Refined sugar contains empty calories without essential vitamins and minerals. For this reason, it is beneficial to limit refined sugar in your diet and substitute it with more nutrient-dense foods. Flour is often fortified with iron and other essential nutrients, and is used in bread, cereals and other baked goods. Because it is the biggest contributor of calories in the American diet, you can limit consumption to decrease overall calorie intake.
Step 1
Remove all refined sugar and refined sugar products from your kitchen. This includes table sugar as well as cookies, cakes, ice cream and other desserts, soda and fruit drinks. It will be easier to follow this diet plan if high-sugar foods are not within your reach. Involving the entire family also makes following the diet simpler.
Step 2
Remove all flour from your kitchen. This includes all-purpose or self-rising flour and any other flour, as well as pancake or muffin mixes. Foods containing flour include bread, baked foods and pastas. These foods can be replaced by other grains to continue getting the benefits of the essential vitamins and minerals that grains contain.
Step 3
Replace refined sugar with other products. Table sugar can easily be replaced by a sugar substitute or unrefined or raw sugar. Raw sugar is not legal in the United States, but some grocery stores will sell turbinado sugar, which is natural brown sugar with minimal processing to meet U.S. standards. Other options to satisfy your sweet tooth include fruits and 100 percent fruit juices.
Step 4
Replace flour and flour products with other grains. Rice, cornmeal and oatmeal are common grain replacements. Less common replacements include popcorn and quinoa. Experiment with these different grains to find your preferences.
Step 5
Substitute refined sugar and flour in your diet by eating more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy. Vegetables contain fiber, which provides satiety as well as other health benefits. Some vegetables, such as carrots and red peppers, are sweet and might help while eliminating refined sugar from the diet. Low-fat dairy products include skim milk, 1 percent milk, low-fat yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese. These foods are high in protein and also provide satiety.
Step 6
Cheat on your diet plan once in a while. Restricting yourself too much might eventually lead to binges on sugar and flour products. Moderation and variety in the diet is always recommended.
Things You'll Need
- Sugar substitutes
- Fruit
- Grains
- Vegetables
References
- USDA MyPyramid
- Understanding Nutrition, Tenth Edition; Ellie Whitney & Sharon Rady Rolfes; 2005.
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