It's Sugar Awareness Week: how do you reduc... - Healthy Eating
It's Sugar Awareness Week: how do you reduce your sugar intake?
Please select all that apply:
I take a small teaspoon of organic honey in my tea & use honey rather than sugar when baking
I use half spoon, which, with half the calories of sugar helps me cut down. I do not like the taste of sweeteners. With half spoon I don’t taste the sweetener in the product.
I haven't heard of this before, but it sounds interesting. Does it blend a sweetener in to make it go further?
Did you know that half spoon sugar has got Aspartame in it ?
Yes I did, I also know about all the controversy surrounding aspartame. It is the only sweetener that I have found acceptable to my taste buds. It’s that or sugar, it’s like heads or tails isn’t it?
(As far as I know) I don't eat or drink anything with added sugar, save for a vegan chocolate cake I make myself about once a month, and very occasionally a teaspoon of sugar in some Asian style veggie mix... how virtuous can you be, eh?
Apologies to all, I have accidently created multiple polls. please use this as the main poll, and we'll delete the spares when we can.
Almost completely cut it out and try to stick to the recommended daily allowance, if any. I use date syrup and honey but keep to a minimum. I usually have honey on my breakfast and date syrup in the evening in a sugar-free hot chocolate.I sometimes yoyo from eating a lot to really cutting back and while I'm detoxing fruit and fresh fruit smoothies usually make it easier.
We aim to avoid added sugar as much as possible & I've managed to stop my husband having sugar in coffee & tea, result! One way to keep sugar to a minimum is to read the labels on food per 100g - it's amazing how many so called healthy or low fat foods have more sugar than you would expect.
I never have sweeteners cos they are bad for your health, especially Aspartame.
I reduce most of my intake of sugar and try to replace with alternatives.
I do think food manufacturers/suppliers should be more clear on what sugar people are consuming though.
To just say that a food has sugar in could mean any kind of sugar. Some are good, some are bad.
Over the xmas season it’s pretty impossible for me to escape sugar (good or bad):).
That's interesting to note - in what way are sweeteners bad for your health?
Well Aspartame is responsible for many health problems including brain cancer.When I was little I had a terrible junk food diet which consisted of many sugary foods, gallons of fizzy drinks and hardly any fruit or veg.
Within that amount of sugar was a looot of Aspartame as well.
In 96, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and in 98 was diagnosed with a 2nd brain tumour.
As I got older I came away from all the sugar intake and looked and felt a lot better for it.
I started doing more of my own research into Aspartame and found out how disgusting the stuff really is.
I would not be surprised if the Aspartame intake was good enough reason behind my brain tumours.
No one else has to believe all of that but it’s what I personally believe.
I haven’t done as much research into other sweeteners but I have heard that they are nit good news anyhow. I don’t touch them.
Its ok to use them short term as a replacement for sugar.. i used them and im off sugar totally now.
Short term use I suppose is ok but I would still avoid them though.
I dont think all of them are dangerous, just some are. short term is fine, they get you off sugar and sweeteners if use correctly. Kills two problems in one go.
Maybe so but I still don’t trust sweeteners though.
I can't use sweetners they upset my tum ☹️I don't have much of sweet tooth
You are OK then if you don't have much of a sweet tooth..
I like chocolate to much but I don't buy it so I can't eat it. 😏
I am sweet enough 😁I watch saturated fat to keep cholestrol down I love cheese tho,what's the weather like where you are any floods I'm in hull
I'm sure you are 😜 do you eat good fats? You need to eat a certain amount of fat, it's healthy.
It's sunny today after 3 days of non stop rain, I think some places had floods, I'm in Northern Ireland.
I only have cold pressed rapseed oil I make chips in microwave the glad fry in frying pan my mam had 2 heart attacks she's 81 first one 5 years ago were careful I don't eat meat exept lately mam's pies made with oil I don't eat pork lamb or duck i used to be a vegetarian I'm 56 but my cholestrol was 5 I got it to 4.3 I'm struggling to put weight on but it's been a stressful few years my dad had stroke and died in June after been In a home how old are you he was 82 he has Irish anscestors my name is Mc
My dad had strokes and heart attacks which killed him, I used healthy oils, make chips in oven, If you don't eat fat then your body can't absorb some of the vitamins in your food.
I'm 52, I hope your mum is OK these days. Do you know where in Ireland they are from?
I eat lot of eggs and avacados well I will when go to supermarket again no it will be somewhere distant with the name my dad had net black hair green eyes he was really funny I liked the comedian Dave Allen
Sounds healthy, get to the shop and buy some. 😉
Dave Allen is good😅
I mean flash fry 😁the typing has mind of its own
I don't even know what flash frying is? 🤔😅
You put it in frying pan quick then take it out I guess it came from the term flasher Mac lol 😁
I was thinking did you flash to them 😂
Got what you mean now though I think.
Lol well just fry quickly not soaking ages as there cooked in microwave you'll have to check some of my posts I'm on positive well being I do photography and put nice mindfull posts on to help people and I've some friends made on there who we do funny posts and have a laugh check out bazzak I put one on last night and it got taken off as some comments were read as been a bit OTT were just tryner laugh our way through this virus the best we can it's been emotional week for many of us
I boil chips until they soften a bit then put them in oven with a dash of olive oil on, nice and healthy.
