Simple and Easy Tips on How to Reduce Sugar

A heart-healthy lifestyle includes monitoring how much sugar you consume, especially if you have been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes. Empty calories from added sugars found in sweets, some beverages, and candies can cause weight gain and blood sugar levels to rise.

A wise first step to eliminating sugar from your diet is to cut back on sugary drinks. Sugary drinks are the primary source of added sugar. Soft drinks and energy drinks should be the first to go.

With these tips, you can start consuming less sugar:

·      Throw away the white and brown table sugar, syrup, honey, and molasses. Reduce the added sugar in the foods and beverages you frequently consume, such as cereal, pancakes, coffee, and tea. To start, try halving the typical amount of sugar you add. Then, gradually reduce it.

·      Change the soda. Water is recommended, although diet drinks may be preferable to sugary beverages if you're attempting to lose weight or want something sweet to drink.

·      Fruits can be eaten fresh, frozen, dried, or canned. Pick fruit that has been canned in juice or water. Avoid fruit that has been canned in syrup, particularly heavy syrup. Drain and rinse in a colander to get rid of extra syrup or juice.

·      Choose foods with the fewest added sugars by comparing their labels. Products made from dairy and fruit will have some natural sugars. The ingredients list makes added sugars clear.

·      Insert fruit. Add fresh fruit (bananas and cherries) or dried fruit to cereal or oatmeal as a substitute for sugar (raisins, cranberries, or apricots).

·      Reverse the serving cut. Reduce the sugar specified in the recipe by one-third to one-half when making cookies, brownies, or cakes. You won't frequently notice the difference.

·      Examine extracts. Use extracts like almond, vanilla, orange, or lemon in recipes instead of sugar.

·      Completely swap it out. Use spices to flavor food instead of sugar. Try nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, or allspice.

·      Substitute. Replace the sugar in recipes with unsweetened applesauce (use equal amounts).

·      Limit the use of sugar substitutes. Non-nutritive sweeteners might be a temporary solution for sating your sweet desire if you're attempting to lose weight. But be careful! Make sure that switching from nutritive sweets to less-nutritious choices now doesn't result in later overeating.

This article is an excerpt from the book “Sugar Elimination.”