Pardeep
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Tips For Cutting Down on Sugar
By: Reader's Digest
Ten ways to get rid of the sweet stuff.
America is a country drowning in sugar. In fact, the amount of sugar we eat
and drink every year has soared nearly 30 percent since 1983 and is likely a
major contributor to the soaring rates of overweight and obesity in this
country. Even worse, since sugary foods often replace more healthy foods,
nutrition experts say the influx of sweets indirectly contributes to diseases
like osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer--all of which are directly affected
by what we eat. Although the USDA recommends we get no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a
day, the average American downs about 34 teaspoons--more than three times as
much. In this third chapter on carbohydrates, we show you ways to get your sugar
consumption down to healthy levels. But beware: Uncovering all the sugar in your
diet isn't easy. Sugar often hides under several pseudonyms and turns up in even
the most innocuous foods (like bread, crackers, salad dressing, ketchup, and
mustard). But with the following tips, you should be able to have your cake and
eat it too.
1. Cut down slowly. Forget going cold
turkey. Therein lies failure. Instead, if you normally have two candy bars a
day, cut to one a day. Then next week, one every other day. The following week,
one every three days, until you're down to just one a week. If you normally take
2 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee, use the same routine, cutting down to 11/2
teaspoons for a week, then 1, then 1/2. Eventually, get to the point where
you're using artificial sweetener if you still need the sweet taste. The more
sugar you eat, the more you'll crave. So cutting down slowly is the best way to
tame a sweet tooth gone wild.
2. Go half and half. Mix half a regular soda with half a diet
soda. Half a carton of sweetened yogurt with half a carton of plain
yogurt. Half a cup of regular juice with half a cup of seltzer. Do this for two
weeks, then cut back to one-quarter sweetened to three-quarters unsweetened.
Continue until you're only drinking the unsweetened version.
3. Grant yourself a daily sugar “quota,†and use it on foods
where it matters most. For most of us, that means desserts. Don't waste
it on dressings, spreads, breakfast cereals, and soda. Not only will this reduce
your sugar intake in a day, but it will help you lose your sweet tooth. Sugar is
incredibly addictive: The more you eat, the more addictive it becomes and the
more it takes to satisfy you. The opposite is also true: Train your taste buds
to become accustomed to less and you'll be satisfied with less.
4. Establish rules about dessert. For instance, only have
dessert after dinner, never lunch. Only eat dessert on odd days of the month, or
only on weekends, or only at restaurants. If you have a long tradition of daily
desserts, then make it your rule to have raw fruit at least half the time.
5. Similarly, establish rules about ice cream. A half
gallon of ice cream in the freezer is temptation defined. A rule we recommend:
No ice cream kept at home. Ice cream should always be a treat worth traveling
for.
6. Instead of downing sugary-sweet drinks like lemonade, make your
own “sun tea.†Steep decaffeinated tea bags in water and set the
pitcher in the sun for a couple of hours. Add lemon, lots of ice and sugar
substitute for a carb-free summer quaff.
7. Buy dietetic condiments at the grocery store. Given
that 1 tablespoon ketchup can contain about 1/2 teaspoon sugar, buying
sugar-free condiments can make a big dent in your sugar consumption. Most
condiments and other packaged foods for people with diabetes are made without
sugar or with sugar substitutes.
8. Remember these code words found on ingredient lists. The only way to know if the processed food you're buying contains sugar
is to know its many aliases or other forms. Here are the common ones: brown
sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate,
high-fructose corn syrup, galactose, glucose, honey, hydrogenated starch, invert
sugar maltose, lactose, mannitol, maple syrup, molasses, polyols, raw sugar,
sorghum, sucrose, sorbitol, turbinado sugar, and xylitol.
9. Look
for hidden sources of sugar. Cough syrups, chewing gum, mints, tomato
sauce, baked beans, and lunch meats often contain sugar. Even some prescription
medications contain sugar. For a week, be particularly vigilant and scan every
possible food label. You likely won't forget what you'll find.
10. If you must eat sweets, eat them with meals. The other
foods will help increase salivary flow, thus clearing the sugary foods from your
mouth faster and helping prevent cavities. Of course, this does nothing for the
calories you're imbibing and won't affect your weight, but at least you'll have
a healthier mouth.
