Reducing Sugar intake

alexandravictoria88

I really want to reduce the amount of sweeteners and sugar that I consume in foods. I've heard erythritol is better than any other but what I would love is to completely cut it .. I used to have 2 tsps of Sweetener in my coffees and teas and now I have 1. I do however have 3 or 4 coffees a day ..plus all the food that I eat with sugar! What do you do?

ninerbuff

Why are you concerned about sugar? Are you diabetic? Because all carbs are nothing but compound sugars with some having fiber and higher nutrition (yams, fruits, etc.)
If it's the sugar you are concerned about, you'll have to read labels and if you still want sweetened things, look to sugar substitutes.

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kimny72

If you are sticking to your calories, and eating too much sugar, than you must be eating too little of something else. The primary danger of too much sugar in your diet (assuming you aren't diabetic) is that it either causes you to eat too many calories, or it crowds other stuff out of your diet.

So look back at your logging and see if you are falling short of fiber, protein, or fat. If you are, start focusing on building meals and snacks around that macro. In my experience, doing that will push "empty" calories out.

If you aren't falling short on anything, and you aren't eating too much, then you really don't have to worry about sugar.

If there is some specific item that you think is adding an unnecessary amount of added sugar to your diet, maybe other posters can give you specific alternatives that have worked for them. Good luck

kshama2001

alexandravictoria88 wrote: »

I really want to reduce the amount of sweeteners and sugar that I consume in foods. I've heard erythritol is better than any other but what I would love is to completely cut it .. I used to have 2 tsps of Sweetener in my coffees and teas and now I have 1. I do however have 3 or 4 coffees a day ..plus all the food that I eat with sugar! What do you do?

I also reduced the sugar in my coffee and tea. For a long time for breakfast I had coffee smoothies with protein powder (and chia seeds and coconut shreds), and didn't feel the need to add any sugar to that.

My biggest source of added sugar is from foods like baked goods and ice cream. To reduce those I eat more fruit. I have vanilla Greek yogurt with frozen raspberries and blueberries most nights. The half cup of yogurt gives me 12 g of added sugar, which is half that of my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor.

ekenney1962

Monk fruit is actually better and I only use it in homemade ice cream, other than a few berries I have not had any sugar for 2 years. I went cold turkey on the sugar issue and it took me about 2 weeks to overcome any cravings. Go easy on the sugar alcohols as they can cause extreme gas and bloating.

dragon_girl26

How do you do with hitting your protein goal? I only ask because for me personally, the more protein I eat, the less I seem to crave sweets. I'm not saying that's true for everyone, but for some people it may help.

Really, though, outside of that I'll just say "ditto" to everything kimny72 said

mimiwidup6698

I gave up sugars and all artificial sweeteners and it is the best decision I have made. I am not tempted to snack and I don’t want to cheat at all! I wish I had done it a long time ago. It’s made such a difference to me and I’ve realized my body just doesn’t need it.

lemurcat2

alexandravictoria88 wrote: »

I really want to reduce the amount of sweeteners and sugar that I consume in foods. I've heard erythritol is better than any other but what I would love is to completely cut it .. I used to have 2 tsps of Sweetener in my coffees and teas and now I have 1. I do however have 3 or 4 coffees a day ..plus all the food that I eat with sugar! What do you do?

I like coffee without anything in it (I never liked the taste of it sweetened, though). A tsp of sugar is only 16 cals, but you could try reducing it more, subbing a splash of milk, or subbing sweeteners if you think you need the sweetness, love the coffee, and don't find the cals something you can spare.

Beyond that, if you told us how much sugar you are consuming and what your perceived difficulties are in cutting back, we could give better advice. (I also agree with the comments about it mattering whether you are hitting other goals like protein and fiber, and I'd also be interested in what the sugar is coming from. I generally wouldn't recommend cutting something like fruit, for example, unless your diet were imbalanced as a result of eating a huge amount of fruit.)

alexandravictoria88

Thank you all for comments, I think my main source of sugar would have to just be natural sugars in foods that I eat. I do struggle to eat enough protein, I always have! My downfall is eating sugar processed snacks ..(the cons of working at a school) I've just heard that limiting sugar and sweeteners helps with bloating, cravings etc. My fibre could be higher but everything is relatively good in terms of macros as I eat a balanced diet and go to the gym (well have had to wait because of covid and I cant wait to start again) so yes the reason to want to reduce my sugar and Sweetener intake is for the benefits.

