10 STEP GUIDE TO CUTTING DOWN ON SUGAR
CUT YOUR SUGAR INTAKE Serving Size 4 pages Servings Per Container About 5
Introduction To Sugar 2 1 Read The Food Labels 4 2 Know Your Sugar Limit 5 3 Be Smart About Your Morning Coffee 6 4 Don’t Trust No Calorie Sweeteners And Diet Products 7 5 Don’t Drink It 8 6 Buy Smarter Groceries 10 7 Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup 11 8 Add Flavor To Your Life 12 9 Sleep More 14 10 Don’t Cut It All Out At Once 15 Conclusion 16
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INTRODUCTION TO SUGAR The Brief History of Sugar Sugar has been an important commodity historically due to a variety of factors, including the human appetite for sweet foods and drinks, the complementarity that sugar brings to the other flavors in food, its preservation and fermentation properties, and the calories it provides. Sugar (or more precisely sucrose) was first prepared in India. It was brought back to the Western world by the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great in 325 BCE. Trade in sugar was further expanded in the Mediterranean region by the Arab conquest of the sixth century CE. Improvements in the crystallization process expanded the sugar trade in the twelfth century. However, the limited supply of sugar in the international market caused refined sugar to be relatively costly until the production of sugar by European colonies in the Americas grew after 1700. This expansion, coupled with improvements in refining technologies that reduced unwanted tastes in the sweetener, caused sugar to replace other sweeteners such as honey, becoming the dominant sweetener over time.
The Sugar Industry The sugar industry has a long history of influencing the nutrition policy in the United States, working to mask the potential risks of consuming too much sugar. It wasn’t until this year, for instance, that the US Dietary Guidelines finally recommended people keep their consumption of added sugars below 10 percent of their total calorie intake — decades after health advocates began pressing for the measure. The industry has been distorting scientific research by dictating what questions get asked about sugar, particularly questions around sugar’s role in promoting heart disease. In the 1950s, when the rate of heart disease started to shoot up in the United States, scientists began searching for answers, and zeroed in on dietary saturated fat as the leading contributor. (The energy we get from food comes in three kinds of nutrients: fats, carbohydrates, and protein.) The sugar trade association helped boost the hypothesis that eating too much saturated fat was the major cause of the nation’s heart problems, while creating doubt about the evidence showing that sugar could be a culprit too. Sugar increases triglycerides in the blood, which may also help harden
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the arteries and thicken artery walls — driving up the risk of stroke, heart attack, and heart disease. Today, scientific consensus related to the role specific macro-nutrients play in the diet has shifted. Researchers have come around to the view that a person’s overall eating habits probably matter more for health than the particular percentages of carbs, fats, and proteins taken in. But they also generally agree that some kinds of fats are less damaging to health than others. (In particular, unsaturated fats appear to be better for one’s cardiovascular disease risk than saturated and trans fats.) And that too much sugar can be just as bad as too much fat for the heart. Beginning in the 1950s, a trade group called the Sugar Research Foundation was concerned about evidence showing that a low-fat diet high in sugar might raise cholesterol levels in the blood. If sugar turned out to be a major driver of heart issues, the group surmised, that could be devastating for sugar producers. So the Sugar Research Foundation aligned itself with leading Harvard nutrition professors, and paid them the equivalent of $48,900 (in 2016 dollars) for a two-part research review, later published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that would discredit the link between sugar and heart disease. The review concluded there was ‘no doubt’ that the only dietary intervention required to prevent coronary heart disease was to reduce dietary cholesterol and substitute polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat in the American diet. In other words, the sugar-sponsored researchers emphasized the role saturated fat played in heart troubles, and de-emphasized the risks dietary sugar carry. Recent research emphasizes that industry-funded science needs to be heavily scrutinized, and not taken at face value, there are so many ways a study can be manipulated — from the questions that are asked,
from how the information is analyzed, even to how the conclusions are described in the paper. In this case, the sugar industry involvement in science influenced not only the scientific enterprise but also public-health policy, and potentially, the health of millions of people. Even the most recent World Health Organization sugar guidelines focus on reducing consumption because of sugar’s role in obesity and tooth decay — not the heart risk. The Sugar Association today continues to push back on the sugar-heart link. Most recently, the group called the American Heart Association’s recommendation that kids eat no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar and adults eat no more than 6 to 9 teaspoons of sugar per day. The Sugar Association considers this limit “baffling” and still thinks that added sugars have a healthy place in children’s and adult’s diets.
