But I don’t eat sugar: 3 simple tips to reduce your sugar intake

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We’ve all heard the terrible stories about sugar causing obesity, diabetes, rotting teeth, and hyperactivity in children. But there are SO many other sequelae that are caused by sugar. I’m not going to get into these here, because that would require a whole other blog post.

To start, here are a few simple tips to help get you started on your crusade to eliminate sugar from your diet:

  1. If it’s packaged, put it back. Most packaged foods have added sugar. Think cereal, cookies, candies, and other packaged foods. These have a TON of added sugar, as well as other fake ingredients that you should stay away from. If you MUST buy packaged foods, make sure you can pronounce the ingredients on the package, look out for sugar as one of the first ingredients (check out this article on different names for sugar: http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Other-Names-Sugar-Appear-Labels-810571), and read the nutrition facts to see how many grams of sugar are in one serving. When you start reading food labels, you will realize just how much sugar is in your favourite packaged items.
  2. Stay away from flavoured foods. Do you really enjoy the taste of strawberry yogurt or apple cinnamon oatmeal? Of course you do. That’s because there is a TON of sugar! You may think you’re taking a step in the right direction by purchasing these �?healthy’ items because the food industry tells us that we are, but take a closer look at the nutrition facts. I’m not telling you to eat plain oatmeal or greek yogurt, because let’s be honest, they taste pretty bland without anything added to them! Instead of purchasing pre-flavoured food items, which notoriously have a ton of added sugar and chemical ingredients, try purchasing the original, plain version and then sweeten and flavour with natural foods like fresh or frozen berries, maple syrup or honey, and some cinnamon. It’s so much better to ADD flavour and know what’s in your food, than to purchase it pre-flavoured.
  3. Stick to water as much as possible for your beverages. I know drinking orange juice for breakfast is a tradition, but if you look at the amount of sugar in the juice you are buying, you will be shocked! Sports recovery drinks, soft drinks, and energy drinks are not only full of artificial colors and flavours, they are packed with sugar. So stick to water as much as possible. You can drink water plain, or add lemon, fruit, or drink it hot as tea or coffee.

What are some other tips that you can recommend to help people cut back on sugar? Share them in the comments.