5 Reasons To Reduce Consuming Added Sugar?

Added sugars are sugars added to food during preparation or processing and are not naturally present in the food. Some foods contain sugar naturally such as fruits, milk, and vegetables. Some foods do not naturally contain sugar but have a lot of sugar added in the form of syrups, hydrolyzed starch, artificial sweeteners, glucose, or table sugar. Sodas, flavored yogurt, cereals, cookies, candies, donuts, cobblers, ice cream, ketchup, spreads, and sweetened beverages are among such foods.

Every time you consume added sugars, they contribute calories but not nutrition. What do you think about reducing added sugar in your diet and adopting healthy eating? Do you think you won’t be able to enjoy your food without added sugars?

It is possible to enjoy food despite limiting the consumption of added sugars. Choosing a healthy eating pattern has several health benefits and it need not be boring. Did you know that one serving of flavored yogurt gives 72 calories of added sugar?

Why Avoid Added Sugar?

• There is a range of negative health effects caused by consuming excessive sugar. Obesity, diabetes, tooth cavities, heart disease, acne, inflammation, and fatty liver disease are among such health issues.
• Cutting down on sugar can help you reduce weight, prevent tooth decay, and reduce spikes in blood sugar levels. Checking food labels is the easiest way to know if food products have excessive amounts of sugar. Many low-fat foods are loaded with added sugar. Avoid such products by reading the label before buying them.
• Regular consumption of food loaded with sugar can disrupt your sleep at night or cause you to doze off at work, as there can be energy spikes and crashes. This results in poor sleep quality and fatigue, which can impair your ability to think and affect your memory.
• Too much of refined sugar consumed often can negatively affect your mood by altering the gut microbiome and can worsen anxiety. This can increase the feelings of depression in the long run. It affects your ability to cope with stress and negatively impacts your mental health.
• It can cause dehydration of the skin, as sugar directly affects our skin, and can cause early aging of the skin. Reducing the consumption of excess sugar early in life keeps your skin from suffering and helps you stay healthy as you grow older.

How to reduce added sugar consumption?

Snacks contribute a significant amount of added sugars. Common sugary snacks people opt for during break time are baked goods, cereal bars, pastries, doughnuts, candy bars, and flavored yogurt. The next time you choose them, have a look at the nutrition label and know the amount of added sugar they contain. Planning ahead and choosing homemade snacks helps you snack smarter and avoid the hidden sugar in commercial snacks.

Sugar is disguised in many names on the nutrition labels of food products. A few of those names are glucose, fructose, sucrose, hydrolyzed starch, corn syrup, molasses, dextrose, corn sweetener, cane sugar, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maple syrup, raw sugar, and agave nectar. Be smart with your choice of food and take small steps that will help you to gradually cut off excess sugar consumption and regain your health.

Small and healthy changes in your eating pattern such as choosing fruit over dessert, and choosing plain yogurt with chopped fruits instead of flavored yogurt, help you to minimize added sugar.

Are you interested in cutting off excess sugar from your diet? What steps will you take toward this goal?

Here are some healthy sweet foods with no added sugar to satisfy your cravings for sweets without compromising healthy eating.