Sonnda’s top 10 tips to eat less sugar
Healthy and unhealthy sugars
Sugar is a type of carbohydrate that is found naturally in many foods, including whole or cut fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products. You don’t need to worry about or cut down on these types of sugar. They’re not bad for your health.
However, you do need to be watchful of your intake of “free sugars” – those that are added to foods and drinks during processing or preparation or liberated from the cellular structure of foods by processing or preparation (full definition of free sugars here).
How much sugar is too much?
Free sugars should make up no more than 5% of your total energy intake (the calories you get from food and drink each day, including alcohol), for all age groups from 2 years upwards.
On average, this is equal to no more than 30g/day for everyone aged 11 and above.
However, UK intakes of free sugars are twice that amount, 10% of energy intake, increasing our risk of:
Tooth decay
Obesity
Type 2 diabetes
Cardiovascular disease.
The sugars to cut down on
The main sources of free sugars in the UK diet are:
Biscuits, cakes, pastries and breakfast cereals
Table sugar, preserves and confectionery (sweets and chocolate)
Soft drinks, fruit juices and sugar added to tea and coffee
Milk and milk products (e.g. yoghurts, desserts, ice cream to name a few).
These are the foods to cut down on to curb your sugar intake – check out my my top 10 tips below to make it an absolute skoosh!
Thinking of optimising your health with your diet?
Sonnda’s top 10 tips to eat less sugar
Treats: Enjoy sugary foods like cakes, biscuits, pastries, sweets, ice cream and desserts as an occasional treat rather than an everyday occurrence.
Breakfast cereals: Ditch sugar-laden breakfast cereals and start the day off with unsweetened wholegrain muesli, granola or porridge topped with a portion of fresh fruit for natural sweetness, getting in one of your 5-A-DAY+ while you’re at it. Naturally low in sugar, berries, sour cherries, kiwi and rhubarb are all great options. Or have a savoury breakfast – a great way to set your blood sugar on track for the rest of the day!
Sugary drinks: Switch out fizzy drinks and squash with tea, coffee, herbal teas (all rich in health-promoting and gut-fuelling polyphenols), milk, unsweetened plant milks (you’ll need to check the ingredients lists of these), or water. Don’t add sugar to tea and coffee and give sugar syrups a bodyswerve at the coffee shop.
Juices and smoothies: Remember that juicing and blending fruit and veg liberates their natural sugars while juicing also removes the fibre, meaning those sugars will jack up your blood sugar levels even more. Limit unsweetened fruit and veg juices and smoothies to no more than 150ml a day; even better, enjoy fruit and veg whole or cut most of the time.
Fruit yoghurt: Replace sweetened fruit yoghurts with full-fat natural yoghurt served with a portion of fresh fruit. Delicious!
Climb the cocoa solids ladder: Upgrade milk chocolate to dark (low in sugar, high in gut-healthy fibre and polyphenols). Start with 70% dark chocolate, gradually working up to ≥85% as your taste buds adjust.
Check nutrition labels: Look at the information on nutrition labels and ingredients lists to help reduce your intake of free sugars. Some food packaging uses the traffic light labelling system on the front of the pack. Red means that the food is high in sugar, amber is medium, and green is low. Opt for foods that are green most of the time. If the food doesn’t have a traffic light, see where sugar appears in the ingredients list. Ingredients are always listed in order from most to least, so the nearer sugar is to the top, the more sugar it contains. Lastly, keep an eye out for hidden sugars – in foods that you wouldn’t expect to contain sugar such as packaged breads and rolls, ready meals, tomato sauces, salad dressings, ketchup and other table sauces. Check food labels and avoid them as often as you can.
Sugar-free sweet treats: Why not try some of my recipes for sugar-free sweet treats? Raw honey, oat and almond flapjack bites and, for all the chocolate fans out there, Flourless salted chocolate mousse cake.
Alcohol: If you like a tipple, choose those that are lower in sugar. Red, dry white and sparkling wines contain less sugar than rose and off-dry or sweet whites. If you like bubbles, ‘Extra Brut’ styles are the driest/lowest sugar option of all wines (they don’t contain ‘le dosage’ – the blend of sugar and wine that’s used to top up the neck of sparkling wine bottles after ageing, balancing out their acidity and giving sweetness). Opt for sugar-free mixers and give alcopops a miss.
When you eat sugar matters: When you do have sweet treats, eat them at the end of a meal rather than at the start or in between meals. This lowers their impact on your blood sugar. Similarly, drinking with or after your meal rather than on an empty stomach helps to attenuate the effect of alcohol on your blood sugar.
Your taste buds and body will adjust
If any of that sounds challenging, keep in mind that as you reduce your sugar intake, your taste buds and body will adjust and you simply won’t get the same urge for sugary foods and drinks.
Your taste buds will perceive sweetness more so that just a little will satisfy. You’ll detect sweetness in foods and drinks that didn’t taste at all sweet to you before. Sugary foods and drinks you used to enjoy will taste too sweet.
After a while, as your blood sugar regulates, you’ll notice that you just don’t reach for sugary foods and drinks as often. Driven by blood sugar highs and lows, your body won’t need the quick fix. When you do indulge, they’ll taste a little weird – excessively, unpleasantly sweet, if you can imagine such a thing – and you might notice that you don’t feel as good afterwards. Not so sharp mentally. Lower in energy or mood. Maybe a bit headachey.
Keep going and you might even think about going added sugar-free. Yes, really!
Sugar-free recipes and related articles
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