Easy ways to cut back on sugar

Sugar – how much are you eating each day?  Who doesn’t like their sweets and desserts?  The students I teach are surprised to learn that I enjoy my desserts and we have a candy dish – usually full of chocolate, on our coffee table.  Some people think nutritionists don’t eat any sugar, but not true.  However, I do point out to my students that my “sugar” intake is usually from a dessert and not from sugared soft drinks, and every day food items that can be loaded with sugar.  How can you cut back on the sugar in your day and still enjoy some desserts and sweets?  Since I enjoy having a dessert, I liked the article, “6 Simple Ways to Eat Less Sugar – Without Giving up Dessert”.   The American Heart Association also has a great article, “Tips for Cutting Down on Sugar”. 

Sugar isn’t an enemy.  All the cells in our body use sugar, in the form of glucose, for energy.  What does our brain use for energy?  Glucose.  But our bodies can make glucose from the foods we eat.  The bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables we eat and from real milk.  We don’t want to cut back on these good-for-our health foods.  Some people think we need “sugar” in our diets, the white table sugar.  We don’t actually need to eat white table sugar for energy.  It is the “added sugar”, the sugar so many manufacturers add to our every day foods that we can cut back on. 

Eat more fruits and vegetables and less added sugar.

And Americans eat a lot of added sugar.  According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the average adult in America “eats almost 20 teaspoons, or 80 grams of added sugar per day.”   But this is not as much as we used to eat.  NIH notes that “compared to a few decades ago… Americans are eating more foods with less added sugar, as well as more whole grains…”

      1.  Look at the ingredients:  If the first ingredient in a food is “sugar”, then that food is mostly sugar.  But read all the ingredients and you will be surprised how many times “sugar” will be added to a food you don’t expect.  I was surprised to note sugar was added to the Tomato Soup I like to eat.  The new food labels will more clearly list “added sugars” on the nutrition label so it will be easier to determine which processed foods have added sugar.  Buy the spaghetti sauce with no added sugar. 

Look for Added Sugars on labels. 

2.  Go for the unsweetened product – in a restaurant, choose the unsweetened tea.  When buying applesauce, look at the ingredients and buy the brand with no added sugar.  Skip the almond milk with all the added sugar and buy real milk that has no added sugar.  Skip the sugared sodas and opt for water or seltzer water.  Buying fruit in the can?  Look for fruit packed in juice and not heavy syrup.  When choosing juice, look at the ingredients and be sure it is only juice and no added sugar.

3.  Breakfast – Skip the cereal that has “sugar” as the first ingredient, or you are having a bowl-full of sugar for breakfast.  Look for cereals with less added sugar such as the Instant Oatmeal packs that have less added sugar.  Like granola?  Look for brands that have less added sugar or use less granola.  Sprinkle some granola on your morning yogurt and add fresh fruit for a nutrition boost.

4.  Shop for Individual packs – such as the 100 calorie packs.  One of my daughters buy the 100 - calorie pack of cookies.  She knows exactly how many calories she is eating when she eats the package of cookies.  Buy individual ice cream bars and then limit yourself to one bar.

5.  Eat more healthy food and you will have room for less food loaded with added sugar.  A student in my class was about 15 pounds overweight.  He started the habit of 5 A Day – eating 5 fruits and veggies a day.  He said he made no other changes but lost weight.  Why?  He said he was filling up on the fruits and vegetables and had less room for all the junk food he used to eat. 

6.   Snack bars – so many people think if they buy a granola bar or other snack bar, they are eating healthy.  But many of these granola bars are loaded with added sugar.  Be sure to look at the ingredients so sugar is not the first ingredient.  When choosing a snack bar, look at the added sugar grams and look for 5 grams or less of added sugars. 

Enjoy your desserts but try to cut back on all the added sugar that creeps into your diet in every day foods.  If you start reading the ingredients, you may be surprised how often manufacturers sneak added sugar into the every day foods you eat. 

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