Thoin

alexandravictoria88 wrote: »

Thank you all for comments, I think my main source of sugar would have to just be natural sugars in foods that I eat. I do struggle to eat enough protein, I always have! My downfall is eating sugar processed snacks ..(the cons of working at a school) I've just heard that limiting sugar and sweeteners helps with bloating, cravings etc. My fibre could be higher but everything is relatively good in terms of macros as I eat a balanced diet and go to the gym (well have had to wait because of covid and I cant wait to start again) so yes the reason to want to reduce my sugar and Sweetener intake is for the benefits.

I just learned to drink coffee black. I found you don't need sweeteners if you make coffee correctly (which most offices don't do).

Strudders67

With regards to what I put in my tea and coffee, I initially switched to sweeteners, then half a sweetener (was using Canderel tablets) before, eventually, I just went cold turkey. It took about 3 weeks to get used to it.

Cutting out other things is harder. I find it easier to not want sweet things if I (only) have alternatives available. I rarely buy chocolate and never buy sweets, but I always have a large bag of almonds in my cupboard at home and my drawer at work (I portion out 20-25g for a snack) and usually have unsweetened plain yoghurt and chia seeds at home.

cwolfman13

I guess it really depends on how much sugar you're actually consuming daily. In and of itself, sugar isn't some devil substance. I'm not someone who's downing 32oz Big Gulp sodas everyday or eating a bunch of sugary desert type stuff throughout the day. Most of my sugar comes from fruit with my morning breakfast and usually a 6 or so ounce glass of either pineapple juice or V8 and my evening desert which is usually a little ramekin of dark chocolate morsels unless my wife bakes something in which case, I'll eat that.

I don't really add sugar to anything and I treat deserts and treats as deserts and treats, not as all day snacking items. I don't actively try to do anything with sugar in my diet...it's just not at any kind of level to be of concern or at any kind of level that cutting back would have any particular health benefits.

dragon_girl26

Thoin wrote: »

alexandravictoria88 wrote: »

Thank you all for comments, I think my main source of sugar would have to just be natural sugars in foods that I eat. I do struggle to eat enough protein, I always have! My downfall is eating sugar processed snacks ..(the cons of working at a school) I've just heard that limiting sugar and sweeteners helps with bloating, cravings etc. My fibre could be higher but everything is relatively good in terms of macros as I eat a balanced diet and go to the gym (well have had to wait because of covid and I cant wait to start again) so yes the reason to want to reduce my sugar and Sweetener intake is for the benefits.

I just learned to drink coffee black. I found you don't need sweeteners if you make coffee correctly (which most offices don't do).

Agree with this, and also why I pretty much gave up Starbucks. I realized I would never be able to drink their coffee (except the blond roast) unless it had a bunch of extras to mask the charcoal/burnt flavor.

AnnPT77

alexandravictoria88 wrote: »

Thank you all for comments, I think my main source of sugar would have to just be natural sugars in foods that I eat. I do struggle to eat enough protein, I always have! My downfall is eating sugar processed snacks ..(the cons of working at a school) I've just heard that limiting sugar and sweeteners helps with bloating, cravings etc. My fibre could be higher but everything is relatively good in terms of macros as I eat a balanced diet and go to the gym (well have had to wait because of covid and I cant wait to start again) so yes the reason to want to reduce my sugar and Sweetener intake is for the benefits.

So, you're low on two of (IMO) the most important things, protein and fiber.

Getting adequate protein and fiber (from foods) can also help with cravings, etc. For myself, I've found it more productive to focus on getting good nutrition *into* my eating at appropriate calories, rather than worrying as much about what to take *out*. If I manage the calories, and get the good stuff in to the degree needed, things that aren't as nutrient-dense tend to fall by the wayside without much fuss over them.

YMMV.