Sugar. I have a love/hate relationship with it. Where I don't have sugar in tea, coffee or on cereal, for example, I do love me a few cubes of chocolate or the odd biscuit with a coffee. It's only when you start to read the nutritional information on the packet that I realised exactly how much sugar I'd be consuming a week. Granted, it's not a lot, but it's more than I'd like to have in my diet, and that's without looking at the sugar contained within cooking sauces, soups and condiments such as ketchup.
Seeing as it's Sugar Awareness Week, I thought I'd write a post all about the white stuff and how you can cut a hefty amount of it from your diet without even, really, realising it. From swapping your drinks to using spices instead of sugar, you'll be able to dramatically cut the amount of sugar you eat each week.
Take the sugar off the table
If you're someone who will get a bowl of sugar out every time you have a cup of tea or coffee, then ditch that practice completely. If it's at your disposal, then you may find yourself putting more sugar in than is necessary. Instead, opt for one tea spoon or even half a tea spoon to start with, and then put the sugar pot away again. You should practice this with a view to cutting out sugar in drinks entirely, so cut back a small amount each time until you've phased it out completely.
If you absolutely cannot live without sugar in your hot drinks, then try adding spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and even all spice - that'll help to jazz things up a bit, especially if it's Christmas time.
Swap sugary drinks for water or diet alternatives
Granted, diet drinks aren't the healthiest, even if they aren't packed with sugar. However, if your aim is to cut out sugar in your diet, then this is the best way to go. Eventually, once you've weened yourself off fizzy drinks, opt for squash or, better still, a humble glass of water. Not only will your guts thank you, but your teeth will as well!
Opt for fresh food as much as possible
Fresh food is less likely to have been played with or to have had other things added to it to enhance flavour etc. Even tinned and dried fruit can be packed with a lot of sugar, more so than the fresh equivalent. Do some research and find out where you should be making the swap. I know that fresh food, especially fruit, can be expensive, but eat it in moderation and it should last you a while. You can even freeze some veg, herbs and fruit, such as berries, for use another time.
Instead of adding sugar, try extracts
Vanilla, almond, lemon and even orange can make a great alternative to sugar, especially in homemade recipes and bakes. It might also be worth doing some research into sugar-free goodies, whereby brownies and cookies can be made without a trace of the white stuff - perfect for those wanting to cut out sugar or even lose weight.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Let me know in the comments how you manage to cut down on the amount of sugar you consume and I'll see you again soon with a brand new blog post :)
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