Did you know that sugar has a negative effect on your overall health? Most foods contain a certain amount of sugar, however, natural sugar is considering to be better for you than refinery sugar. Over consuming refinery sugar can lead to many chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity and heart disease in the long-term.
Therefore, if you find yourself are consuming quite a lot of sugar, here are a few tips to cut down your daily sugar intake for better health.
But first, let’s identify some foods that contain sugars and try to take these sugary foods off your shopping list.
The most common foods that are high in sugar are sweetened beverages and pastries (soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, cookies, chocolate, candy, ice cream and pies)
But there are also many seemingly “healthy” foods out there could contain a significant amount of added sugar. For example, bread, cereals, flavoured yogurts, dairy milk, fruit juices and dried fruits.
So what can we do to reduce the amount of daily intake sugar
Preparing all of your own meals – when you cook your own meals, you can be in control of the ingredients in your food, therefore you can try to choose foods that contain less sugar (vegetables, fruits and unsweetened dairy).
Check the ingredient list – another tip can be helpful is besides checking the total grams of sugar on the nutrition facts, you should also notice about the ingredient lists of the foods, many types of sugar will be added to this list (honey, syrup, maltose, etc). Therefore, food with short ingredient list and less added sugar will be better.
Eat fresh fruit – we all know the more natural foods are, the better they are for you. Fruits are delicious, naturally sweet and full of vitamins. Moreover, when you eat fruit whole, the body absorbs the sugar more slowly because you’re consuming fiber at the same time.
Cutting sugar filled drinks – beside energy drinks, sports drinks and soft drinks, smoothies and fruit juices also contain a lot of sugar. So try to cut down these types of drinks and replaced by lower sugar drinks such as tea, water and coffee or having them without added sugar
It’s not easy to always be conscious about your foods, but you are what you eat, start with the awareness, then move on to eliminate bad eating habits and bad foods in your daily life, soon enough you will see the result. you are not only feel better, but also look better and healthier.