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12 Simple Ways to Reduce Sugar in Your Diet
It should come as no surprise that refined white sugar is not very healthy. But how can you permanently Reduce Sugar in Your Diet?
People who have followed the paleo diet for some time know how fantastic they feel when they limit sugar, and everyone is aware that sugar is extremely bad for diabetes. What about the rest of the population? Should they strive to entirely cut out sugar or should they just limit their consumption? Is sugar really so bad for you?
If you consume any kind of processed or already cooked food, it is nearly hard to avoid sugar because it comes in so many different forms. What then should one do? Is one type of sugar worse than another? How do you prevent it, too?
There are a lot of reasons why you should stay away from sugary foods:
Not all sugar is harmful to your health. It is nevertheless easy to overindulge in natural sources like those from fruit, honey, and maple syrup even if they are less harmful than processed sugars and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). You wouldn’t want to give up all those antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, minerals, and vitamins by eliminating all fruit from your diet in an effort to eliminate sugar.
Now that you are aware of WHY you should avoid sugar and which varieties are worst, what are some suggestions for doing so?
When it comes to eliminating sugar from your diet, this is likely the biggest shift you can make. Almost everything you purchase that is packaged in a box, bag, or can contains added sugars. One food item may occasionally contain four or five different forms of sugar!
If you’re not quite ready to give up all prepared or processed foods, at least give up store-bought tomato sauce. You don’t actually need the sugar that these frequently include.
You may easily make your own by simmering some fresh or canned tomatoes with some fresh herbs in a saucepan. Even if you taste it and add a small amount of sugar, it will still be much less than the sugar in store-bought products.
Naturally, juice, fruit roll-ups, and dried fruit taste delicious since they are virtually entirely made of sugar. Additionally, all or nearly all of the fiber has been lost. Eat fruit fresh and whole to provide your body with the natural nutrients that it provides.
Instead of apples, bananas, and other fruits, choose berries, cherries, grapefruit, lemons, and limes since they have a lower total content and are higher in glucose and lower in fructose.
Breaking news: most commercial yogurt has as much sugar as (or even more) candy bars. Instead, purchase or prepare plain yogurt and top it with fresh fruit and honey, if you still desire sweetness.
Your store-bought salad dressings are one of the most frequent hiding places for sugar. Making your own allows you to regulate the sugar (as well as the salt and soybean or canola oil) content. You may easily create your own! Keep in mind that the typical vinaigrette ratio is three parts oil to one part vinegar.
Extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, and avocado oil are all excellent cooking oils. Balsamic vinegar or other flavored vinegar are both acceptable. In a pinch, cider vinegar or plain white vinegar both work nicely. If you want a little more sweetness, you may also add a little honey, some lemon juice, a sprinkle of salt, some pepper, and perhaps some dried herbs. combine all ingredients at first
Giving oneself a “quota” of sugar and sticking to it when eating dessert is one of the simplest methods to wean yourself back off of it. If you typically eat dessert every day, reduce your sugar intake by saving all sweets for dessert only.
Reduce the number of sweets you consume each week throughout the upcoming few weeks. Replace half of your desserts with fresh fruit as another approach to help.
Continuing from the last point, you should start weaning yourself off of desserts once you’ve reduced your sugar intake to simply desserts.
Give yourself permission to indulge in sweets on particular days of the week (but don’t say “every day that ends in day”); for instance, just on even days, on weekends, or on special occasions.
This one ought to be noticeable. You’ll consume the ice cream if you have a sizable bucket of it in the freezer. Simply avoid purchasing sugary items. You’ll have to travel to acquire a single slice if you really, really want it, and half the time you might decide it’s not worth it.
Xylitol and stevia are two substances that not everyone can handle or enjoy the taste of. However, if you can and do, they work well as sugar alternatives. Just be careful not to abuse them. Instead of attempting to locate a suitable replacement, you would be better off simply reducing your sweetener usage.
Change to dark chocolate if your habit of eating chocolate is a manifestation of your sugar addiction. You can probably not consume an entire bar of dark chocolate, unlike milk chocolate, but it is healthier for you and has several health advantages.
Are you aware of the amount of sugar in rye and Coke? The cosmo? The gin and tonic? A lot! Choose wine, straight spirits, or a mix with soda water if you must consume alcohol.
You can significantly reduce your sugar intake by substituting water with lime or lemon for soda. Drink soda water, either plain or with lime, if you still feel the urge for something fizzy.
People who have followed the paleo diet for some time know how fantastic they feel when they limit sugar, and everyone is aware that sugar is extremely bad for diabetes. What about the rest of the population? Should they strive to entirely cut out sugar or should they just limit their consumption? Is sugar really so bad for you?
If you consume any kind of processed or already cooked food, it is nearly hard to avoid sugar because it comes in so many different forms. What then should one do? Is one type of sugar worse than another? How do you prevent it, too?
