How to stop eating sugar: 8 tips for healthier eating

Several key ideas to keep away sugary foods and eat healthy every day.

The habit of eating highly sugary foods is one of the main health problems in Western countries. Not only is it associated with obesity; in addition, the intake of large amounts of sugar can lead to both health problems and behavioral dynamics that are totally detrimental to the person.

In this article we will look at some tips on how to stop eating sugarand several recommendations on how to start.

How to stop eating sugar?

In the following lines you will find key ideas to make the habit of eating sugar does not get out of hand and establish a lifestyle in which you hardly consume this ingredient. However, you should be aware that in some cases this habit is so ingrained that it is essential to seek the advice of a psychology professional who can offer personalized attention.

1. Start with a kitchen cleaning

This is not a literal cleaning, but rather going to the kitchen and throwing away all foods with a high sugar content: processed cereals, pastries, fruit-flavored or chocolatey dairy, sweets and candy....

It is important to do this as a task that justifies itself, not as something complementary that we are going to do when it is time to go to the kitchen and think about what to eat. In this way we will avoid, as far as possible, giving in to the excuses we may make for not doing this, such as "now I don't have time to throw everything away" or "if I throw this away now I won't have anything to eat".

2. Avoid going into junk food stores

This tip to stop eating so much sugar is simple and complicated at the same time: don't go into places based on offering highly processed and sugary food. You may find it hard at first, but in the in the medium and long term it will save you a lot of problems and worries..

3. If you are not used to cooking, buy healthier foods.

In the long run, in order to have a healthy life in which sugar is less present, you will have to cook a good part of what you eat, if not most of the time. However, if you don't have any experience in this area, try to buy ready-made food that is as healthy as possible, try to buy homemade food that is as homemade as possible.as possible, such as those available in some catering services.

4. Learn to cook

This step is very important for two reasons.

On the one hand, this habit will force you to eat much more natural foodsand make them the basis of your diet. On the other hand, in this way you will link the fact of eating with a moment of the day that deserves its time and to which we must pay attention, which is the opposite of the concept of snack that so often makes us fall into products full of refined sugar.

This is one of the tips on how to stop eating sugar that are more difficult because it requires effort, and for this it is almost mandatory that you plan daily schedules in which you set aside about an hour a day to learn to cook simple recipes that in the long run will hardly require your attention.

5. Remember the different names for sugar

When you are starting to take steps to stop eating so much sugar, don't worry about eating very healthy; the priority is in any case to stop eating junk food.

So don't get obsessed with trying to learn by Heart all the technical terms used in the food industry. Just remember the following words, because they are all the names of sugar that are used to camouflage the presence of this ingredient on food composition labels:

• Sucrose.
• Glucose.
• Fructose.
• Molasses.
• Honey (yes, honey is basically sugar).
• Brown sugar.

6. Work away from the snacks

If you work in a place where there are several people and you can choose where to be located, try to remain most of the time away from the places where sugary products are placed and to which you are allowed accessSoda machines, candy machines, candy fountains, etc.

7. Think about the rebound effect

Do not be content to go many hours of the day without eating sugar products. Think that in situations like this we are prone to overcompensate, bingeing on sweet foods whose glucose levels exceed what we would have ingested if we had followed our usual habits.

Therefore, although very occasionally (once a week) it is possible to eat a sugary product as a "break", at those times you should pay close attention to what you eat, at those times you should pay close attention to what you are doing and not give in to the temptation to keep on to the temptation to continue savoring those kinds of snacks. If it is too difficult for you, it may be more rewarding to abstain 100% from eating sugary foods for several weeks in a row.

This is another of the most complex tips on how to stop eating sugar, as it requires commitment to what we are doing.

8. Eat fruit every day

If you can make fruit your regular source of sugar, you've got a lot going for you. This is because these foods are much more satisfying than the average candy bar or snack, but in most cases they have much less sugar, and they are also unprocessed (less harmful).but in most cases they have much less sugar, and it is also unprocessed (less harmful).

One or two pieces of fruit a day are enough, and if you get used to eating them as a reward, continuing with this healthy habit will be very easy.

Bibliographical references:

• European Parliament and Council (1990). Council Directive on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs. Council Directive of 24 September 1990 on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs. p. 4.
• O'Connor, A. (2016). Studies Linked to Soda Industry Mask Health Risks. The New York Times.