Tips to Stop Eating Sugar
By Sara Butler
Most people eat too much sugar. Over the course of one day, your sugar intake shouldn't be more than 10 percent of your total calories, which is equal to about 50 grams of sugar for a 2,000-calorie per day diet. But the average American has more in the neighborhood of 75 grams of sugar per day and may not even realize it. That's because sugar is hiding in some pretty inconspicuous places. If you want to cut down on the sugar you eat, then it's time to put a few of these sugar-cutting tips to good use.
Tip No. 1: Know What Added Sugar Is
It's important to fully understand the difference between the sugar that occurs naturally in food and sugar that's been added. Naturally occurring sugar is found in foods such as dairy, fruit, and vegetables. This type of sugar shouldn't concern you because these foods often have other important nutrients and fiber to help slow down how fast your body digests the sugar.
Added sugar, on the other hand, are added during the manufacturing process to foods and is the type of sugar you need to make sure to cut back on. You can find added sugar on the nutrition information panel on the foods you buy. If it's not there, then look on the ingredients list and look for sugar by one of its other names.
Tip No. 2: Know Sugar's Other Names
When you look at the ingredients list of a product, you may not be able to identify the added sugar in food because it's not listed as "added sugar." Instead, you should look for these names on ingredients lists:
- High fructose corn syrup
- Brown rice syrup
- Molasses
- Cane sugar
- Honey
- Agave
- Dried can syrup
- Brown sugar
- Dried cane juice
- Maple syrup
- Fructose, maltose, sucrose - basically any word ending in "-ose"
The closer an ingredient is to the beginning of the list, the more you will find in the product. If you find any of these ingredients at the top of the list, then you probably want to give that food a hard pass to help keep your overall sugar intake down.
Tip No. 3: Dump the Sugar-Sweetened Drinks
One of the largest sources of added sugar in the diet is beverages. Soda, fancy coffee drinks, fruit juice, and even smoothies can have a lot of added sugar. In fact, many of these drinks have so much sugar that you're getting an entire day's worth of sugar in just one serving. So, make sure to cut these out and you'll have a head start on controlling your sugar intake.
Having a fresh, piping hot churro at Disneyland every once in a while isn't going to hurt, but it's a good idea to try to cut back on the amount of sugar you eat every day. Cutting back will only lead to a better health outcome for you!
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Los Angeles, Calif.