Send me the link then.. 😜
My posts you'll have to click on my picture then it will bring my profile up scroll down and you can see my posts there's some funny ones with my cat look up positive well being during self issolation I don't know how to give you the link hull have to join introduce yourself I'll get some wholemeal toast now if I can get up my cat pixie is laid On me he his half asleep keeps nodding off his head keeps dropping have a nice day xx
OK 👍
Yes try clicking my picture Yul get in my profile that way
Do you include fruits in your diet still? Is it just artificial added sugars that you avoid?
Yes i eat fruits, the sugar in fruit isnt the same as ordinary sugar, you need to eat a lot of most fruits to get a lot of fructose (sugar) from them, if the skin on the fruit has fibre in it then it can help your body to not absorb the fructose. Fruit is fine, some like grapes for example have more fructose than others.Itry to avoid artificial and added sugars and i dont add any to foods myself.
Oh that's good to hear. I'm looking into cutting down my sugar content but it's reassuring to know that fruits are good sugars essentially. If you're making a cake for example, what do you use to sweeten it? I know a lot of people use honey instead but I'm aware that's also got a fair amount of sugar. Perhaps it could be sweetened with fruit like banana - I think that's how my nan makes her cakes.
I bake bread and always put less sugar than the recipe needs, it always works out ok. I never bake cakes so cant say. The thing with honey is, the cheaper stuff usually has a lot more sugar than the expensive stuff, its prob ok for baking if its good quality.Using fruit would be good, banana bread already exists but i dont know if it has a lot of sugar or not.
As far as i know, eating apples is good for weight loss, up to 3 per day is said to help it along.
Fruit is be of those complicated topics with a lot of opinions out there.
If you're going cold turkey with sugar, it can help to avoid fruit for the first couple of weeks so you don't turn to it as a crutch, but it's not the end of the world.
Mostly I've been told to limit fruit to 1 or 2 portions a day, again to avoid it becoming a crutch for sugar and also because veg is more important to focus on.
I find things like n'ice cream (banana based ice cream), frozen berries, stewed apples and coconut can be good ways to get a sweet edge, without the sugar.
Interesting did you have a vanilla slice lol 😋😁
Not yet but the temptation is still there 🙄😉
I see. I'll definitely check to see if any of the sweeteners I use contains Aspartame however you do have to wonder whether it is worse than white sugar in terms of health problems long-term. I hope that my use of sweeteners in tea sporadically isn't enough to cause me health problems as I don't see any other viable sweet flavouring that I could use in drinks, desserts, etc.
Some tablets contain Aspartame
Yes I think I saw someone say that Stevia doesn't have it? I'll switch to that if the sweetener I use has it, I can't think of the name of it at the moment though.
I vaguely know of tablets having Aspartame.I don’t know for sure cos I don’t take any tablets :).
But as I said I use to drink fizzy drinks by the gallon and Aspartame lurks in diet fizzy drinks like diet coke, diet pepsi, Lilt and so on.
It is cordial and some yogurts and even in chewing gum.
Acesulfame K is another sweetener to dodge and is similar to Aspartame.
That can be found alongside Aspartame as well in some drinks.
Not sure if Ace K is in other food or drinks though.
You may like to try Redbush/ Rooibos tea as it does not have the bitter taste that black tea has. And is naturally caffeine free.
You know, I actually did want to try Rooibos tea! I'll give it a go 
You can also use natural sweeteners like Stevia or Agave nectar/syrup or honey.But make sure of the quality because I have heard about cheap brands from supermarkets, and the like, being not as good?
Flavoured tea such as roobos decaff vanilla is sweet. Flavoured teas are nice.
I like these polls, it does make me think.
Hey this is a great poll Cooper as there's so much sugar in so many shop bought foods and drinks. I bake the majority of my cakes and cookies and I use unrefined sugars, honey and maple syrup mostly for sweeteners.
I find the majority of shop bought treats are sickly sweet and make my teeth tingle so when using a new recipe reduce the sugar by 20 to 25%
Well done for making everyone think about their sugar intake and making us aware it is sugar awareness week.
Jerry. 😊
I voted avoid completely but of course I mean avoid adding sugar or products like honey which are nearly all sugar to things. I don't worry too much about natural sugars in fruits etc. but do watch out for "low fat" products which often contain a frightening amount of various sugars replacing the fat.
It's interesting to note that low fat products often use a lot more sugar than usual. It's almost as if you have to pick between fat and sugar now when shopping certain items. I need to check some of the low fat items I use as I didn't even think to check sugar content such as the low fat cheese that I use.
I use homemade rosehip syrup and honey whenever possible.
Oh, rosehip syrup sounds interesting. How do you prepare it? When I make it, I add a lot of sugar, otherwise it’s too sour.
It does have a high quantity of sugar but since I use very little and have no added sugar in other ways, I feel it is ok. The syrup is high in vitamin C so another plus. I can let you have my recipe if you like. It also has added ginger because we adore ginger. xx
Oh, yes, please. Send me the recipe. Ginger is welcome here as well.Thank you.
