How to reduce your sugar intake
The fact that an average person consumes around 24 kilograms of sugar per year, gives you an idea of how sugar is important and is so present in our lives. Even though we often hear advice from experts about how to avoid sugar, it does have many health benefits. The main goal is to intake a moderate amount and to learn the difference between added and natural sugar. Added sugar includes brown sugar, pure cane sugar, turbinado sugar, coconut sugar, raw sugar, molasses, maple syrup, honey, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, agave, evaporated cane juice, and high fructose corn syrup. People add these types of sugar to sweeten their food and all of them are equally unhealthy in exaggerated amounts. Natural sugars, on the other hand, come from parts of whole food. These include lactose in milk or fructose in fruit. These products are rich in protein, fibre, and water and that’s why the sugar doesn’t absorb as fast making our sugar level “crash“.
First of all, its high-calorie content can affect your energy level in a positive way. If you use the optimal amount of sugar, you may not be faced with a medical condition called diabetes. Sugar’s glycolic acid is beneficial for your skin because it restores the balance in the skin’s oils. If you use natural sugars they can be processed easily by your metabolism and it’s not harmful to the environment. Your body uses sugar as a fuel, but you can definitely survive without added sugars in your diet.
Your main goal is to remain healthy, and you do so by boosting your immune system. The glucose in sugar has a similar chemical structure as Vitamin C and that’s why your body often tries to use sugar to boost the immune system. This is a mistake because sugar can’t boost your immune system. Sugar and the immune system are enemies, so if you want to boost your immune system you should eat food that is rich in Vitamin C, or use vitamin supplements such as Vit2Go! Immune System Booster. It has 500 mg of Vitamin C in every serving and can warn off potential dangers.
How much sugar is considered too much?
According to The American Heart Association, men should ingest no more than 150 calories from added sugar per day and women no more than 100 calories. You know that you have overdone it if you catch yourself snacking and eating processed foods on a daily basis. These products are rich in added sugar and if you consume too much of it, it can lead to many serious health issues. Some of them are heart disease risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure and inflammation, androgen secretion and insulin resistance which is a risk factor for diabetes. Obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation are depression risk. People who eat too much sugar may also be prone to accelerated skin aging, which is, as you can conclude, the least dangerous effect of too much sugar intake. The worst is death caused by a heart attack or cancer. Don’t let this scare you though, we’ve prepared some awesome tips on how to reduce your sugar intake.
How to reduce your sugar intake
You want to avoid added sugar at any cost, and we can help you get there. Next time you go grocery shopping you try focusing on buying whole, unprocessed foods since they contain natural sugar. It’s always smart to make a list of the products you know are healthy and are low in added sugar. Forget about buying sodas, juices, teas or energy drinks – they are your enemies! There are many drinks that can refresh you and keep you hydrated that don’t have added sugar. We recommend drinking water daily (8 glasses), stimulating and refreshing beverages like Natural Energy Booster from Vit2Go!, black coffee or coffee sweetened with Stevia. When you feel like eating something sweet, choose a whole fruit like banana, instead of a chocolate bar. When you bake cookies you can replace added sugar with extracts such as almond, vanilla or lemon. Cereals, granola bars, rolled oats, nut butter and all other healthy alternatives to products with added sugars can quickly become your must-haves in the kitchen. The list is quite extensive and all you can experiment with different products in order to find the ones that you like and make you feel energized and healthy.
Now that you know the difference between added and natural sugar, and the health issues that may occur from eating too much added sugar in your diet, you are now aware that the less added sugar you eat – the healthier you’ll be. That is the main motivation to focus on while you limit your sugar intake to 37.5 grams per day if you are male, and 25 grams per day if you are female. Follow our advice and your life will still be sweet!