By: Reader's Digest
Ten ways to get rid of the sweet stuff.
America is a country drowning in sugar. In fact, the amount of sugar we eat
and drink every year has soared nearly 30 percent since 1983 and is likely a
major contributor to the soaring rates of overweight and obesity in this
country. Even worse, since sugary foods often replace more healthy foods,
nutrition experts say the influx of sweets indirectly contributes to diseases
like osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer--all of which are directly affected
by what we eat. Although the USDA recommends we get no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a
day, the average American downs about 34 teaspoons--more than three times as
much. In this third chapter on carbohydrates, we show you ways to get your sugar
consumption down to healthy levels. But beware: Uncovering all the sugar in your
diet isn't easy. Sugar often hides under several pseudonyms and turns up in even
the most innocuous foods (like bread, crackers, salad dressing, ketchup, and
mustard). But with the following tips, you should be able to have your cake and
eat it too.
1. Cut down slowly. Forget going cold
turkey. Therein lies failure. Instead, if you normally have two candy bars a
day, cut to one a day. Then next week, one every other day. The following week,
one every three days, until you're down to just one a week. If you normally take
2 teaspoons of sugar in your coffee, use the same routine, cutting down to 11/2
teaspoons for a week, then 1, then 1/2. Eventually, get to the point where
you're using artificial sweetener if you still need the sweet taste. The more
sugar you eat, the more you'll crave. So cutting down slowly is the best way to
tame a sweet tooth gone wild.
2. Go half and half. Mix half a regular soda with half a diet
soda. Half a carton of sweetened yogurt with half a carton of plain
yogurt. Half a cup of regular juice with half a cup of seltzer. Do this for two
weeks, then cut back to one-quarter sweetened to three-quarters unsweetened.
Continue until you're only drinking the unsweetened version.
3. Grant yourself a daily sugar “quota,†and use it on foods
where it matters most. For most of us, that means desserts. Don't waste
it on dressings, spreads, breakfast cereals, and soda. Not only will this reduce
your sugar intake in a day, but it will help you lose your sweet tooth. Sugar is
incredibly addictive: The more you eat, the more addictive it becomes and the
more it takes to satisfy you. The opposite is also true: Train your taste buds
to become accustomed to less and you'll be satisfied with less.
4. Establish rules about dessert. For instance, only have
dessert after dinner, never lunch. Only eat dessert on odd days of the month, or
only on weekends, or only at restaurants. If you have a long tradition of daily
desserts, then make it your rule to have raw fruit at least half the time.
5. Similarly, establish rules about ice cream. A half
gallon of ice cream in the freezer is temptation defined. A rule we recommend:
No ice cream kept at home. Ice cream should always be a treat worth traveling
for.
6. Instead of downing sugary-sweet drinks like lemonade, make your
own “sun tea.†Steep decaffeinated tea bags in water and set the
pitcher in the sun for a couple of hours. Add lemon, lots of ice and sugar
substitute for a carb-free summer quaff.
7. Buy dietetic condiments at the grocery store. Given
that 1 tablespoon ketchup can contain about 1/2 teaspoon sugar, buying
sugar-free condiments can make a big dent in your sugar consumption. Most
condiments and other packaged foods for people with diabetes are made without
sugar or with sugar substitutes.
8. Remember these code words found on ingredient lists. The only way to know if the processed food you're buying contains sugar
is to know its many aliases or other forms. Here are the common ones: brown
sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate,
high-fructose corn syrup, galactose, glucose, honey, hydrogenated starch, invert
sugar maltose, lactose, mannitol, maple syrup, molasses, polyols, raw sugar,
sorghum, sucrose, sorbitol, turbinado sugar, and xylitol.
9. Look
for hidden sources of sugar. Cough syrups, chewing gum, mints, tomato
sauce, baked beans, and lunch meats often contain sugar. Even some prescription
medications contain sugar. For a week, be particularly vigilant and scan every
possible food label. You likely won't forget what you'll find.
10. If you must eat sweets, eat them with meals. The other
foods will help increase salivary flow, thus clearing the sugary foods from your
mouth faster and helping prevent cavities. Of course, this does nothing for the
calories you're imbibing and won't affect your weight, but at least you'll have
a healthier mouth.
