We’re not here to tell you to completely cut out sugar from your diet. A sweet treat every now and then is not going to “ruin” your health. (Yay!)
But eating too much sugar has some pretty harmful health effects on the body, so we do want to limit added sugars to be only an occasional part of our diet (aka a treat!) rather than a many-times-a-day common occurrence.
So how much sugar is too much sugar? Generally, we should aim for no more than 100-150 calories per day from added sugar. If you’re looking at a nutrition label, that’s about 24-36 grams of sugar.
Meeting this goal might require a little cutting back. Here are a few tips for eating less sugar in your daily life:
How to eat less sugar in your daily life
Read the nutritional label:
Even if you think there’s no way there could be sugar in a certain food… chances are, there is. More and more companies are using added sugars to give processed foods flavor. Always check the nutrition facts to see how much sugar is in a product. The results may be surprising!
Skip the drink:
Soft drinks and juices are huge sources of sugar. Explore your other lower-sugar options for your drink of choice. Obviously, water is a great pick. Squeeze in some lemon or lime for a little extra flavor, or try a healthy infused water recipe (these come with extra health benefits too!).
Stay hydrated:
Another reason to stay well hydrated is that mild dehydration can fool you into thinking you’re hungry and need a sweet pick-me-up. Regularly drinking water throughout the day can keep your hydration up and sugar cravings down.
Eat whole foods:
Most processed foods contain added or hidden sugars. You can easily skip these by eating whole foods that aren’t refined or processed.
Make your own snacks:
Even manufactured snacks that are marketed as healthy usually have added or hidden sugars. Creating your own mix of snacks using fresh fruit, nuts, biltong, and eggs can help keep added sugars out of your diet.
Tweak your recipes:
Baking a cake? Swap out the cup of sugar for natural sweeteners. Many natural sweeteners contain baking conversion rates on their packaging. (Sweet!)
Let treats be treats:
The very premise of a sweet treat (a slice of cake, a cookie, a bowl of ice cream) is that it is a treat—something you don’t eat all the time. Not only is that much better for your health, but many people who reduce their sugar intake report enjoying treats more when they have them less frequently. Because they’re special, they stand out to our dopamine receptors as being more special too.
For more visit: fourwellness.co
