Tips for Cutting Back on Your Sugar Intake

As you begin educating yourself on the dangers of too much sugar in your diet and 
decide to reduce how much you consume, you don’t necessarily need to go cold turkey. 
You can do a gradual sugar detox, where you start reducing your sugar intake one 
small step at a time. That is what the following information is going to teach you how to 
do.

Learn the Names of Hidden Sugar

The first step to cutting back on sugar is knowing exactly what types of sugar you need 
to avoid. This does not mean to eat less fruits and vegetables since they contain 
fructose. Instead, you are focusing on added sugar, which is found in a lot more foods 
than you might think. Start learning the hidden names of sugar in products you 
purchase, then looking for them on labels. Some common ones include cane sugar, 
high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, molasses, maple syrup, honey, and brown rice syrup. 
While some of these are not necessarily bad for you in small quantities, they are still 
considered added sugar.

Choose Fresh Fruits and Veggies

Luckily, you can still eat all the fresh produce you want (unless you need to watch your 
quantities for other reasons). Fructose does exist in all fruits, but it is natural as long as 
you are choosing fresh fruits. You can also look for frozen produce, but check the 
package to make sure there is absolutely no added sugar. This is not necessary! A 
simple change is to just switch to natural produce and avoid the canned stuff.

Reduce Processed and Packaged Food

Another easy way to transition into cutting back on added sugar is to start cooking more 
at home. The more meals you cook at home from scratch, the less processed and 
packaged food you are going to rely on. Even something as simple as buying a block of 
cheese to shred it yourself instead of the pre-shredded varieties can cut back on sugar 
and other additives added to keep that cheese fresh. Buy your deli meat from the deli 
instead of in the package, and cook all your meat and fish fresh, without buying it from 
the frozen food aisle.

Start Finding Sugar-Free Alternatives

You will also want to find alternatives to some of your favorite things, that don’t have 
added sugars. For example, if you enjoy flavored drinks, skip the fruit juice and soda 
since they are loaded with added sugars. Switch to flavored water or sparkling water. 
Just be careful with some sparkling waters as they might contain aspartame, which is 
an artificial sweetener.

