Reduce your own sugar consumption: 10 ways

Those who want to avoid industrial sugar don't have it easy. It's found 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 can be easily integrated 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 control your sugar consumption:

1. Adjust recipes:

In most cases, the amount of sugar in recipes can be reduced by at least ¼ without really tasting it or changing the texture.

2. Whole foods instead of industrial sugar:

Whenever possible, it's a good idea to sweeten our meals with whole foods instead of sugar. For example, you can use mashed bananas in a pancake recipe or pure applesauce instead of syrup for our banana bread when baking. In smoothies or porridge, it's perfectly 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 (assuming they suit the dish, of course). Cinnamon or natural extracts like vanilla, almond, or lemon add flavor to our food without the need for extra sweeteners.

4. Drink water:

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

5. When water alone is not enough:

Especially if you're used to sweetened drinks, water can taste boring. But you can also spice up water without adding tons of sugar. From fresh fruits like raspberries and strawberries to lemon and cucumber, mint and basil—there are plenty of ways to make water taste more interesting.
If you still want to drink fruit juice, you can also dilute it with sparkling water. It tastes like a delicious fruit spritzer.
You can also reduce sugar consumption in cafes by either using less sugar yourself or asking for less sweetening of the drink (z.B. you can ask for less caramel syrup in the coffee).

6. Buy unsweetened products:

This tip may seem obvious, but it's still important. Especially with milk alternatives and yogurt, there are usually versions with little or no added sugar. If you want to add more sugar later, you can at least control how much sweetener you want to add.

7. Dessert cravings:

Especially after dinner, you often feel the urge to snack on something sweet. Fruit is a great way to incorporate this. Whether it's an 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 high amounts of sugar. So, whenever possible, make your own versions.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 you want to use in the end.

9. Reading labels:

This point is probably one of the most important. Even products 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 in "-ose," like lactose, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, etc. So it's always worth at least scanning the label for these ingredients. This helps you make informed purchasing decisions.

10. Changes are noticeable:

Once you've paid attention to your sugar intake or cut it down for a while, sugar cravings usually arise on their own. Because we retrain our taste buds to perceive and appreciate the natural sweetness of foods. You'll be truly surprised when you suddenly realize that you no longer crave sweets and sweetened products as much as before!

Finally, I'd like to point out that everyone's relationship with sugar is different, of course. And everyone knows what's best for their own body. So do what works for you and feels good. And if you have any other tips or suggestions on the topic of sugar, feel free to leave a comment!

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