Excess sugar is bad for your health. But it is possible to eat less sugar without making too many sacrifices. Even if changing food is never easy. It is not about thinking about sugar whenever you go shopping or eating, but about creating some habits that will later become second nature. In short, you need to find simple ways to reduce your sugar intake. And it can start in the morning.
French breakfast actually tends to be sweet. It can put us in the red in the morning. Bread with wholemeal flour or cereal is preferable to baguette. We try not to spend a teaspoon of jam which provides 3 grams of sugar. You can also replace butter and jam with fresh cheese, for example. And it is better to bite a fruit than to drink a fruit juice. Otherwise, we limit ourselves to a small glass and drink only one a day. On the hot drink side, you can gradually limit the added sugar.
If you like cereals, choose less sweet ones. For example, oat flakes contain less sugar. It is useful to compare the amount of sugars per 100 grams. We ask for the line on the packaging where it says “including sugars” in the nutritional values. And we favor products with less than 15 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
Beware of added sugars
These are the sugars added to food products and those present in fruit juice, syrups that pose a problem. In the list of ingredients, they are found in several titles: sugar of course, but also glucose, fructose, sucrose, fructose-glucose syrups, starch, corn…
The World Health Organization recommends that their intake be less than 10% of their total calorie intake, which corresponds to less than 50 grams of sugar per day, or 12 teaspoons. This reduces the risk of overweight and tooth decay. On the other hand, we should not worry about the sugars present naturally in fruits, vegetables and milk because they have not been shown to have harmful effects.
Less processed foods
Reducing sugar intake involves reducing processed foods. A large part of the sugars consumed come from processed foods: biscuits, pasta, dessert creams, drinks sweet. A single can of baking soda can contain up to 40 grams of sugar.
So instead of buying spicy fruit or yogurt, we buy natural yogurt and sprinkle with cinnamon, vanilla or cocoa powder, or add a fruit cut into pieces. As a snack, instead of biscuits or cereals, eat fresh fruit or a handful of almonds, nuts or hazelnuts.
Better to make your own sweets
Limiting sugar intake does not mean staying without sweets. Their consumption should remain occasional, but nothing is forbidden. On the other hand, it is better to make them yourself because this way you can control the amount of sugar.
You can halve the amount of sugar shown in the recipes. In most cases, they contain a lot. With less sugar, the sweets will still be delicious. If you want to make a fruit cake, you can make absolutely no sugar. For decoration we use a little compote and very ripe fruits.
On the other hand, we do not use sweeteners to replace sugar. This is a good false idea because sweeteners are not without consequences in the body. And in addition, they retain the attraction for the sweet taste.
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