Sugar: tips to reduce your consumption

The WHO recommends not taking more than 50 grams of sugar a day, but most of us take between 150 and 205% more than recommended.

Every day we are more aware of the negative effects of eating sugar and the benefits of opting for real food . This ingredient, in addition to being the number one enemy of obesity, causes serious heart disease, diabetes, metabolic complications, cavities or accelerates the appearance of wrinkles.

However, if we all know the consequences, why is it so difficult to eliminate sweets from our lives? The answer is simple: when we eat sugar, the body secretes dopamine, a chemical that makes us feel pleasure, and the more sugar we consume, the more we need it.

How do we consume less sugar?

If you really want to consume less sugar, the best option is to start Educate your palate to try to stop consuming it, or at least in a first step reduce its intake.

Before you start, write down on a piece of paper all the sugar you consume during a normal day: sugar from coffee with milk or infusion, cola, pre-cooked dishes, sweet bread, doing this will help you see the amount of sugar you consume per day on a regular basis.

It is not about eliminating refined sugar from your diet (if you don't want to) but about becoming aware that much of the sugar we consume in our daily lives is not necessary and that we also take it unconsciously, without we figure out.

Some tips that can help you reduce sugar consumption in your diet.

1. Reduce consumption little by little to educate the palate

Start by reducing consumption little by little, if you are used to drinking tea or coffee with milk in the morning with two tablespoons of sugar, reduce the amount little by little, do not do it all at once, you will not like it, the first week try with tablespoon and a half, the second with 1 tablespoon, and so on progressively until you can drink it without sugar.

2. Avoid daily consumption of sugary drinks

This category includes everything from soft drinks to juices and isotonic drinks. It is no use fooling yourself because we drink them light or without added sugar. It is better to avoid this type of drink and try to replace juices with natural fruit and soft drinks with water, at least 1/3 of the time at first.

3. Exercise

Any form of physical activity is useful to regulate the balance between what you consume and what you spend.

4. Do not consume sugar if it is not necessary

For example, if cereals are consumed with milk, generally the cereals already contain sugar. Some of them contain up to 37% sugar.

Therefore, it is better not to add more to the mixture or replace the more sugary ones with simple ones like oats. By doing this you can reduce your sugar intake by 70g in a week.

5. If you feel like something sweet

Dark chocolate is a good option that also has antioxidants. If you usually drink milk chocolate, start with 50% dark chocolate and then increase the amount of pure chocolate once your palate gets used to it.

Remember that prevention is better than cure