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9 easy and effective ways to cut back on sugar

Uncontrolled sugar intake can pose many risks to the human body’s healthy functioning in the long run. Due to busy schedules, many people opt for packaged foods as their food items, and not to mention desserts are always a source of joy. Therefore, avoiding sugar from one’s daily meal plan is hard. However, there are many ways in which a person can ensure that their daily sugar intake is under control.

Going through product labels
Earlier, food labels would indicate the number of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, sugars, and vitamins a particular food carries. However, recent amendments mandate brands to specify in such labels the amount of added sugar each packet contains. It gives a customer a clearer picture of where the sugar is coming from. Furthermore, it allows us to know whether or not the food we eat is naturally sweet or made so. The added sugar section of food labels helps us identify the actual quantity of sugar we are taking in and help us find alternatives that are healthier for our mind and body.

Avoiding sugar in drinks
Beverages are one of the most common sources of excessive sugar intake. It is postulated that a single can of soft drink packs about ten spoonfuls of sugar, which is higher than the recommended quantity permitted daily. However, sugary beverages also include the fancy coffees we order in cafes. Unbeknownst to many, most of these coffee types contain multiple pumps of sugar syrup, adding to the sugar we intake regularly. Neither sports drinks nor energy drinks, which we are so accustomed to grabbing every time we need to push through a late night, are saints. Swapping all these for tea, cinnamon, ginger, lemon, and other flavors helps satiate our natural sweet tooth without adding a single grain of sugar.

Opting for healthy packaged snack bars
Whether protein bars or granola bars, it is hard to say no to their convenience and taste. The grab-and-go packaging is difficult to resist, especially when it promises health. But how healthy these choices are, depends on how much added sugar these packages conveniently pack. It is not that all the energy bars available in the supermarket sneak sugar into one’s daily calories. However, certain protein bars and granola bars can include as much sugar content as chocolate. Therefore, checking the labels of these food items is an important task. Understanding which ingredients work for or against us helps us make healthier choices. The nutritional label also helps us understand the amount of naturally occurring and added sugar each of these bars carries.

Getting quality sleep
Many people find it difficult to get a restful 7-9 hours of sleep every night. It could result from a long work day, lifestyle, or stress. Missing quality sleep is a sure-shot way of sending the hormones out of control and dealing with unmanageable food cravings. The poor quality and decreased hours of sleep lead to insulin resistance, causing the body to respond in extremes. Adding even half an hour of sleep to the schedule can help with insulin sensitivity and help manage sugar cravings along with uncontrolled appetite.

Beware of sneaky sugars
Sugar has multiple purposes in our food. First, it acts as a taste enhancer and a preservative that helps increase the shelf life of products. In bakery products, it acts as a food source for yeast and allows the bread to rise. It also has other benefits and is used in some savory foods. For these reasons, it is crucial to check foods that sneakily add to one’s daily sugar intake without one realizing it. One of the easiest ways to find this is by reading the labels on the back of food packages.

Using natural sweeteners
For people who like their tea and coffee with sugar, such hot beverages may come with multiple servings of sugar. For example, 4 cups of coffee translate to four spoons of sugar. That, added to other sources of sugar we include in our meals daily, can amount to high sugar intake. Not only is this amount of refined sugar bad for the stomach, but it also compromises one’s dental health. Therefore it is advised to replace sugar in foods with natural alternatives such as bananas, prunes, applesauce, and sweet potatoes.

Avoiding sugary breakfasts
Most of the time, people don’t realize how easy it is to include sugar in our meals, particularly during breakfast. Jams, marmalades, chocolate spreads, maple syrup, honey, and even store-bought nut butter are sugar sources in our meals. Some of these are as much as 50% sugar if closely examined. Sugar-free nut butter, nuts and seeds, whole fruit, and cottage cheese are healthier alternatives to add taste and texture to breakfast. Additionally, ensuring the first meal of a day is savory keeps the blood sugar from spiking first thing in the morning.

Checking the dressing
Many food items are often accompanied or instead spread in sauces and dressings. Since most of these are store-bought items, a person has no control over the ingredients being used or their quantity, for that matter. Vinaigrette can be one of the ideal sugar-free alternatives. Others, especially the ones that claim to be fat-free or sugar-free, are usually misleading. To stay safe, one can check the ingredient label of every product they purchase off the shelves or make dressings in the comforts of one’s home.

Moderation is the key
Sweets and sugary treats are a big part of social events and celebrations. It is hard to avoid sugar altogether at birthdays, anniversaries, and other events. It is, therefore, essential to find a balance between being on a sugar high every day and eliminating sugar from your daily menu entirely. If you have sugar cravings, try healthier alternatives and stick with small servings of sugary treats every day. It is better than avoiding it all week and binge eating all you can get sugar as soon as the weekend arrives. This way, one can enjoy their favorite desserts without worrying about the side effects.

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