Do you want less belly fat? Younger-looking skin? Lasting energy? Then you need to kick your sugar habit. Breaking up with the sweet stuff is a daunting task, even for the most strong-willed among us. These days added sugars are hidden in innumerable sneaky places you would never suspect – even salad dressings and barbecue sauce. Natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy are relatively harmless. On the other hand, added sugars can mess with your metabolism, spike insulin levels, and turn those empty calories into belly fat.
Difference between Refined Sugar and Natural Sugar
- Natural sugar is found in fruits as fructose and dairy products as lactose. It provides essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that can neutralize some of the negative aspects of the sugar content. Natural sugar also helps prevent diseases and keeps the body healthy. Refined sugar is also called table sugar or granulated sugar. It is made by processing or refining sugarcane and sugar beets. Granulated sugar, brown sugar, confectioners sugar are all processed or refined sugar.
- Natural sugar takes longer to digest and also helps you feel longer for long. Refined sugar gets broken down easily by our bodies which causes our blood sugar levels to rise. As a result of the quick digestion of refined sugars, we do not feel full for long.
- Refined sugars are always added sugars, however, natural sugars are not always added sugars. A fruit containing natural sugars like glucose and fructose is not an added sugar. Conversely, honey which is a natural sugar is deemed an added sugar when added to foods.
- Natural sugars are found in whole foods which also give your fiber. Whereas added sugars provide no extra nutrition and lead to weight gain and other health problems.
Benefits of Eliminating Added Sugar from Your Diet
- Prevents obesity and helps you lose weight.
- Curtails the risk of type 2 diabetes, as sugar increases the risk of obesity which can cause type 2 diabetes.
- Prevents mood swings, as according to a few studies a high sugar diet can cause abrupt mood shifts.
- Reduces the risk of skin cancer and allows you to have clearer skin. Sugar is believed to cause inflammation in your skin, so the less you eat the clearer skin you will have. Diets high in artificial sugars can cause premature wrinkling, sagging skin, and acne.
- Eating less refined sugar can also improve your overall sleep quality and also reduce the number of times you wake up during the night.
- Sugar can also cause tooth decay and is the primary food source for the bacteria that grow in your mouth. Cutting down on added sugars in drinks and foods can help slow or stop the decay and other more serious infections.
Tips for Cutting Down on Added Sugar
- Always read and compare food labels and choose products with the least amount of added sugars. Added sugars are mentioned in the ingredient list and reading the labels can help you identify types of sugars to avoid. You will find that products like condiments, pasta sauce, salad dressings, breakfast cereals, milk, etc have sugar in their ingredients list.
- Processed snacks labeled as “all-natural” or “organic” may be full of added sugar. As an alternative, snack on fresh fruits, cut veggies, or mixed nuts.
- You can also avoid simple carbohydrates like white rice, white flour, and white pasta. The body breaks down the carbohydrates in these foods into sugar. As a result, this process can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. Replace these simple carbohydrates with whole-grain choices.
- Cut back on the amount of sugar like white and brown sugar, honey, molasses you add to things you regularly eat like cereals, pancakes, coffee, or tea.
- Avoid sugar-sweetened drinks like soda, sweetened teas, fruit juices, etc. Swap them with water, unsweetened herbal teas, or coffee without sugar to stay hydrated without augmenting their sugar intake. However, if you want something sweet to drink or are trying to lose weight, diet drinks could be a better alternative than sugary drinks.
- Instead of adding sugar to oatmeal and cereals, try fresh fruits like strawberries, bananas, cherries, apples, etc, or dried fruits like apricots, raisins, or cranberries.
- Switch to extracts like vanilla, almond, orange, or lemon for certain recipes which require adding sugar.
- Focus on whole foods, as processed foods are more likely to contain added sugars and refined ingredients. A diet containing whole foods will include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, lean meats, poultry, tofu, fish, nuts and seeds, etc. You can also add a small amount of simple cheeses, plain yogurt, and milk to your diet.
- Another way to compensate for sugar is to add other flavors like spices and sweet-tasting herbs to your food. Some common replacements like cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla can be wonderful additions to yogurt, coffee, and oatmeal.
- Avoid having artificial sugars which intensify your sugar cravings. Look for chemical names of artificial sweeteners on the ingredient list. These chemical names include saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, neotame, acesulfame K or acesulfame potassium.
- Having too much fruit sugar is also not considered good for you. However, as compared to refined sugar, fruit is a better option for regular consumption. Berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries are lowest in natural sugar, whereas the highest is bananas and mangoes. A tip to help slow down the absorption of fruit is to pair your fruit with a protein or a meal.
The Takeaway
Finally, our bodies do not need nor benefit from having added sugar and if you consume excess sugar, it can become harmful to our bodies. Therefore, it is important to keep tabs on how much sugar you are consuming for a healthy lifestyle, more so if you have been diagnosed with diabetes.
So, if you are planning to cut the sugar in your diet or reduce its intake, it should be done gradually. You will have to retrain your palate so that you crave less sugar. Reducing your intake of added sugar is one of the effective ways to live a healthful life or even lose weight.