Why You Should Cut Out Sugar In its natural state, sugar is a relatively harmless — even necessary — carbohydrate that our bodies need to function. It’s found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy as a compound known as fructose or lactose. The problem comes when sugar is added to foods during processing for added flavor, texture, or color. This is more common than you may realize — you don’t have to be in the candy aisle to be surrounded by added sugar. Eating too many of these empty calories has many health effects, the most obvious being major weight gain. Added sugar drives your insulin levels up, messes with your metabolism, and causes those calories to turn right into fat. Added sugar’s “empty calories” only cause health problems and should be cut out of our diets as much as possible. The following ten steps will help you keep your sugar intake low over time.
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READ THE FOOD LABELS Know How to Read a Nutrition Label The first step to cutting down on sugar in your diet is to being able to read a food label. If you are able to read a food label you will be able to see where sugar hides and how much sugar is in a food. Sugar has been listed under 56 different names on food labels. Sugar hides under names such as: Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Dried Cane Syrup, Invert Sugar, Sucrose, Fructose, Dextrose, anything ending with -ose, Molasses, Brown Rice Syrup, Honey, Maple Syrup, and Corn Sweetener. Any of these names could be found in the ingredients list on a food label. Don’t let these names confuse you; know what names sugar hides under so you can learn what foods to avoid. It’s also important to know where on a label the sugar is listened in grams per serving. This is the number of the total sugars in the ingredient list present in one serving of the food. Also keep in mind that if the product has no milk or fruit products in the ingredients then all of the sugars are therefore added sugars. If it does contain milk or fruit products then the total sugars are from naturally occurring sugars and added sugars. On your right is a diagram explaining where certain information can be found on a nutrition label. The top most piece of information is how much of the food product is considered a single serving. On our example a single serving is 3/4 Cup and in this package there are a total of 12 servings. The information below all deals with how much of everything making up the food is in a serving. So this product has 130 calories in one serving. The sugars present are also highlighted in pink; it contains 10 grams of sugar per serving. The last piece of important information to look for is the Ingredients list, usually located at the bottom. This is where sugar can be listed under its many different names. In this product it is listed as Sugar, Fructose, Dextrose, and Corn Syrup.
Terms to Know A Serving Size - the amount of food listed on the food label/the amount of food or drink that is generally served Sugar-Free - less than .5 grams of sugar per serving
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Reduced Sugar or Less Sugar- at least 25% less sugar per serving compared to a standard serving size of the traditional variety No Added Sugars or Without Sugar Added - no sugars or sugar-containing ingredients such as juice or dry fruit is added during processing Low Sugar is not defined or allowed as a claim on food labels
The serving size and how many servings are in this food How many calories are in a serving of the food
How much sugar is in a serving
Ingredients list shows exactly what’s in the food
processes and that results in a higher production of bad cholesterol and fat.
The Recommended Amount
KNOW YOUR SUGAR LIMIT What Exactly is Refined Sugar? Refined sugar, Sucrose, is made up of glucose and fructose. Our bodies process refined sugars differently from natural sugars found in unprocessed foods. These processed sugars are full of additional calories and zero nutrients. The fructose aspect of refined sugars is what makes these sugars truly bad for you. Fructose can only be processed by our livers, which means that a great number of calories are going through liver
The average American adult consumes about 32 teaspoons of sugar a day. The excessive consumption of refined sugars in America has contributed to several diseases. Sugar consumption has contributed to the obesity epidemic, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and several heart diseases such as hypertension and high blood pressure. In order to prevent these possible illnesses, the American Heart Association recommends limiting your sugar intake to no more than 100 calories, 6 teaspoons, for women and 150 calories, 9 teaspoons, for men per day. Reducing your sugar intake to the recommended amount can also help you control your weight, improve your heart heath and mouth health, and reduced risk of type two diabetes. The daily recommended sugar intake for women is 100 calories, 6 teaspoons, 24 gram and for men is 150 calories, 9 teaspoons, 36 grams. To put this into perspective, one glazed donut is 21 grams of sugar.