I love to bake but I always put half amount of sugar than what it says in the recipe. I tried sweetener but they are not good for your digestive system either 😔 😕. Honey in my coffee? Tried but I want to taste 😋 coffee ☕ not the honey taking over ,so no thanks.
As my granny said ' sugar is a sweet poison ' .
🤔 I agree ,try to avoid it but I don't drink , don't smoke, sugar - yes but DON'T over do it ! 🙂
The only added sugar I can think of is in my cocoa at most once a week. I’ve cut down to nearly a flat teaspoon for that but can’t go any further as it’s not enjoyable to drink. I must admit, I haven’t looked for sugar content in bought products but buy very little of those except for soft drinks. Liquorice tea is useful, if one feels the need for sweetness, as I do very occasionally. Bananas also. And I love Black grapes as they are less sweet than the red ones. This poll has made me think about added sugars. Will check my labels from now on.
Do you make your cocoa with water or milk? I find that milk adds a subtle sweetness which is quite nice. Perhaps you could use something like almond milk which is sweet?
I use unsweetened soya milk. Previously have used Cows milk and oat milk but they don’t agree with my system. Almond milk- I have tried this but it must have been rejected as Soya was last resort. Might try Almond again just to be sure.
Oh I see. I'm the same with cow's milk unfortunately. Good luck!
I checked out the Almond milk online just now and the first ingredient is water followed by 6% Almond, sea salt, calcium etc. Another Almond milk I looked at only had 2% Almonds in & the sea salt etc. I can’t see the need for sea salt. So I may try it again just to be sure. Or I suppose I could make my own.
As sugar was advised to be the principal cause of my heart attack almost six years ago, I was really motivated to take action. I tracked down and gradually reduced my intake over a 2 year period. As I was really addicted to it, it wasn't easy!
In the end, I tried the tapering method, which I had used to come off addictive medications, and it worked . My weight fell as the sugar intake reduced, and I got a spring in my step and an improved sense of well-being.
That's fantastic to hear! Do you have a set limit of sugar you allow yourself each day/week? I want to cut down but I'm not sure what a good limit to have is.
Well done on cutting back on sugar it can be very hard to do.
Hope your heart is remaining in good condition now
Some experts say coming off sugar addiction is tougher than cocaine (I wouldn't know about cocaine, but sugar was really tough). I am very determined, so I knew I would do it.Whether my heart is in good condition (thanks for asking!), I assume so, as I only get a slightly breathless if I speed up a steep hill or several flights of stairs (and I'm 75). But time will tell!
You can replace sugar with a plant sweetner, like native or stevia. That's what I do as contains no asparteme
I’ve heard Stevia doesn’t agree with everyone
I know I shouldn’t, but I do like sweet tea and coffee, so I use sweeteners. It’s de-caff, but I feel I deserve something to look forward to in a cuppa, even if it’s artificial ☺️. I make all my own meals, which includes occasional bread, granola and crackers, so I can control how much, if any, sugar goes into them. My desserts are usually fruit of some description, natural yoghurt with my home made granola and chopped apple or 90% cocoa chocolate. My daughter keeps bees so occasionally we get honey, but it’s seen as a real treat. I don’t eat breakfast, so I’m never tempted to eat cereals or toast at the start of my day. My snack of choice tends to be nuts or seeds.
phcuk.org/sugar/ I hope this link works. You might be surprised by what you see on Dr Unwins sugar infographics. Good poll. Thanks Cooper27
Hi Cooper, an excellent poll thank you. I chose replacexwith sweeteners (I'll only use Stevia), I've reduced the amount I eat ie. I have food naturally sweetened and I use dates and sweet potatoes to sweeten.
Hi, Yes, it’s called ‘half spoon’ in aisle with the sugar. Instead of a teaspoon of sugar you use half a teaspoon. You get the sweetness of one teaspoon for half the calories. I don’t notice any aftertaste with this, as I do with quite a lot of sweetners that I have tried, including ‘stevia’ yuk. It’s personal taste though another person might try half spoon and think no no.
For myself, I used to be quite a heavy sugar consumer, but I've worked to reduce it be either doing sugar free challenges or scaling back the amount. I will always have some on special occasions, like birthdays/Christmas or on holidays.
Is it sugar that matters?
Sugar is a form of carbohydrate - and refined carbohydrates are almost as bad as sugar.
Modern fruits may contain natural (good) sugar - but they have been bred to be very high in sugar (disgustingly sweet to one who no longer has a sweet tooth) - I have given up trying to buy nice sharp, apples.
I think that if you have epilepsy or acute type 2 diabetes you can benefit from the keto diet - cutting out almost all carbohydrate.
I have never been diabetic, and, having got down to my target weight, I do regularly eat jacket potatoes... but I have 600ml of cream a week, which enables me to keep my weight up on only two jacket potatoes a day when I eat at home. Eating more cream might enable me to reduce my carbohydrate intake considerably by cutting out potato - but I think I would be at risk of dairy allergy.
Molasses on porridge is nice with nuts or dates as a substitute
