Not ready to quit sugar? Why not try these 5 easy ways to eat less.

While the jury is out on whether we should all completely quit sugar, the benefits of reducing our consumption of the sweet stuff are innumerable. In 2011-12, Australians consumed an average of 60 grams of free sugars per day (equivalent to 14 teaspoons of white sugar). WHO recommends levels of 10% daily energy expenditure come from sugar, with additional benefits if that is reduced to 5% (roughly 6 teaspoons per day). One can of drink (soft drink or juice) can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar – that is in one hit!  So you can see how easily the numbers rack up from there!!  Given that one of the emerging health crises is Type 2 diabetes, it is vital that we learn how to keep our blood sugar levels more stable in order to avoid long term insulin resistance, let alone allow us more immediately to benefit from more stable energy levels.

While we know that most of you work hard to provide nutritious food for both you and your family and you might not be sucking down a can (or more) or soft drink each day, most of us are ingesting more sugar than we realise – in our cereal, our bread, our juice, our coffee(s), processed foods (even the savoury ones), low fat dairy, convenience foods like store-bought sauces and dressings….   Why not try these five super easy hacks to reduce sugar intake day-to-day. You’ll see just how simple this low sugar life can be.

1. Ditch your daily juice and opt for a smoothie.

Thing is, while fruit and veg are REAL and WHOLE food, juice can be just like liquid sugar.  Sure, while its not refined sugar, it is fructose (a type of sugar) and our body responds in the same way as it would to refined sugar.  The fructose in the fruit and veg, can send our livers into panic mode as they try to process all the excess fructose, and quickly.  Hence you might feel the quick surge of energy (maybe good), but it is also contributing to a spike in our blood sugar levels too (not good).

But isn’t fruit good for us?  Well yes, you are getting the nutrients from the fruit and/ or veg, but all of the fibre is removed (you know the pulp you throw away after juicing, at home – that is some good stuff there!!).

Smoothies on the other hand, use the whole fruit, both the juice and more importantly, the fibre, which slows down absorption of any of the natural sugar. This reduces the load on the liver.  The fibre feeds our gut bacteria and also fills us up for much longer. Are you new to the smoothie game? This Green Goddess Smoothie will get you fired up! And, if you are using your smoothie, as a meal – learn how to make a Nutritionally Balanced Smoothie here.

2. Make your Own.

A majority of the available packaged salad dressings, pasta sauces, curry pastes, and sauces can be full of hidden sugars (not to mention additives, preservatives and other hidden nasties). The only way to be certain of what is going into your food is to start to make your own.  Salad dressings can be as simple as fresh lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar), olive oil and salt.

Look for curry pastes that have no added sugar (Thai curry pastes are generally the worst offenders, while Indian pastes tend to be more commonly sugar-free).  Instead of reaching for a ready-made jar of pasta sauce – look for brands that are using exactly the ingredients that you would use at home (these tend to be in the refrigerated section of your supermarket as they are less stable due to the lack of chemicals!!).  Looking for sweet treats?  There are literally thousands of amazing recipes online now that you use little to no sugar without compromising on taste – so why not try and more nutritious option next time you bake up a birthday cake?

3. Embrace full-fat options.

Low-fat dairy (cheese, milk, yoghurts) can be crammed with the sweet stuff because when you take out the fat, you need something to give the food some flavour – enter sugar!  While we love recommending yoghurt as a great snack or addition to a meal, flavoured low-fat yoghurts can be hiding up to 6 teaspoons of sugar in them, especially the fruit flavoured kind,

Swap the low-fat stuff for full-fat options.  You naturally will not be able to eat as much as the fat helps you feel full, more quickly and will keep you satisfied for longer.  Try transitioning your family to natural full-fat yoghurt and sweeten it up with fresh fruit or a little cinnamon. That way, you’ll get a hit of protein and healthy fats which will help you create a more macronutrient, balanced meal.

4. Become an informed consumer. 

Sure, we all know that chocolate biscuits contain a lot of sugar, but did you know that your savoury crackers do too?  Your flavoured potato (or corn) chips?  Your bottle of pasta sauce? The kids’ tomato sauce/ ketchup? While we may not be interested in giving up our regular bowl of ice cream or squares of after-dinner chocolate – the sugar that we can work on reducing is the sugar that is in the foods that we didn’t even know that it was in!! Did you know that tomato sauce (ketchup) has the same amount of sugar as chocolate sauce?

Be proactive.  Read your labels.  If the food that you’re buying has more than 10g sugar in a 100g serving – that is probably too high. If sugar is on the first couple of ingredients in the list of ingredients (they are listed in order of quantity), that means it has too much.  Start to investigate where you might be unwillingly getting your extra from and start to make more informed choices when you shop.

5. Swap your sugar-sweetened tea or coffee.

As creatures of habit, most of us ingest at least one cup of tea or coffee, every day. Some of us, many more! Do you love a teaspoon or two of the white stuff in your morning cuppa? Well, extrapolate that over the year – that is at least 365 teaspoons of sugar that you are having that you might be able to go without?  But, rather than going without your sweet hit cold-turkey, why not try some an alternative? A herbal tea or chai anyone?

Herbal teas now come in all flavours and combos and then there is the delectable cup of chai.  If you haven’t yet experienced it, chai is naturally sweetened with a whole heap of anti-inflammatory spices, so you won’t need to add anything else. Make sure you opt for low-sugar versions though. Serve it with some full-fat milk and you will find yourself feeling nicely satiated too.

So while you may feel no need to quit sugar entirely, taking control of the food that you and your family are eating will see you immediately start to reduce the amount of sugar that you are all ingesting, which only stands to benefit everyone! We all need to drastically reduce the amount that we are eating on a daily basis and this is could be a good place to start.

Anna & Em xo