Processed food brands often spend more on marketing their products than making them. It’s no wonder sugar has a universally positive connotation. Celebrity endorsements and overly happy people are used to sell the idea that sugar makes you happy. The media’s images of sugar portray the substance as some sort of elixir, when truthfully, it’s a substance causing many lifestyle ailments. Children are especially targeted through these advertisements, making people believe that it’s a child’s right to eat sugary foods.
As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic diseases “are not passed from person to person. They are of long duration and generally slow progression.” Chronic diseases related to sugar include stroke, diabetes and heart disease. According to WHO, for the past 15 years, the leading cause of death worldwide has been heart disease. Stroke takes second place, and diabetes follows at seventh. Not only does sugar overconsumption decrease lifespan, but it also decreases people’s overall quality of life. In the modern world, unless one actively avoids added sugar, one is bound to over consume the harmful substance. In this article we will discuss how to lead a healthier lifestyle and eat six teaspoons or less of sugar.
How to eat less sugar
Avoid sodas
Soft drinks can contain 19 teaspoons of sugar, over three times the amount that is safe to consume in a whole day. Try switching out sugary drinks for sparkling water or homemade lemonade with honey instead of white sugar. If you’re dependent on the caffeine in the drinks switch to coffee or tea with less or no added sugar.
Drink more water
Our body can’t distinguish between hunger and thirst, hence staying hydrated can help you cut out unnecessary snacking throughout the day. Although health authorities suggest 2 litres or 8 glasses a day, you can calculate how much you should drink online based on your height, weight and amount of exercise. Keep in mind, a 5% decrease in water consumption can lead to a 20% decrease in energy levels which may send you to the pantry in search of sugary snacks.
Switch highly processed carbohydrates for whole (unprocessed) carbohydrates
Processed carbohydrates include white rice, breads, French fries and chips. Although we don’t consider fries to be dessert, we should, since they are the same as eating sugary foods. Just like white sugar, these carbohydrates break down in you blood stream to form loads of glucose at once. Contrastingly, unprocessed or whole carbohydrates have natural fibre that slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream, making them a much healthier option. Good sources of unprocessed carbohydrates include vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains (pure oats, quinoa, brown rice and millets), and roots like potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The myth of fruit juices and smoothies
You may think, “What’s wrong about drinking homemade fruit juice?” Fruits in their natural form contain fibre which helps control blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. When these fruits are blended most of the fibre is broken or thrown away, resulting in a juice which will spike your blood sugar levels. Instead, you should eat fruit in its natural form since the fibre will fill you up — you’ll eat less, feel full for longer and save time and money.
Always read labels
In last week’s article, the importance of reading labels as well as how to effectively read and analyze them were emphasized. Make it a habit not to buy or consume processed food without checking what’s really inside.
Healthy celebrations
Celebrations shouldn’t be an excuse to eat junk. You can still have your cake on your special day but make it at home and avoid maida (all-purpose flour). A highly processed wheat-flour, maida is another villain for a healthy diet. Like white sugar, maida is stripped of all its natural nutrients, minerals and fibres. When you bake and cook at home, there are many alternatives to all-purpose flour. Some examples are almond flour, coconut flour, brown rice flour, chickpea flour or quinoa flour.
Instead of passing out store-bought chocolates or sweets for birthdays or other celebrations, you can pass out homemade sweets made with fewer processed ingredients and nutrient-rich alternatives to white sugar like jaggery and honey. Homemade peanut chikki and date-and-nut laddus are examples of healthy sweets.
To conclude
The bottom line remains that home cooked food is the best way to go. You don’t have to change your entire life at once. Small changes like switching highly processed foods such as white rice for brown rice can have a positive impact on your health and lifestyle. Once you’ve implemented a few changes, try sticking to six (or less) teaspoons of sugar a day. You will feel energetic and more mentally stable, experience weight loss, and, perhaps the best part, you will age healthily and be less likely to suffer from various diseases.
