It seems as though sugar is in everything these days, from ketchup to salsa to soup. It's in everything, I suppose, because we have come to expect it to be.And it's not just the white stuff we need to worry about. "Refined carbohydrates," such as white bread and white flour products, produce the same reaction in our bodies.Researchers have linked sugar consumption to everything from cavities to wrinkly skin, as well as wide range of much more serious health problems.[]
So far, my search for a sugar-free milk has turned up zilch. Even lactose-free milk still has sugar in it! I may take the advice of those who have an opposition to milk and completely phase it out of my diet during this experiment. I will have to find foods with similar nutritional value with which to replace milk (protein, calcium, vitamins A and D).There are many to choose from. Unfortunately, while the options are plenty, the prices are too expensive for my budget.Most cheeses are usually free of sugar because the sugar has been fermented out of the cheese. There are other forms of sugar-free dairy products available, but it almost certain that sugar-free dairy will contain some form of artificial sweetener. Reading labels will be important. I'm not too fond of artificial sweetners, so I may have to do more research on acceptable kinds of dairy during this experiment.
The World Health Organization recommends reducing your intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of your total caloric intake. That means, if you eat 2,000 calories, you should eat less than 12 teaspoons of sugar each day. The US Department of Agriculture also recommends limiting your consumption of added sugar to between 6 and 12 teaspoons of sugar each day, depending on your daily average caloric intake. (Six teaspoons a day for people who eat 1,600 calories; 12 teaspoons if you eat 2,200 calories each day.) Keep in mind that a single 12-ounce soft drink contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.To find out how much sugar is in some of the items in your cupboards, look for Sugars (measured in grams) on the Nutrition Label. Then divide the number of grams by 4 to get the number of teaspoons. So, 12 grams of sugar is 3 teaspoons of sugar. Sixteen grams of sugar is 4 teaspoons.
How to Break Your Sugar Addiction.So how do you start to reduce your sugar intake? Here are some tips.Try decreasing your intake of added sugar gradually. It can be difficult to suddenly cut all added sugar and refined carbohydrates. Try taking a week-by-week approach. One week, add less sugar to your morning coffee. Next week, replace your afternoon soda with bottled water. The following week, replace white bread with a whole grain alternative. Before long, you will find that the foods (and drinks) you used to love now taste sickeningly sweet. And you will likely find it easier to keep your moods on an even keel, too.
Also look for the types of sugar in the foods that you purchase and limit their consumption. Lactose, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup, are some of the popular forms of carbs that are broken down to sugar and stored as fat.In Part 2 we learned how to control the spikes in our blood sugar by eating our sugary treats with other food.Get rid of the diet soda in our lives. Ouch! I know that one is difficult for some of you to swallow. You are saying: it satisfies my sweet tooth and doesn't' have any calories and doesn't add to my waistline. No way you believe that it is fueling your sugar cravings.
Indulge in moderation. If you are a chocoholic, treat yourself to a square of fine chocolate at the end of a long day. When the chocolate is quality, you won't feel the need to have more and you'll be more apt to take your time and savor it. When you do indulge in a sugary snack, keep it small, eat it slowly, and eat a bit of protein, too, to help moderate those blood sugar spikes and dips.Dilute the fruit juice. If you or kids love fruit juice, try diluting it gradually to the point where you are just adding a splash to the top of water.Become a sugar detective. You can start by knowing the alternate names for added sugars, often found in ingredients lists. These include any ingredient that ends in the suffix "-ose," including sucrose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, polydextrose, maltose, and galactose. Also, look for the following: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, carob syrup, turbinado sugar, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, cane juice, cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, beet sugar, and sorbitol.
Avoid replacing added sugar with artificial sweeteners. Your best bet is to gradually reduce your taste for sweet foods, not to replace them with chemical alternatives. On ingredients lists, look for sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame.Avoid the center of the supermarket as much as possible. That's where most of the processed foods are shelved. Instead, shop the perimeter for healthy, raw foods. If you have young kids, go to the grocery store by yourself. You may be less apt to come home with sugary treats. Plus, you can take more time to examine the labels for hidden sugar. If your kids are grade school age or older, take them along and enlist their help as Sugar Detectives. Give them each a list of hidden sugars and artificial sweeteners and turn it into a game.
Carefully measure how much honey you put in your tea and how much sugar you put in your coffee. Aim to put in a bit less each day or each week until you are drinking it either unsweetened or with just a bit of sugar.Buy items that are not sweetened, and add sugar only if you find that you need to. This will help you wean off the sugar gradually.Steer clear of sugars for breakfast. When you start your day with a sugar blast and crash, you may find yourself in a vicious cycle for the remainder of the day. Start your day with healthy lean protein and complex carbs. Try natural whole-grain breads and cereals for breakfast, along with a lowfat protein, such as skim milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt.
There is hope for stopping your sugar addiction. First, you need to admit to yourself that you have a problem. Something that tastes so good and makes you feel better will make it hard to for you to think there is anything wrong. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking brown sugar or raw sugar is fine to eat. Brown sugar is only made brown because molasses are added to it. It is still regular sugar. Raw sugar is crystalized and refined white sugar. It has a tiny amount of molasses added to it. These kinds of sugars are also unhealthy for your body.
Be careful not to make sugar taboo in your household. With children, especially, when you swear off something completely, you run the risk of creating a mystique around the forbidden food. Instead of running a completely sugar free household, make sure your children understand the effects that sugar can have on their bodies and their moods, and then help them understand the beauty of moderation. Encourage them to eat low fat protein and help them develop a taste for healthy whole grain carbs. Focus on well balanced, nutritious diet, instead of simply swearing off all sugar. Your cravings will slowly and naturally fade once you gain a better understanding of why they are cropping up in the first place.
