While sugar has been for centuries, it was always in the form of natural sugar in fruits such as berries. Today the sugar we eat is refined sugar, and this can cause health problems such as arthritis, diabetes, headaches, osteoporosis and depression.
It also prevents your immune system from functioning correctly and, as your body stores refined sugar as fat, if you eat too much you’ll start to pile on the pounds.
As you begin educating yourself on the dangers of too much sugar in your diet and decide to reduce how much you consume, you don’t necessarily need to go cold turkey. You can do a gradual sugar detox, where you start reducing your sugar intake one small step at a time.
Here are 4 tips to help you cut back on your sugar intake.
Free Download: 9 Healthy Things You Can Do To Help You Live LongerHow To Cut Back on Your Sugar Intake
1. Learn the Names of Hidden Sugar
The first step to cutting back on your sugar intake is knowing exactly what types of sugar you need to avoid. This doesn’t mean eating less fruits and vegetables since they contain fructose. Instead, you’re focusing on added sugar, which is found in a lot more foods than you might think.
Start learning the hidden names of sugar in products you purchase, then look for them on labels. Some common ones include:
- Cane sugar
- High fructose corn syrup
- Sucrose
- Molasses
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Brown rice syrup
While some of these aren’t necessarily bad for you in small quantities, they are still considered added sugar.
2. Choose Fresh Fruits and Veggies
Luckily, you can still eat all the fresh produce you want (unless you need to watch your quantities for other reasons). Fructose does exist in all fruits, but it’s natural as long as you are choosing fresh fruits.
You can also look for frozen produce, but check the package to make sure there is absolutely no added sugar. A simple change is to just switch to natural produce and avoid the canned stuff.
3. Reduce Processed and Packaged Food
Another easy way to transition into cutting back on added sugar is to start cooking more at home. The more meals you cook at home from scratch, the less processed and packaged food you’re going to rely on.
Even something as simple as buying a block of cheese to shred yourself instead of the pre-shredded varieties can cut back on sugar and other additives added to keep that cheese fresh. Buy your deli meat from the deli instead of in the package, and cook all your meat and fish fresh, without buying it from the frozen food aisle.
4. Start Finding Sugar-Free Alternatives
You will also want to find alternatives to some of your favorite things, that don’t have added sugars.
For example, if you enjoy flavored drinks, skip the fruit juice and soda since they are loaded with added sugars. Switch to flavored water or sparkling water. Just be careful with some sparkling waters as they might contain aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener.
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You probably already know that the way you choose to live your life has some effect on how long you’ll live. But, believe it or not, we do actually have some degree of control over our life expectancy!
If you want to know exactly where you should be focusing your efforts to live a healthier lifestyle check out my free download Top 9 Things You Can Do For Your Health To Help You Live Longer. The choices you make about your lifestyle don’t mean that you and your loved ones have to live shorter lives.
