No-Sugar Diet: Making a Plan to Eat Less Sugar

Tips to Help you Get Started

Here are some ways through which you can cut down on your sugar intake:

1. Start Gradually:

Instead of making drastic changes that can be overwhelming, make small, sustainable changes in your daily routine. Here are some ways to begin with:

• Cut back on added sugar in coffee, tea, and cereal.

• Swap sugary drinks for water or unsweetened alternatives.

• Sweeten plain yoghurt with fruit or spices, not sugar.

• Choose fresh fruits over dried fruits; be mindful of portions.

• Check food labels for lower sugar content. Beware of hidden sugars such as high fructose corn syrup and malto dextrin.

2. Avoid the obvious sugar source:

This includes sugary sweets such as cake, muffins, cookies, ice-cream and sorbet. Over and above you can also avoid food items which are high in natural sugar. This includes dry fruits like dates and raisins, milk, yogurt with added flavours.

3. Check Food Labels:

There is hidden sugar in several food products available in market and the best way to find this out is by reading the food labels for its nutritional information and ingredient details. For instance, hidden sugar is found in baked beans, tacos, boxed rice, frozen food, crackers, and grains like wheat, rice, and pasta.

4. Know the code names for sugar:

Sugar is available in various forms and to remove it completely from your diet, you need to know them all. Easiest way is to watch out for ingredients ending from ‘ose’ as these are usually forms of sugar. For example, glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltrose, dextrose, and lactose are all forms of sugar.

5. Avoid artificial sweeteners:

Sugar substitutes are sweeter than real sugar by almost 200 to 13,000 times, and incorporating this in your diet can make it harder for you to stick to a no-sugar diet in longer run. Common artificial sweeteners include stevia, equal, sweet ‘n low, splenda, and nutrasweet. These substitutes are found in products which are known to be no-sugar, low-sugar, or low-calorie.

6. Explore savoury flavor:

Enhance your food flavor by adding herbs and spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, paprika, or chill flakes. These ingredients will not only enhance flavour of your food, but they also offer other health benefits.

7. Avoid sweetened drinks:

It not just what you eat, but what you drink is also very important. This not only includes soft drinks, soda, fruits juices, and flavoured milk/coffee, but even cocktails and liqueurs are high in sugar content.

8. Opt for whole-foods and nutrient-dense food options:

Whole and unprocessed foods are naturally low in sugar and are packed with essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber.