How to Eaze Off Sugar
In the past, tooth decay and hyperactivity topped concerns about sugar consumption in a child’s diet.
We know more about the effects of the sweet white stuff on our health. There are plenty of reasons to cut back on sugar including blood sugar levels and weight loss due to reduced calories.
If you want to banish or reduce sugar from your child’s diet, you can enjoy reduced hyperactivity, better focus and other benefits. But it is hard to change dietary habits and overcome food cravings from a sweet tooth. These tips will help you.
Sugar is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. It is in almost everything that we eat, and it can be hard to break the habit. For adults, it can be difficult to cut back on sugar, but for children, it can be even harder. In this blog post, we will discuss some easy tips for parents to reduce sugar in their children’s diets.
How to recognize sugary ingredients
Sugar comes in many forms, some of which you may not recognize.
The different names for various sugar forms include sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, hydrolyzed starch, molasses, corn syrup, invert sugar, and honey. Look for foods with 5g of sugar per 100 g or less or those with no sugar to help you reduce your intake.
Always choose natural sugar found in nature over processed sugar options when shopping.
Healthy Breakfast Dishes
Food producers tout breakfast cereals as healthy yet cram them with sugar. Switch to low-sugar or no added sugar cereals for breakfast but you need to ditch sugar chocolate cereal and many other sugary cereals.
You can also sweeten oats with chopped dates and apples or add mashed banana or pear to your oatmeal. Or, cook a quick savory millet dish with eggs and vegetables or a grab granola bar or add sugar free peanut butter on toast for quick and easy breakfast ideas.
Avocados mashed with scrambled egg or navy beans cooked in tomato sauce with paprika and garlic are also tasty for breakfast. If you prefer your breakfasts to resemble desserts, quinoa is your friend. Top it with Greek yogurt, walnuts, and blueberries rather than syrup and cream.
Wholesome Main Meals
Avoid processed foods since many contain sugar and opt for natural ingredients. When food looks like Mother Nature intended, it’s nourishing and has no added sugar.
Stock your pantry with beans, wholegrain products, fruit, and vegetables, and remember to check food labels for their sugar content.
Healthy meal ideas include stews, soups, casseroles, salads, pies, risottos, chili, stuffed peppers, baked fish, and cottage pie. Most dishes cooked with natural ingredients can be part of your low or no-sugar diet.
Snack Food
Healthy snack options without added sugar include fresh fruit and veggies, cold turkey lunch meat, nuts, rice cakes, oatcakes, and plain, homemade popcorn. You might also enjoy salted avocado chunks, curried hummus, pitted prunes, cottage cheese with berries, roasted pumpkin seeds, and hemp seeds fried in tamari sauce. Dark chocolate may curb sugar cravings when you fancy a treat. You can fall back on carrot and celery sticks with a homemade dip, too.
Drinks
Most carbonated drinks and fruit juices have high sugar content. Squeeze your juices and swap soda pop with non-carbonated soda water and slices of citrus fruits.
Also, make smoothies with vegetables and fruits, and don’t forget regular water. Keep a jug in the fridge for a refreshing drink. Herb tea and black or green tea are also sugar-free.
Desserts
Bake regular desserts, only swap sugar with banana, sultanas, chopped dates, apples, strawberries, and other fruits. Experiment with coconut flakes and sweet vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, too. Also, use spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to add flavor to low-sugar puddings. Substitute sugar with stevia, a natural, plant-based sugar alternative, and bake whole fruits such as pears and cooking apples and fill with currents for sweetness.
Conclusion
Quit, or cut the amounts of sugar in your diet, and you will see many health benefits. After practicing, making healthy meals and snacks will become habitual, and the hard work will be over.
Until then, if you slip up, be kind to yourself. It’s difficult to give up sugar. Just begin again, and your efforts will still pay off.