Why Sugar Should Be Avoided
There are a lot of reasons why you should stay away from sugary foods:
- It gives cancer cells fuel.
- White blood cell activity is hampered.
- It encourages gaining weight
- The body produces less leptin as a result (needed for appetite regulation)
- It alters the movement of amino acids into muscles.
- Insulin resistance is accelerated, which can result in Type II diabetes.
- The result is oxidative stress.
Not all sugar is harmful to your health. It is nevertheless easy to overindulge in natural sources like those from fruit, honey, and maple syrup even if they are less harmful than processed sugars and HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). You wouldn’t want to give up all those antioxidants, phytochemicals, fiber, minerals, and vitamins by eliminating all fruit from your diet in an effort to eliminate sugar.
Now that you are aware of WHY you should avoid sugar and which varieties are worst, what are some suggestions for doing so?
How To Eliminate Sugar From Your Diet
1. Give up purchasing processed foods
When it comes to eliminating sugar from your diet, this is likely the biggest shift you can make. Almost everything you purchase that is packaged in a box, bag, or can contains added sugars. One food item may occasionally contain four or five different forms of sugar!
2. Create Your Own Tomato Sauce for Spaghetti
If you’re not quite ready to give up all prepared or processed foods, at least give up store-bought tomato sauce. You don’t actually need the sugar that these frequently include.
You may easily make your own by simmering some fresh or canned tomatoes with some fresh herbs in a saucepan. Even if you taste it and add a small amount of sugar, it will still be much less than the sugar in store-bought products.
3. Instead of juice, dehydrated fruit, or other fruit products, choose whole, fresh fruit.
Naturally, juice, fruit roll-ups, and dried fruit taste delicious since they are virtually entirely made of sugar. Additionally, all or nearly all of the fiber has been lost. Eat fruit fresh and whole to provide your body with the natural nutrients that it provides.
Instead of apples, bananas, and other fruits, choose berries, cherries, grapefruit, lemons, and limes since they have a lower total content and are higher in glucose and lower in fructose.
4. Skip the flavored yogurt.
Breaking news: most commercial yogurt has as much sugar as (or even more) candy bars. Instead, purchase or prepare plain yogurt and top it with fresh fruit and honey, if you still desire sweetness.
5. Making Salad Dressing from Scratch
Your store-bought salad dressings are one of the most frequent hiding places for sugar. Making your own allows you to regulate the sugar (as well as the salt and soybean or canola oil) content. You may easily create your own! Keep in mind that the typical vinaigrette ratio is three parts oil to one part vinegar.
Extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, and avocado oil are all excellent cooking oils. Balsamic vinegar or other flavored vinegar are both acceptable. In a pinch, cider vinegar or plain white vinegar both work nicely. If you want a little more sweetness, you may also add a little honey, some lemon juice, a sprinkle of salt, some pepper, and perhaps some dried herbs. combine all ingredients at first
6. Set Yourself a Limit
Giving oneself a “quota” of sugar and sticking to it when eating dessert is one of the simplest methods to wean yourself back off of it. If you typically eat dessert every day, reduce your sugar intake by saving all sweets for dessert only.
Reduce the number of sweets you consume each week throughout the upcoming few weeks. Replace half of your desserts with fresh fruit as another approach to help.
7. Establish guidelines for dessert.
Continuing from the last point, you should start weaning yourself off of desserts once you’ve reduced your sugar intake to simply desserts.
Give yourself permission to indulge in sweets on particular days of the week (but don’t say “every day that ends in day”); for instance, just on even days, on weekends, or on special occasions.
8. Keep treats outside the house.
This one ought to be noticeable. You’ll consume the ice cream if you have a sizable bucket of it in the freezer. Simply avoid purchasing sugary items. You’ll have to travel to acquire a single slice if you really, really want it, and half the time you might decide it’s not worth it.
9. Examine Xylitol or Stevia.
Xylitol and stevia are two substances that not everyone can handle or enjoy the taste of. However, if you can and do, they work well as sugar alternatives. Just be careful not to abuse them. Instead of attempting to locate a suitable replacement, you would be better off simply reducing your sweetener usage.
10. Consider dark chocolate.
Change to dark chocolate if your habit of eating chocolate is a manifestation of your sugar addiction. You can probably not consume an entire bar of dark chocolate, unlike milk chocolate, but it is healthier for you and has several health advantages.
11. Abstain from alcoholic cocktails
Are you aware of the amount of sugar in rye and Coke? The cosmo? The gin and tonic? A lot! Choose wine, straight spirits, or a mix with soda water if you must consume alcohol.
12. Avoid soda
You can significantly reduce your sugar intake by substituting water with lime or lemon for soda. Drink soda water, either plain or with lime, if you still feel the urge for something fizzy.
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