How can you cut down on sugar?
We keep being told to cut back on sugar because it’s ‘bad for us’, but just how can you cut down on sugar?
Here’s a few key facts do set the record straight:
Sugar will only cause weight gain if it contributes to a calorie excess, but it’s still damaging to teeth and health in excess.
Too much sugar causes spikes and falls in blood sugar which puts extra strain on the body’s own sugar-regulating systems, namely insulin. Over time the body will become less responsive to insulin’s signals and type 2 diabetes occurs.
On a more immediate term, people will feel these blood sugar swings as energy swings, as well as possibly headaches and mood swings, and cravings for more sugar.
What can we do?
Cutting out all sweet foods is unrealistic for most people, but artificial sweeteners have been proven to be very safe in normal amounts, and I’m not against them if it helps people cut back on sugar, for example choosing diet drinks over regular.
There are also more natural sweeteners like Stevia which I like.
Some sugars are found naturally in fruit and dairy – these aren’t the sugars people should be worried about and both these food groups are incredibly nutritious.
Also what constitutes too much sugar is different from person to person – athletes and marathon runners actually may need extra pure sugar for their training and competitions, for example. Most people don’t fall into these categories though.
Some easy ways to cut back include
– switching to sugar free or diet drinks
– swapping chocolate bars for protein bars
– Topping porridge with fruit instead of sugar
– choosing natural yoghurt and adding fruit rather than buying sweetened yoghurts
– buy frozen yoghurt or reduced sugar ice cream
– baking with mashed bananas or apple puree, and reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe
I’ve written some other blogs on sugar, sugar alternatives and ways to cut down here, and here, or give this low sugar jam recipe a try!