Reducing the amount of sugar in your diet will produce immediate weight loss and wellness results, but you need to look beyond the obvious things that look like sugar to find other places sugar is hiding in your diet.
How to decrease the amount of sugar you eat may take some thought and effort once you cut out the obvious things like 64 oz. soft drinks and king size chocolate bars. However, it is worth the effort because sugar is a carbohydrate and the body stores any carbohydrate that we do not burn immediately as fat.
Sugar has found its way into almost all processed foods. It is one of the first ingredients in most commercial cereals and is hidden in other foods through the use of aliases.
It may appear on a label as sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, invert sugar, raw sugar, turbinado sugar, cane sugar, brown rice syrup, honey, maple syrup, and molasses. Corn syrup is also a form of sugar.
Additionally, sugar is found naturally in fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and grains such as wheat, rice, and corn. Any time you add sugar to anything you’re preparing, or any time you buy packaged, boxed, or processed foods, it’s time to reflect on what you’re doing.
Eating a balanced and nutritious diet will crowd out many poor choices that are high in sugar. Be careful with soft drinks, including sodas, juices, and even sports drinks. They are often loaded with sugar. Skip the honey or syrup on your pancakes and waffles and make a topping with Greek yogurt and fruit instead. Desserts are one area where sugar is hard to avoid and will likely require a complete change in your thought process. Moving away from pies, cakes, puddings and custards and experimenting with options that incorporate fresh fruit and grains can eliminate refined sugars and replace them with natural sugars while adding healthy fiber to your diet.
Read ‘low-fat’ or ‘fat-free’ food labels. They usually compensate for the lack of fat by adding sugar. Choose whole grains and top with fruit.
Just try to cut back on the sugar you add to things you’re already eating. Go back 25% and test your results. By gradually cutting back you can avoid a family riot!
You can also try Stevia. Even the most militant sugar haters seem to embrace this “artificial” sweetener, which is actually a sugar alcohol.
Sugar use in our food supply has skyrocketed since the 1950s and it will take some effort to get past the obvious sources of sugar, but with a little effort you can discover where it hides and make the changes that will allow you to lower the amount . of sugar you eat.
