Five Steps to Cut Back on Sugar

 

According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes 17 teaspoons of added sugar every day. Note that this is added sugar, not sugar that occurs naturally in food. Compare that with the American Heart Association's recommended limit of 9 teaspoons for men and 6 teaspoons for women. Most people consume far more sugar than they realize. It’s important to be aware of how much sugar you consume because our bodies don’t need sugar to function. Added sugars contribute zero nutrients but many added calories that can lead to extra pounds or even obesity.

The major sources of added sugars are soft drinks and sweetened fruit juices, table sugars, candy, cakes, cookies and pies; dairy desserts and milk products (ice cream, sweetened yogurt and sweetened milk); and processed grains (cinnamon toast and honey-nut waffles). In fact, most processed foods contain a lot of added sugar, including many that you would not suspect.

Here are five tips for cutting down the amount of sugar in your diet from Consumer Reports On Health Newsletter.

1. Find out where you stand.

Most of us are eating too much added sugar but how much are you eating? Take a week and track what you are eating and how much sugar comes with it. Using any of a number of free calorie tracking apps can make this much easier than it used to be. This will show you where most of your sugar is coming from and where you might have an opportunity to cut back.

2. Make reading food labels a habit.

Despite the fact that food labels are deliberately made hard to read and confusing, they are your best source of nutrition information. The labels recently began listing added sugar (over the years long objection and resistance of the food industry) so now it is very easy to find. You may be surprised to find out how much sugar is added to foods you do not usually think of as sweet. Bread, pasta sauces, yogurt, salad dressings, marinades, condiments, baked beans and "energy" bars are all major sources of added sugar. Use labels to choose products with less sugar added.

3. Change what you drink.

Sweetened beverages are the #1 source of added sugar in the Standard American Diet (SAD). We expect a lot of sugar in soda, but other culprits include iced tea, fruit drinks and even your Starbucks coffee. The best move is to gradually replace all sweetened drinks with plain water. But coffee and unsweetened tea are also good, as are many flavored carbonated waters.

4. Buy unsweetened everything.

Instead, just add your own sugar. You would be better off without it, but odds are good that you would be adding a whole lot less than you would get in pre-sweetened products. Its pretty unlikely that you would add the dozen or more teaspoonfuls of sugar that your can of soda did.

5. Revamp your cooking.

Experiment with using less sugar than your recipes call for and see how they taste. Often they will taste fine. You can often cut added sugar by 5% to 25% without even being able to taste the difference. Step down slowly and let your taste adjust. And when you do indulge, make it occasional and know what a portion is.

There are a lot of ways to add sugar to food without tipping you off in the ingredients list. And even if an ingredient comes from a natural source, its still "added sugar" if it is added to a food where it does not naturally occur. So go by the Added Sugar number on the label.