[How To Break A Sugar Addiction]
So far, my search for a sugar-free milk has turned up zilch. Even lactose-free milk still has sugar in it! I may take the advice of those who have an opposition to milk and completely phase it out of my diet during this experiment. I will have to find foods with similar nutritional value with which to replace milk (protein, calcium, vitamins A and D).There are many to choose from. Unfortunately, while the options are plenty, the prices are too expensive for my budget.Most cheeses are usually free of sugar because the sugar has been fermented out of the cheese. There are other forms of sugar-free dairy products available, but it almost certain that sugar-free dairy will contain some form of artificial sweetener. Reading labels will be important. I'm not too fond of artificial sweetners, so I may have to do more research on acceptable kinds of dairy during this experiment.
The World Health Organization recommends reducing your intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of your total caloric intake. That means, if you eat 2,000 calories, you should eat less than 12 teaspoons of sugar each day. The US Department of Agriculture also recommends limiting your consumption of added sugar to between 6 and 12 teaspoons of sugar each day, depending on your daily average caloric intake. (Six teaspoons a day for people who eat 1,600 calories; 12 teaspoons if you eat 2,200 calories each day.) Keep in mind that a single 12-ounce soft drink contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.To find out how much sugar is in some of the items in your cupboards, look for Sugars (measured in grams) on the Nutrition Label. Then divide the number of grams by 4 to get the number of teaspoons. So, 12 grams of sugar is 3 teaspoons of sugar. Sixteen grams of sugar is 4 teaspoons.
How to Break Your Sugar Addiction.So how do you start to reduce your sugar intake? Here are some tips.Try decreasing your intake of added sugar gradually. It can be difficult to suddenly cut all added sugar and refined carbohydrates. Try taking a week-by-week approach. One week, add less sugar to your morning coffee. Next week, replace your afternoon soda with bottled water. The following week, replace white bread with a whole grain alternative. Before long, you will find that the foods (and drinks) you used to love now taste sickeningly sweet. And you will likely find it easier to keep your moods on an even keel, too.
Also look for the types of sugar in the foods that you purchase and limit their consumption. Lactose, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup, are some of the popular forms of carbs that are broken down to sugar and stored as fat.In Part 2 we learned how to control the spikes in our blood sugar by eating our sugary treats with other food.Get rid of the diet soda in our lives. Ouch! I know that one is difficult for some of you to swallow. You are saying: it satisfies my sweet tooth and doesn't' have any calories and doesn't add to my waistline. No way you believe that it is fueling your sugar cravings.
Indulge in moderation. If you are a chocoholic, treat yourself to a square of fine chocolate at the end of a long day. When the chocolate is quality, you won't feel the need to have more and you'll be more apt to take your time and savor it. When you do indulge in a sugary snack, keep it small, eat it slowly, and eat a bit of protein, too, to help moderate those blood sugar spikes and dips.Dilute the fruit juice. If you or kids love fruit juice, try diluting it gradually to the point where you are just adding a splash to the top of water.Become a sugar detective. You can start by knowing the alternate names for added sugars, often found in ingredients lists. These include any ingredient that ends in the suffix "-ose," including sucrose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, polydextrose, maltose, and galactose. Also, look for the following: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, carob syrup, turbinado sugar, fruit juice concentrate, brown sugar, cane juice, cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, beet sugar, and sorbitol.
Avoid replacing added sugar with artificial sweeteners. Your best bet is to gradually reduce your taste for sweet foods, not to replace them with chemical alternatives. On ingredients lists, look for sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame.Avoid the center of the supermarket as much as possible. That's where most of the processed foods are shelved. Instead, shop the perimeter for healthy, raw foods. If you have young kids, go to the grocery store by yourself. You may be less apt to come home with sugary treats. Plus, you can take more time to examine the labels for hidden sugar. If your kids are grade school age or older, take them along and enlist their help as Sugar Detectives. Give them each a list of hidden sugars and artificial sweeteners and turn it into a game.
Carefully measure how much honey you put in your tea and how much sugar you put in your coffee. Aim to put in a bit less each day or each week until you are drinking it either unsweetened or with just a bit of sugar.Buy items that are not sweetened, and add sugar only if you find that you need to. This will help you wean off the sugar gradually.Steer clear of sugars for breakfast. When you start your day with a sugar blast and crash, you may find yourself in a vicious cycle for the remainder of the day. Start your day with healthy lean protein and complex carbs. Try natural whole-grain breads and cereals for breakfast, along with a lowfat protein, such as skim milk, cottage cheese, or yogurt.
There is hope for stopping your sugar addiction. First, you need to admit to yourself that you have a problem. Something that tastes so good and makes you feel better will make it hard to for you to think there is anything wrong. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking brown sugar or raw sugar is fine to eat. Brown sugar is only made brown because molasses are added to it. It is still regular sugar. Raw sugar is crystalized and refined white sugar. It has a tiny amount of molasses added to it. These kinds of sugars are also unhealthy for your body.
Be careful not to make sugar taboo in your household. With children, especially, when you swear off something completely, you run the risk of creating a mystique around the forbidden food. Instead of running a completely sugar free household, make sure your children understand the effects that sugar can have on their bodies and their moods, and then help them understand the beauty of moderation. Encourage them to eat low fat protein and help them develop a taste for healthy whole grain carbs. Focus on well balanced, nutritious diet, instead of simply swearing off all sugar. Your cravings will slowly and naturally fade once you gain a better understanding of why they are cropping up in the first place.
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