Sugar helps sweeten your favorite treats, but it's also unhealthy for your diet. A 2000 United States Department of Agriculture report found that an overconsumption of sugar was related to a general overconsumption of calories overall. Fifty-nine percent of sugar eaters who consumed an average of 36.7 teaspoons of sugar per day also consumed more than their recommended daily amount of calories as opposed to 22 percent of other individuals. If you have a serious sweet tooth, perhaps the answer isn't cutting sugar from your diet altogether. Simply understand how to reduce your sugar intake to the recommended amount.
Step 1
Give yourself a daily sugar allowance and use it wisely. The American Heart Association suggests 100 calories per day from sugar for women and 150 for men. To convert the amount of sugar in a food item to calories, multiply the grams of sugar by four, since there are four calories in every gram of sugar. For instance, a food with 10 grams of sugar has 40 calories from sugar.
Step 2
Add natural or calorie-free sweeteners to your coffee and tea. A packet of sugar alternative sweetener is usually under five calories, while one teaspoon of sugar contains approximately 16 calories, according to the American Heart Association. Natural sweeteners, such as stevia, agave nectar and honey, are highly concentrated, so you need less sweetener to flavor your drinks, baked goods and other foods.
Step 3
Eat regularly throughout the day. Sugar cravings often attack when your blood sugar is low during the extended time between meals. That's why you feel drawn to the vending machine in the mid-afternoon. By planning a counterattack against your cravings and bringing healthy, sugar-free snacks to enjoy, you keep your blood sugar stable while avoiding powerful sugar cravings. Vegetables and hummus or air-popped popcorn are excellent choices.
Step 4
Curb your cravings by eating foods that are naturally sweet, such as fresh fruit. This helps you to wean yourself from the taste of sugar without adding to your daily sugar intake. Mango, pineapple and berries taste naturally sweet and indulgent, so you don't feel deprived and tempted to stray.
Step 5
Drink water instead of soda, juice or sports drinks. Sugary drinks are often an unconscious source for sugar, since you may not think about the amount of sugar in a bottle of grape juice. By swapping your regular bottle of juice or afternoon soda for a refillable water bottle, you are likely to save many sugar calories on a daily basis. If you do indulge in a sugary drink, ensure that you calculate the calories and add them to your daily total to avoid overindulging.
References
- American Heart Association; Frequently Asked Questions About Sugar; May 2010
- "Family CIrcle"; 5 Ways to Reduce Sugar Intake; Regina Ragone
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; The CDC Guide to Strategies for Reducing the Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages; March 2010
- "Reader's Digest": Painlessly Lower Your Daily Sugar Intake
- Fit Sugar; How to Reduce Your Sugar and Salt Cravings; June 2011
- USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion; Is Intake of Added Sugars Associated with Diet Quality?; October 2000
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