Why & How To Stop Eating Sugar

By making better food choices, you can eat less sugar and lose weight without feeling deprived. Our desserts are literally killing us. This is the result of a study reported at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA) in March 2013. The study’s authors attributed 180,000 deaths worldwide each year – 25,000 in the United States alone – to soft drinks. Sodas and fruit drinks are not the only source of our sugar. According to the AHA, the average American consumes 22 to 30 teaspoons of extra sugar each day.

If you’re like most Americans, you eat more sugar than is good for you. But it is entirely possible to eat less sugar without sacrificing more food – if any. Surprisingly, many people who have reduced their sugar intake find that their new eating habits are more enjoyable than their old ones. This guide will tell you why sugar is important, how you can choose smart foods to reduce sugar consumption, and how you can make your life happier without so many sweets.

1. 1. Reduce sugary drinks.

Most of the sweet foods in the American diet come from sweet drinks – soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweet tea, and others (7 trusted sources).

Also, drinks that many people consider healthy, such as smoothies and fruit juices, can still contain surprising amounts of sugar For example, 1 cup (271 grams) of cranberry juice cocktail contains more than 7 teaspoons of sugar (31 grams) (8 reliable sources) Furthermore, your body does not recognize the calories from drinks as it does from food. Drinks absorb calories faster, which can lead to a rapid rise in your blood sugar levels.

Sugar titles

Sugar comes in many forms – including honey, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, and jaggery. You want to limit them all. By and large, all types of sugar have the same effect on your body – with one exception. A study in the January 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at brain imaging scans after people ate one of two simple sugars – fructose or glucose. Researchers have found that fructose, but not glucose, alters blood flow to the parts of the brain that stimulate appetite.

How did we get  here:

This is not an accident. The sugar industry has been campaigning aggressively for decades to blame obesity on fat, not sugar. Fat, after all, causes obesity. In part, the campaign boosted sugar consumption in the United States until people were trying to lose weight. But research is quick to point out that simple carbohydrates, and especially sugar, are not plentiful. 1 problem in the modern diet. Sugar is the driving force behind the epidemic of diabetes and obesity. Fortunately, more people are feeling the effects of diabetes and reducing it.

. Why are we thirsty for sugar?

There are many reasons why we eat sweets.

This hunger can be intense. “Sweet is the first taste humans have ever had,” says Christine Grubstedt, MD. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of the brain’s chemical serotonin. Sugar is a carbohydrate, but carbohydrates also come in other forms, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which contain the fiber and nutrients your body needs.

 Eat whole fat foods.

Low-fat varieties of your favorite foods – such as peanut butter, yogurt, and salad dressings – are everywhere.

If you have been told that fat is bad, it may be natural to look for alternatives to the full fat version – especially when you are trying to lose weight.

However, the disturbing fact is that they usually have more sugar and sometimes more calories than their full-fat counterparts.

For example, 6 ounces (170 grams) of low-fat vanilla yogurt contains 24 grams of sugar and 144 calories (17 reliable sources).

The same amount of whole fat plain yogurt contains only 8 grams of naturally occurring milk sugar and only 104 calories (18 reliable sources).

You will lose weight.

It is clear that whenever you eat a diet rich in sugar you eat more empty calories, and of course, this leads to weight gain. However, more powerful mechanisms are at work when it comes to sugar and weight gain. Consumption of sugar destroys the hormones responsible for maintaining a healthy weight, as well as the hormones that lead to healthy weight loss.

Sugar also affects the part of your brain that controls appetite. Eating too much sugar makes your brain think that it is still hungry when in fact there is no need to keep eating. In addition, sugar can cause brain changes.

 Read the label

Eating less sugar is not as easy as avoiding sweets. You may have noticed that it can hide in unexpected foods like ketchup and granola.

Fortunately, food manufacturers now need to add extra sugar to food labels. You will see the sugars listed in the total carbohydrates on the foods they contain, Alternatively, you can look at the list of ingredients for sugar. The more sugar there is in the list of ingredients, the more sugar there is in the item because the ingredients are listed from the highest quantity to the lowest quantity used in terms of weight.

Break the sugar addiction.

If you are “hooked” on sugar, don’t try to eliminate all sugary foods at once. If you deny yourself a piece of candy or even a piece of cake, you will only want sweets. Instead, eat a healthy diet that includes more satisfying foods – whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy oils, and lean protein. “Keep yourself away from sugar and eat foods that are more slowly digested. They will also help lower your blood sugar and you won’t have spikes and crashes all the time,” says Dr. Hozer. Says Dr. Hozer. Here are some tips to help you break the sugar habit. The problem is not when we eat sweets from time to time, but when we overeat. This is easy to do when sugar is added to many processed foods, including bread, yogurt, juices, and sauces. And Americans eat more of it, with an average of 17 teaspoons of extra sugar per day, according to the American Heart Association, which recommends limiting added sugar to about 6 teaspoons a day for women and 9 teaspoons for men. put it.