about 150 calories from sugar alone—and all or more of the limit for recommended added sugar per day.
Instead of guzzling teaspoons of sugar, switch to unsweetened tea, black coffee, or plain water. You can make plain water more appealing to your sense buds by adding cucumber, lemon, mint, or fruit to it and letting it sit overnight in the fridge.
Remove It from Your House
Research has found out that people who keep junk food in their home are likely to binge eat, especially following a stressful day. Research also shows that people who keep junk food within arm’s reach find it hard to lose or maintain weight.
In other words, if your kitchen drawers are full of junk food, you’re probably going to indulge.
Declare your house a junk food free area.
Sift through your fridge, cupboards, and any other departments and toss away as much junk food as possible. Lose all the soda, cookies, chips, pop tarts, Halloween candy, and other sugary items.
Eat Non-Starchy Veggies
The eat plants poster is a great vegan gift #vegan
Vegetables are the backbone of healthy eating. But when you’re trying to cut back on sugar intake, it helps to know which type of vegetables to eat and which to avoid.
In general, starchy vegetables (think carrots, sweet potatoes, and lima beans) contain a higher amount of sugar. Therefore, consuming them may rack up your daily sugar intake and result in cravings.
What you need to feast on are non-starchy vegetables. These contain significantly fewer carbs, and eating won’t mess around with your blood sugar levels.
Add the following items to your menu:
Okra
Kohlrabi
Brussels sprouts
Cucumber
Broccoli
Chayote
Cabbage
Daikon
Radishes
Cauliflower
Salad greens
Swiss chard
Sprouts
Eggplant
Peppers
Read the Labels
Although I’d recommend that you stay away from pre-packaged and processed foods, if you’re going to consume them, then at least know what you’re putting into your body.
That’s why you need to learn how to read and interpret food labels and ingredient lists. This way, you know which items are rich in sugar and which are healthier for you.
But it’s not always easy to spot added sugar on labels as it goes by many names—more than 60 names standing for sugar in one form or the other.
Here’s a list of the most common ones.
Sucrose
Maltose
Fructose
Brown rice syrup
Molasses
Agave
Lactose
High fructose corn syrup
Fruit juice concentrate
Turbinado sugar
Molasses sucrose
Glucose
Organic cane sugar
Maple syrup
Dried cane syrup
Corn sugar
Corn syrup
Cane sugar
Maltodextrin
Maltose
And other words ending in “ose.”
If you spot more than one form of sugar appearing on a food label, ditch that item on the spot. It’s unlikely the right food choice.
Eat Your Protein
Cutting back on sugar intake isn’t always about limiting your food choices. Adding foods, the right foods is also key.
One nutrient that’s going to help you drastically cut back on sugar intake is protein.
Don’t take my word for it. Research has shown that increasing protein intake can help you maintain steady blood sugar levels and reduce cravings for junk food, especially having protein at breakfast.
Protein helps you cut back on sugar intake because it triggers the release of the fullness hormone PYY—this helps regulate your appetite and keeps you satisfied longer. The nutrient also limits the production of hunger ghrelin.
Add at least one portion to your meals and snacks of the following high-quality protein sources.
Eggs
Poultry
Meat
Fish
Cheese
Greek yogurt
Nuts
Conclusion
There you have it! These eating guidelines are all you need to get started on removing sugar from your daily menu. All you need to do now is implement them in a slow and gradual manner. The rest is just detail.
Please feel free to leave your comments and questions in the section below.
Thank you for dropping by.
About the author:
David Dack is an established fitness blogger and running expert. When he’s not training for his next marathon, he’s doing research and trying to help as many people as possible to share his fitness philosophy. Check his blog Runners Blueprint for more info.
Some facts about the dangers of excessive sugar and ideas to help you start to reduce your sugar intake today. Get healthy!