Excess sugar in your diet can wreak havoc on your health if it is not brought under control. Creating an eating plan that minimizes sugar content and emphasizes whole, healthy foods is a key element to optimum health. Consult your physician to help you design a new eating plan, especially if you suffer from diabetes or related illness.
Foods to Eat
When you are constructing a low sugar meal plan, you should do more than simply avoid foods with obviously high sugar contents. Opt for foods that are higher in fiber so they will digest more slowly and not cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. Healthy, high-fiber foods include vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. Lean meats and fish and healthy fats such as canola oil and olive oil will also keep your blood sugar levels in check.
Foods to Avoid
Avoiding foods like cake, cookies, candy and soda is the first step to creating a healthy low sugar plan. Once you get past the obvious culprits, look to foods like white bread, cereals, white pasta and starchy foods like mashed potatoes and white rice. These foods can have a negative effect on your blood sugar. To stay on the healthy side, you should also stay away from the saturated fat and trans fats found in fatty red meat, many baked goods and margarine.
Benefits
The benefits of organizing your diet into a healthy, low sugar plan can be profound. Consuming less sugar and more fiber will keep your blood sugar levels stable and help you avoid problems with diabetes. It will help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid other problems with being overweight like joint pain, heart disease and stroke.
Other Factors
Eating a low sugar diet is an effective way to improve your health, but other factors also come into play. Regular exercise also plays a role, as does the frequency that you consume your meals. Exercise helps control blood sugar levels naturally, says the National Diabetic Information Clearinghouse. For healthy people, 30 minutes of exercise several times per week is a desirable goal. Try walking, jogging, swimming, resistance training or biking. If you have diabetes or any other condition, talk to your doctor before incorporating exercise into your routine. Also, don't go too long between meals as blood sugar levels could drop.
Considerations
If you have trouble trying to think of low sugar meal plans, you can follow the glycemic index for a list of foods to include. The glycemic index helps you by rating foods on their ability to raise your blood sugar levels. Foods that have a rating of 55 and lower are generally considered "low glycemic" and should be included in a low sugar meal plan.
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