If you have lately considered reducing sugar in your daily diet, you are not alone. It seems like nearly everyone–even people with the strictest eating regimens–is trying to find a way to reduce their sugar consumption.
You don’t have to be eating pints of ice cream to realize you may consistently eat more than the recommended daily allowance of sugar. In 2014, CBS News reported that the World Health Organization had dropped its recommended sugar intake from 10 percent to five percent. That percentage roughly translates to an intake of 25 grams of sugar for an adult with a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI).
Whether you want to whittle your waistline, eat more natural and whole foods, or you want to proactively decrease your risk of developing heart disease, cutting out some of the sugar in your diet can help.
It is important to balance your goal of cutting sugar consumption with the great benefits that await you. Once you start your sugar reduction project, you will experience some great benefits, which might include weight loss, more energy, a stable mood throughout the day, healthier teeth, better digestion, and sharper brain function.
Besides, the world is full of whole natural foods that are healthy and brimming with their own amazing flavors. Once you reduce sugar, you can see and taste those foods from a new perspective.
Now that you have decided it is time to reduce sugar, it may help you to develop some strategies. Consider using the following 5 tips for lowering sugar in your diet to get started:
1. Switch to Sugar-Free Drinks or Water
Some major sodas contain nearly 40 grams of sugar per serving, which clearly exceeds recommended intake. Choose sugar-free or low calorie sodas and juices, natural ice tea or milk. The best beverage choice of all is water to help you stay and feel full while flushing your body of toxins.
2. Become a Food Label Reader
You might have seen people scrutinizing the labels on every item before placing it in their shopping basket. Follow their lead, and check every food label see to how much sugar it contains. Compare the sugar per serving to what you plan to use in a day. If it exceeds or pushes your daily goals toward the upper limit, or the item may cause you to eliminate healthy sugars contained in fruits and other whole foods, you may want to put it back on the shelf and walk away.
3. Know Your Trigger Foods
Everyone has their great temptations that trigger cravings for more sweets. Whether you love donuts, cookies, chips or ice cream, consider them rare and delicious indulgences and avoid keeping them at home.
4. Learn About Sugar’s Alternate Names
As you become a savvy food label inspector, it will help you to learn sugar’s many aliases it uses to work its way into your shopping cart. Pause when see words like sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, invert sugar and molasses.
5. Eat Small Healthy Snacks every Two to Three Hours
Keep your blood sugar regulated by eating a healthy and low-calorie snack at regular intervals, and you will find it easier to resist sugary temptation. Eat lean protein like a low-fat mozzarella stick with a few stalks of celery or a container of Greek yogurt.
Hang in There for Sugar Reduction Success
Keep in mind that this project is not easy, but once you start to see and feel the benefits of reducing sugar, you won’t want to give up.
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