Two simple and effective ways to reduce sugar consumption are to not add sugar to coffee, juice or milk, and substitute refined foods for their whole versions, such as bread, for example.
In addition, to limit sugar consumption it is also important to decrease the consumption of processed foods and read the labels to identify the amount of sugar in each food.
1. Reduce sugar slowly
The sweet taste is addictive, and to suit the palate accustomed to the sweet taste it is necessary to gradually reduce the sugar in the food until you can get used to the natural flavor of the food, no longer needing to use sugars or sweeteners.
So if you usually put 2 tablespoons of white sugar in the coffee or milk, add only 1 spoon, preferably brown sugar or demerara. After two weeks, exchange the sugar for a few drops of Stévia, which is a natural sweetener. See 10 other natural sweeteners that can be used to replace sugar.
2. Do not add sugar to drinks
The next step is to not add sugar or sweetener in coffee, tea, milk or juice. Gradually, the palate is getting used to it and the sugar is becoming less necessary.
The amount of sugar that can be ingested per day is only 25 g, and 1 tablespoon of sugar already contains 24 g and 1 glass of soda contains 21 g. In addition, sugar is also present in less sweet foods such as breads and cereals, and it is easy to reach its recommended daily limit. See other sugar rich foods.
3. Read the labels
Whenever you buy an industrialized product carefully read your label, noting the amount of sugar it has. However, the industry uses various forms of sugar as an ingredient in its products and may be present on the label with the following names: invert sugar, sucrose, glucose, glucose, fructose, molasses, maltodextrin, dextrose, maltose and corn syrup.
When reading the label, it is also important to remember that the first ingredients on the list are those that are in the highest quantity in the product. So, if the sugar comes first, it is the most commonly used ingredient to make that product. Here are more tips on how to read the food label in this video:
Why it is important to reduce sugar
Excessive sugar consumption is linked to an increased risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high uric acid, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer. See other problems and know why sugar is so bad for health.
Caring for sugar consumption is especially important for children as they are still forming their eating habits and excessive sugar consumption from childhood contributes to the increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease at young ages. See tips for healthy grocery shopping.
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