Sugar can be hard to reduce in your diet.
It's literally everywhere and sugar cravings can be
be really difficult to manage.
I know because I used to be a sugar addict.
In this video I'm going to share my top ten tips to reduce
sugar in your diet without going crazy.
If you're interested, keep watching.
Hi guys! welcome back to THE WHOLE HAPPY LIFE.
My name is Ria
and I'm a holistic nutritionist with an applied science background.
Today's topic is sugar
and how to reduce it in your diet.
I'm going to give you practical tips
to reduce the sugar.
These are things that I
have learned from my own experience because I was a sugar addict at
one point and these are also things that I have learned
from my clients' experiences.
So I hope these things
work for you.
Now before we dive in I need to mention two things.
First is this video is talking about tackling added sugar -
not natural sugar in whole foods.
So I'm talking about reducing sugar in things like
breakfast cereals, processed foods, snacks, candies.
I'm not talking about reducing your sugar
in things like tomatoes, carrots,
apples, oranges.
I think sugar in natural foods
is not a problem because they have fibre
and they have a lot of the vitamins and minerals intact.
The problem really is added sugar.
Now how
much added sugar should you have per day ? What is the limit?
Well the World Health Organization actually has a limit.
So their limit is 50 g per day.
They recommend staying below that.
To put that into perspective,
that's not a lot.
If you were to have a can of soda, you would have roughly 40 g.
So that doesn't leave you much room for more sugar.
Now if
you're looking for maximum health benefits,
the recommendation is below 25 g per day.
Now that you know the details and the background,
let's dive into the tips.
Number 1: read the labels on all
of your processed foods.
So I'm not really a big fan
of eating processed foods.
I try
to stick to whole foods, but sometimes you gotta eat
the processed foods.
How can you tell
if you're having too much sugar or not.
Learn
to read the labels.
On the ingredient list, all the ingredients
that were used to make the food are listed.
The first ingredient
is typically the one that is used the most and the last
ingredient is the one that is used in the least quantity.
So look through the ingredient list and try to look
for words that signify sugar.
Now the
the problem is sugar actually has 60 different names!
I don't know all of them and I don't expect you to know all of them.
I have them in the description box below.
The most common words you want to look for are sugar - obviously.
And syrup - so brown rice syrup..malt syrup.
Then you have high fructose corn syrup.
So look for the word syrup and also look for words
that end with -OSE.
ose.
Glucose, fructose, dextrose.
Those are all sugars, so try to avoid foods
that have a lot of sugars in them.
Number 2: eat more whole foods.
Whole foods are foods
that are in their natural form.
So for example,
fruits, vegetables, legumes,
whole grains, nuts, seeds, that sort of thing.
When you eat whole foods, there are no added sugars.
It's not processed, no one added sugar to it.
So if you have a diet that is primarily whole foods
you automatically reduce the amount of sugar in your diet.
Number 3: try not to drink your calories.
One of the
easiest ways to have too much sugar is to drink it.
Because it doesn't feel like we're getting that much.
And it's just very easy to overdo.
So whenever I am drinking something, I am very mindful
of the amount of sugar in it.
I try to ask for unsweetened
beverages whenever I am going to a cafe
whenever I go to
a cafe.
If I'm getting an iced tea or an iced coffee, I try to get it unsweetened.
And if you're going for bottled beverages, refer to point 1, which was to read the label.
So try not to drink all of your calories in the form of sugar.
Number 4: don't get carried away with the natural sweeteners.
And I really wish someone had told me this.
When I transitioned from a high sugar diet to a low sugar diet, I went from using white
sugar to using things like coconut sugar, maple syrup.
I used honey.
I used brown rie syrup.
I used all these natural sweeteners and you know what?
I basically replaced my white sugar addiction with a natural sugar addiction.
I was still addicted to sugar and I still overdid it.
Now I'm not saying you can never have natural sugar.
Just bear in mind that is very concentrated and it isn't as good for your health as having
fresh fruit.
Number 5: eat more protein.
When you don't eat enough protein with every single meal, your blood sugar tends to be
a little bit erratic.
So let's say you have breakfast, it's a sugary breakfast cereal with a little bit of milk.
And you're out the door at around 8 o'clock.
So you've had your breakfast around 7:30.
