In a country where every small achievement starts with ‘muh meetha karna’, sugar has found an easy way into our food system. From chocolates and candies to carbonated drinks, consuming sugar has become a part and parcel of our lives. But do you know that even a Diet Coke has sugar in it? To get an idea of how much sugar does a product contain, one should check the details of ingredients on the back of the packing.
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Excessive intake of sugar leads to tooth decay, diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart diseases among other health complications. However, the effects of sugar consumption are seldom seen in younger people and come back in full steam when we hit old age.
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If you want to cut down on sugar, here’s a list of simple ways to cut down on your sugar intake and live a healthy life.
- Replace desserts with seasonal fruits: Desserts are tasty, no doubt. But the amount of sugar it has, not only makes us prone to diseases but also has no nutritional value. If we feel the need to satisfy our sweet cravings, we can swap it with seasonal fruits.
- Try ‘chutneys’ instead of sauces: Sauces like- Chilli sauce, tomato sauce (ketchup) are widely used in every household and food joints. Despite their sour or spicy flavour, they contain a huge amount of sugar, which is really harmful to our health. If we shift ourselves to the old traditional chutneys like – mint chutney, coriander chutney, chilli chutney, or mustard chutney, it might just do the trick.
- Say no to carbonated drinks and yes to home-made drinks: Carbonated drinks’ superior taste does not allow us to stir clear of the sugar-related danger it holds. If a Diet Coke can contain sugar, the other drinks, too, will. The excess amount of sugar will, eventually, deplete our health. Alternatives to try and quench our thirst? Lemonade, fruit juice, sugarless tea or coffee are the many options that are available.
- Jaggery: We all have a habit of consuming tea or coffee on a daily basis. That, too, with sugar! To cut down on the sugar, many opt for sugarless tea and coffee; which, in turn, makes it not-so-tasty. So, why to make it sugarless when we can simply add jaggery to sweeten our beverages. Good idea, right!
These may seem tough but cutting down on sugar will definitely prove helpful in the future.
Happy non-sugar years to you!
