The idea of a life without sweets may seem hard to swallow, but trimming sugar from your menu doesn't have to mean suffering with a bland cuisine. Whether you're trying to lose weight, manage diabetes or simply improve your health, a sugar-free diet can offer a host of benefits while still embracing tasty, good-for-you foods.
Features
A sugar-free diet excludes foods containing added sugar, such as cookies, pie, candy, cake, non-diet soft drinks, sweetened dairy products, sweetened fruit juice and some grain-based foods such as cinnamon buns and sweetened breakfast cereals. Most sugar-free diet plans allow foods with naturally occurring sugar such as fruit, and may also permit artificial sweeteners in place of sugar.
Effects
Because sugar is calorie dense, removing it from your diet may result in a lower energy intake, resulting in weight loss or assisting with weight maintenance. Although a completely sugar-free diet is not necessary for diabetics, minimizing sugar-rich foods and replacing them with healthier carbohydrate sources can help improve blood glucose levels, Help Guide notes. This may also be helpful for non-diabetics who want to avoid the energy crashes that often follow sugary meals or snacks. Avoiding added sugar may also help you shift your taste preferences to healthier fare and gradually minimize the appeal of super-sweet items.
Benefits
Foods high in sugar often displace healthier items and provide ample calories without delivering vitamins, minerals or fiber. As the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center explains, limiting your intake of sugar can force you to consume more nutritious items, helping you improve the quality of your diet. Due to the tendency for sugar-free diets to assist in weight loss, limiting sugar may also help you avoid weight-related diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Considerations
As the Harvard School of Public Health explains, sugar can masquerade under a variety of different names on ingredients labels. The words cane crystals, cane sugar, agave nectar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, brown sugar, fructose, dextrose, glucose, fruit juice concentrates, evaporated cane juice, crystalline fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, honey, maltose, lactose, malt syrup, raw sugar, sucrose and syrup all indicate the presence of added sugar. Sugar-free diets may require eschewing foods containing these ingredients.
Warning
Consult your doctor before making significant changes to your diet or following highly restrictive eating plans. Although curbing your sugar intake may help you improve your diet, not all sugar-free foods are healthy, and eating a variety of foods is still necessary to receive optimum nutrition. If you are diabetic, follow your physician's guidance, rather than attempting to control your condition through diet alone.
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