5 tips to get rid of added sugar
Message: Pocket Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s biggest and smallest mysteries. You can listen to the shows Here.
(CNN) – Halloween is approaching. And with that comes ideas for costumes, pumpkins, spooky decorations and – of course – candy.
Who doesn’t love an excuse to stuff delicious chocolate bars, candy corn, lollipops and other sweet treats into their mouths all day? But let’s face it; it is not healthy to eat that way all the time as almost all of these recipes are full of added sugar.
As Americans, our excessive sugar consumption is unfortunately not limited to the candy holidays of the year. Eating added sugar has become a part of life, woven into almost every diet.
Americans 2 years and older eat an average of 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day, according to the most recent government data available. That’s about three times the upper limit of what organizations like the American Heart Association recommend for women — 6 tablespoons — and about twice that for men — 9 tablespoons. (Others, like the Department of Agriculture of America and the World Health Organization, have slightly different recommendations.)
Research continues to gather that eating too much sugar can lead to many health problems, such as weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart and liver disease, cancer and even depression. emotionally.
This love affair with sugar is not entirely our fault; the system is rigged against us, according to one expert.
“If you’re one of those unfortunate people who really struggle with cravings and compulsions around sugar, you’re sitting in a food court that keeps feeding you: Eat sugar, eat sugar,” Dr. Laura Schmidt told CNN Chief Medical Officer. Reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently on his Chasing Life podcast.
You can listen to the full podcast episode Here.
Schmidt is a sociologist and professor of health policy at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. He is also a principal investigator at SugarScience, a site of scientific evidence on sugar and its impact on health under the auspices of UC San Francisco.
Schmidt says he doesn’t think people should cut back on sugar, but they do need to cut back on what they eat.
“There is a problem with the way we talk about food and nutrition, which is that we focus on one ingredient or one nutrient,” he said. “From a health point of view, it is not important. The important thing is all the food; The important thing is to have all the macronutrients in the right amount. ”
However, Schmidt added that Americans “go overboard” on sugar. “And we really need to think about ways to lower that mix,” he said.
But as many know, it’s not always easy to cut back on sugar because it lurks in so many foods, from the obvious (sodas, cookies and candy) to the subtle (breakfast cereals , bread, yogurt and tomato sauce). According to some estimates, added sweeteners are present in 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets.
The reason why sugar is added to so many foods is clear, Schmidt said.
He said: “Food companies have three ingredients that they can use to make food more palatable – some people say it’s hyper-latable, more attractive to consumers – and that’s sugar, fat and salt,” he said. And, most importantly, they vary in the amount of sugar, fat and salt in many of our processed foods. They are often put in there because the industrial food production process makes things delicious. ”
Breaking up with sugar can be hard to do. Schmidt has five tips for managing your eating habits.
Stop wasting your sugar
Avoid liquid sugar, Schmidt said.
“Remove the idea of reducing or reducing sugary drinks like sodas, soft drinks, energy drinks, fake juice bags,” he said in an email. “These are the largest source of added sugars in the American diet, especially for children, and they are not nutritious.”
Schmidt noted that liquid sugar can easily become a habit that leaves you overeating without realizing it.
Remove temptation from work
Minimize added sugar at your workplace.
“Encourage your employer or workforce to join others who have stopped selling sugary drinks at vending machines and workplace restaurants,” Schmidt said, adding that these can be replaced with “many other alternatives.” sugar-free sweets.”
“Clinical studies show that when employers stop selling sugary drinks, people who drink more soda lose, on average, half an inch within 10 months,” Schmidt said, adding that SugarScience offers free tools to help workplaces reduce the availability of these beverages. .
And while you’re at it, maybe take a long walk around the candy bowl in the common area, so you don’t hear it calling your name.
Practice out of sight, out of mind around the house
Don’t forget to clean your pet’s food environment, too.
“Agree as a family not to have sugar-free food and sugary drinks – have them when you go out, but not as regular meals at home,” Schmidt suggested. “Research shows that the best sugar reduction is done in groups, not alone. So, make a sensible plan together for what you will and won’t sleep in the kitchen.”
Even if eliminating sugar-free foods and soda from home isn’t enough to stop you from thinking about them, doing so will give you time to resist your urge to indulge.
Limit your desires
Have a plan for dealing with the stress of quitting sugar.
“The sugar route is a real thing. And there are easy-to-learn, evidence-based strategies for dealing with them,” Schmidt said. “They depend on developing the simple skill of having the desire to relax without reacting to it – called ‘surfing’.
There are free surfing guides on the internet. Schmidt also points to the fun audio tools SugarScience is using to help more soda drinkers quit participating in a 16-year, National Institutes of Health-funded study.
Put sweets in their proper place
Save the sugary foods for dessert; don’t let them infiltrate every part of your diet.
“Adult women should consume less than 6 teaspoons of added sugar each day, 9 teaspoons for men, 4 teaspoons for children, and no added sugar for children. they are less than 2 years old,” Schmidt said in an email.
One way to control your intake of added sugars, Schmidt said, is to make your own desserts and treats. He said: “This means enjoying the sugar you eat by baking together and enjoying it together, making the (added) sugar you eat part of celebrating life.
Adhering to these guidelines as closely as possible means checking food labels. Look for the line that shows “added sugar” in foods to add up the grams of excess sugar you eat per day.
We hope these five tips will help you rein in your sugar consumption. Listen to the full podcast episode Here. And join us next week on Chasing Life as we explore the art of surrender.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN Audio’s Grace Walker contributed to this report.
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