How to Reduce Sugar Intake

10 Tips for How to Reduce Sugar Intake

How to reduce sugar intake is something on many people’s minds. These ten tips can help you reduce the sugar in your diet and make healthier choices.

1. Limit processed and packaged foods. Salad dressings, soups, sauces, and even bread contain high amounts of processed sugar.
2. Sweeten naturally. Eating foods that are naturally sweet is a great habit for how to reduce sugar intake. It will help cut down on the amount of added processed sugar you consume.
3. Avoid liquid sugar. Coffee, soda, tea, energy drinks, and even many smoothies or juice drinks contain a lot of added sugar. Look for 100% fruit smoothies and juice and add your own sugar to your tea or coffee using cubes or packets. If using cream, use half-and-half rather than the sweetened, flavored coffee creamers.
4. Quality over quantity. For how to reduce sugar intake try eating good chocolate. Rather than buying a 2 lb bag of cheap candy, treat yourself to a rich dark chocolate truffle that you really enjoy. You will get more satisfaction from the one quality sweet than you will from the entire bag of the cheaper candy.
5. Pack your own snacks. Keeping a few treats like almonds or dried fruit with you will reduce the urge to snack on candy at worksites, offices, or businesses.
6. Read labels. If sugar (or a form of sugar) is listed in the first five ingredients, make a different choice.
7. Start and end wisely. Avoid high-sugar/fat foods at breakfast and end your meals with a piece of fruit.
8. Water not syrup. When buying canned fruit and veggies, choose ones that are canned in water or natural juices rather than sugar heavy syrups.
9. Reduce in recipes. Try halving the amount of sugar used in most recipes or substituting a natural sugar instead of refined sugar.
10. Cut down slowly. Don’t try to cut out sugar cold turkey. Start by reducing the amounts you eat little by little and you will be much more successful.

Learn about the side effects of excess sugar from Dr. Bill Sears.