10 smart ways to reduce your sugar intake

Image via pixabay


An enormous number of persons are either obese or diabetic (or both) these days! Are you one of them? Excessive intake of sugar has been linked to obesity and diabetes. One can control these medical conditions by simply reducing the amount of sugar that they consume.

Did you know that a large variety of foods and drinks that supermarkets carry contain lots of sugar? If you didn't, then you might be consuming lots of sugar and don't even know it in addition to the ones you knowingly consume. Did you know that our bodies convert the excess sugar that we consume into fat?

We as consumers need to be smart when it comes to the food that we eat!

Below are ways in which you can reduce you sugar intake:

1. Drink less or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages/drinks
Two (2) examples of sugar-sweetened beverages are sodas and fruit juices. Sweetened store bought fruit juices contain lots of sugar as opposed to home made ones. You can avoid the sugar by making your own fruit juices from fruits at home instead. So the next time you crave orange juice, you can make a freshly squeezed one at home from oranges.

Image via pixabay


2. Reduce the amount of sugar you add to your foods and drinks (or don't always add)
You can also sweeten your drinks with natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc.

3. Purchase foods and drinks with reduced sugar or ones that are sugar-free
Some manufacturers produce foods and drinks with reduced sugar and some that are sugar-free.


4. Substitute sweet snacks for healthy snacks
Instead of eating a cupcake, try munching on some carrots instead!
You can also achieve this by:


- Buying less store bought snacks
Store bought snacks can contain lots of sugar, so try to stay away from those.


Image via pixabay

- Eating fruits when you crave something sweet
Most fruits are sweet and are the best sweet foods for your body.

Image via pixabay

5. Eat healthy desserts instead of unhealthy ones
Most desserts are loaded with lots of sugar! They are sweet and sugar is the reason why. Fruits can be used in desserts to sweeten them instead.

6. Read labels on foods before you purchase them
Sugar is in certain foods that you wouldn't think has, like ketchup, pasta sauce, etc. and not just in sweet foods.

7. Learn the different names for sugar 
If you know the names you will be able to identify them on labels. Caramel, corn syrup, galactose, dextrose, and sorbitol are examples of just a few names. There are so much more!

8. Avoid eating at restaurants and cook your own food
When you eat out, you don't know the amount of sugar that is in your food. Therefore, cook your own food at home so that you get to decide how much or if any sugar is added to your food.

9. Don't keep sugary snacks in your home
If they are in your home, you'll be tempted to eat them.

10. Don't eat sugary foods when your hungry
Consuming sugary foods when you're hungry is a very unhealthy thing to do. So this is a very, very bad idea! Did I say very? When you're really hungry, you tend to eat more and in this case it will be more sugary foods.


Reducing your intake of sugary foods is the healthy thing to do!


Related post:

Share:

0 comments