Gaby
Many of us love to snack on chocolate bars, candies, cookies, and other treats from time to time. But let’s face it: this kind of eating isn’t healthy, as all these goodies are loaded with added sugar.
On average, people consume about 17 teaspoons of added sugar each day. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends reducing daily added sugar to 12 teaspoons, and eventually to 6 teaspoons.
This strong recommendation comes from numerous studies showing that consuming too much added sugar can lead to a variety of health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart and liver disease, cancer, and even depression.
Giving up excess sugar can be quite challenging, because it hides in many products: from obvious sweets (sodas, pastries, and candies) to items you might not suspect of being packed with sugar (breakfast cereals, bread, yogurt, tomato sauce). Some estimates suggest added sweeteners are found in 74 percent of packaged foods sold in supermarkets. Laura Schmidt, a professor of health policy at the University of California, San Francisco and a lead researcher at SugarScience, highlighted those findings.
So how can we limit our intake of added sugar? Here are five tips from Laura Schmidt.
Cut Out Liquid Sugar
The expert recommends avoiding liquid sugar, starting by cutting out sweetened beverages: sodas, energy drinks, and even nectars that manufacturers sell as juice.
Ms. Schmidt noted that liquid sugar can easily become a habit, leading people to drink unhealthy beverages in large quantities without even realizing it.
Eliminate Temptations at Work
In the workplace, it’s important to cut back on sugary products. Employers should help with this.
For instance, they could replace sweetened drinks with healthy, low- or no-sugar alternatives in the office or on company grounds.
“Clinical trials have shown that when employers stop selling sugary drinks, employees who regularly consumed them lose an average of about two centimeters from their waistlines over 10 months,” Ms. Schmidt pointed out.
Additionally, avoid cookie and candy jars that management provides to employees as perks.
Practice Saying No to Sugar at Home
According to Laura Schmidt, it’s essential to tell all family members that unhealthy sweet products and drinks won’t be kept in plain sight. Everyone in the household should understand that these items should not be eaten in place of main meals. To start, create a “smart plan” together for what will and won’t be kept in the kitchen.
Even if you can’t eliminate sugary junk food and soda right away, this will still be an important step in the right direction.
Manage Cravings
It’s also necessary to devise a plan for coping with the psychological stress that comes from giving up sugar, as reported by CNN.
There are plenty of psychological techniques available online that can help manage sugar cravings, and they’re easy to learn, Ms. Schmidt said. Therapy for sugar withdrawal aims to teach people not to see sweet foods as an emotional escape or reward. Those escapes can shift to other areas: travel, walks, and sports.
Give Sweets Their Proper Place
She advises reserving sweet products for dessert so they don’t infiltrate every part of your diet.
Ms. Schmidt says one way to control sugar intake is to prepare desserts and sweets yourself.
In addition to these recommendations, there’s one crucial tip: carefully read food labels. Look for the line that indicates the amount of added sugar. This will help you keep track of the grams of added sugar you consume throughout the day.
