Reduce your own sugar consumption: 10 ways

If you want to do without industrial sugar, it's not that easy. Because it is contained in countless products and processed foods. Nevertheless, there are a few tips and tricks that make it easier to adjust or reduce your sugar consumption. Most of these options are easy to implement and easy to integrate into everyday life.

By the way, you can find out how sugar works and whether it is really as bad as everyone says in one of my other blog articles

Let's get started!

10 ways to get your sugar consumption under control:

1. Adjust recipes:

You can usually reduce the amount of sugar in recipes by at least ¼ without really tasting it or changing the texture.

2. Whole foods instead of processed sugar:

Whenever possible, it is a good idea to sweeten our meals with whole foods instead of sugar. For example, you can use mashed bananas in the pancake recipe or use pure applesauce in baking instead of syrup for our banana bread. In smoothies or porridge, it is sufficient to use the natural sweetness of fruit instead of syrup, fruit juice or sweetened milk.

3. Spices, spices, spices:

Sugar can also be easily substituted with spices (as long as it goes with the dish, of course). Cinnamon or natural extracts such as vanilla, almond or lemon give our food flavor without the need for extra sweeteners.

4. Drink water:

We often confuse a strong craving for sugar with thirst. So when we feel like eating something sweet, it's often enough to drink a glass of water first.

5. When water alone is not enough:

Water can taste boring, especially if you're used to drinking sweetened beverages. But you can also spice up water without having to pour tons of sugar into it. From fresh fruits like raspberries and strawberries to lemon and cucumber to mint or basil, there are many ways to make water taste more interesting.
If you still want to drink fruit juice, you can dilute it with sparkling water. And it tastes like delicious fruit spritzer.
You can also reduce sugar consumption in cafes by either using less sugar yourself or asking to sweeten the drink less (e.g. you can ask to put less caramel syrup in your coffee).

6. Buy unsweetened products:

This tip may seem obvious, but it's still important. Especially when it comes to milk alternatives and yoghurt, there are usually versions with little or no added sugar. If you want to sweeten it later, you can at least decide how much sweetener should be added.

7. Dessert cravings:

Especially after dinner, you often feel the urge to snack on something sweet. Fruit is great to incorporate here. Whether apple with nut butter, chocolate-covered fruit or frozen grapes with yogurt. There are many ways to incorporate fruit into dessert.

8. Do it yourself:

Ready-made sauces, salad dressings and spreads almost always contain large amounts of sugar. Whenever possible, you should make your own variants. This is often not as time-consuming and complicated as you might initially think, and you can decide for yourself how much sugar or sweetener there is in the end.

9. Read labels:

This point is probably one of the most important. Even products that you wouldn't necessarily expect often contain sugar. And it's not always called "sugar", but has many names: fructose-glucose syrup, caramel syrup, treacle, dextrin and all the words that end with "-ose" like lactose, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, etc. It It's always worth at least scanning the label for these ingredients. This helps you make conscious purchasing decisions.

10. Changes become noticeable:

If you have watched your sugar consumption for a while or cut it down, sugar cravings usually arise on their own. Because we train our taste buds to perceive and recognize the natural sweetness of food. You're really surprised when you suddenly realize that you no longer crave sweets and sweetened products like you did before!

To conclude, I would like to point out that every person naturally has a different relationship with sugar. And everyone knows what is best for their own body. So do what suits you and feels good. And if you have any further tips or suggestions on the topic of sugar, feel free to leave a comment! 

If you want to learn more about healthy eating, mindfulness or sustainability, check out more exciting blog articles on these topics here .

PHOTO BY CLAUDIA CRESPO ON UNSPLASH