By the time 10:30 rolls around you're probably going to be hungry.
That's because your breakfast didn't have enough protein and it had too much sugar.
So your blood sugar went up and then you had that dip and during that dip, you have that
sugar craving.
Now if you want to prevent that sugar craving, a good idea is to get enough protein with
every single meal.
So I recommend at least 15-20 grams of protein as a minimum per meal, so you're getting your
protein throughout the day and you're stabilizing your blood sugar levels and you're not going
to have those cravings.
Number 6: eat more fat, this is along the same lines as eat more protein.
So basically when you eat enough fat with all of your meals, you're less likely to have
those sugar cravings because your blood sugar levels are stable and you're fuller for longer.
So I recommend that you eat fats from whole foods sources, not from things like oil.
Because when you have fat from whole food sources, you're actually getting all of the
nutrition.
So let me give you an example.
Let's say you were to compare avocado oil to avocados.
Avocado oil is just a pure fat - there is nothing in there by fat.
But avocados have vitamins such as vitamin B, they have the K vitamin, they also have
vitamin E and fibre.
So when you're getting your fat from avocado, actual avocado, not the oil, you're getting
a lot more nutrient bang for your buck.
Try to stick to whole food sources whenever possible for your meals.
So you can have avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut, that sort of thing.
Limit your oils.
Number 7: remove temptation.
Now if you have sugary snacks lying in your cupboard, you're more likely to eat them.
It's because they are right there.
You're not going to have sugary snacks if they are not in your home.
So it's sort of like an out of sight, out of mind situation.
It's very unlikely that you're going to get dressed, get in your car and go to the grocery
store when that sugar craving strikes.
This leads me to my next point - number 8.
Just because you can't have the sugary snacks, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself.
So I recommend keeping some low sugar snacks around at home.
You can keep freshly cut fruit in your fridge if that helps, but sometimes you want something
a little extra.
So one simple thing that you could do is frozen grapes.
So grapes are naturally very sweet and once you freeze them, they take on a very different
texture and they become a little bit more enjoyable.
Now frozen grapes is one thing.
The second thing I like to do is frozen bananas.
You can actually make frozen banana popsicles.
So take a ripe banana, peel it, put a popsicle stick in it if you have one, you don't have
to use a popsicle stick.
Put it in the freezer for 24 hours or until it completely hardens.
And the next day when you have that sugar craving, you can actually take that frozen
banana, dip it in a little bit of melted dark chocolate, put some shredded coconut on top
and you have a frozen banana popsicle.
It's got fruit, it's got healthy fat from the coconut and it's got dark chocolate.
You cant go wrong with that.
Another example is apple nachos.
I'm not going to tell you exactly how to make it here as this video will become too long,
but I will put a link in the description box below.
Number 9: don't use sugar as a way to relieve stress.
Now when I was in engineering, I used to have a lot of sugar.
I was very stressed out and sugar was the first thing I reached for as form of stress
relief.
Now sugar does lower your stress, however it's a short term solution, it's not a long
term solution.
I have realized over the years that the best way to manage your stress, is not through
food, it's not through sugar, it's through other avenues.
Things like meditation, yoga, going for a walk in the park, having a bubble bath, anything
that works for you.
Anything that reduces your stress is a good way to do it.
One of the things I find really helps with stress management is self-care.
I actually have a video on this, I will link it in the description box below.
Number 10: never say never.
The problem with having a black and white approach to sugar is that it doesn't work
long-term.
Life is about finding balance.
Now I'm not saying to have sugar in moderation because I don't think you can have sugar in
moderation.
It is very difficult to stay in the moderation zone.
But having sugar occasionally, when they occasion warrants it is not a problem.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say it's your grandma's 90th birthday and she's baked a cake.
All by herself for her birthday.
Are you gonna say no to that?
I don't think so.
Because that's a special occasion.
That's an occasion that warrants having a piece of cake.
You don't have to have the whole thing - you could share it withe somebody.
But sometimes it's ok to have the sugar, so give yourself that allowance.
Alot of things in life, nutrition included, are about finding balance, so find that balance
that works for you.
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I create videos on health, nutrition, minimalism, lifestyle, that sort of thing.
Anyway, I will see you in the next video.
Bye!