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BE SMART ABOUT YOUR MORNING COFFEE Getting Coffee Out
Alternatives
Coffee is America’s caffeine of choice when it comes to starting the day off right. But if you’re not careful your morning coffee could be filled with a lot of sugar. People who go out for coffee every day might be taking in more sugar than they think. Getting an average medium vanilla latte from Starbucks is around 250 calories with 35 grams of sugar. This same latte at Dunkin’ Donuts is around 340 calories with 52 grams of sugar and at McDonald’s it is 210 calories and 15 grams of sugar. Then at Peet’s this coffee order is 235 calories and 45 grams of sugar. Having a medium vanilla latte from any of these coffee places in the morning means that you have already consumed a large amount of your recommended sugar intake for the day.
There are many alternatives to getting the traditional latte when getting coffee before work. It only takes a little bit more effort to find out the sugar free options. Most places offer a sugar free version of some of their flavor shots and have skim milk available. Some places are even starting to offer nut based milks and coconut milk. A medium coffee with a vanilla sugar-free flavor shot and skim or nut based milk is about 35 calories with only 5 grams of sugar. The best option by far is making your own coffee at home where you have the most control over what goes into your coffee. At home you can choose to use plant based sugars such as Stevia and nut based milks which are both significantly lower in calories and better for your body compared to milk and sugar. This coffee made at home is only about 30 calories and five grams of sugar. Always taste your coffee before adding any sugar; taste it again after you add small increments of sugar and when possible use plant based sugars.
Homemade Coffee Brewed coffee, Stevia, Unsweetened Almond Milk 30 calories 5 grams of sugar
Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Latte Medium
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Brewed Espresso, Whole Milk, Vanilla Swirl Syrup 340 calories 52 grams of sugar
Starbucks Vanilla Latte Medium
Brewed Espresso, 2% Milk, Vanilla syrup 250 calories 35 grams of sugar
DON’T TRUST NO CALORIE SWEETENERS AND DIET PRODUCTS Why No Calories is Worse For You A sugar with no calories was always too good to be true. No calorie sweeteners and diet products are only able to be no calories by being full of chemicals. Most diet products contain aspartame and other chemicals that promote cardiovascular disease, stroke, certain cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. Diet and sugar-free products and artificial sugars are also associated with weight gain. When your body intakes these chemical filled sweeteners it tricks your body into thinking its going to receive sugar. When the calories do not arrive your body signals that it needs more calories causing you to want to eat more. These products also increase bacteria that promote increased fat storage. The new bacteria brings with it higher blood glucose levels that puts you at a higher risk of diabetes. The FDA says that artificial sweeteners are safe as long as they are used in moderation. However, it’s best to stay away from any products labeled diet or no calorie sweetener because it’s easy to rely on them as you cut back on white table sugar. These products easily become a crutch that’s hard to give up and are also known to increase our preference for highly sweet foods and ultimately we consume more sweetened foods. No Calorie Sweeteners are even more processed than white table sugar; therefore consuming diet products is even worse than consuming sugar.
What’s In A Diet Soda?
Caffeine Natural Flavors Phosphoric Acid Caramel Color Citric Acid Potassium Benzoate Aspartame
Carbonated Water
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recommended amount. Mountain Dew is one of the worst sodas for you with 290 calories and 77 grams of sugar in a 20 ounce bottle.
DON’T DRINK IT Stop Drinking Soda If you want to cut sugar out of your diet you must avoid drinking soda entirely. A 20 ounce CocaCola is 240 calories and has 65 grams of sugar. With the recommended daily sugar limit at 24-36 grams, a typical 20 ounce soda is about double your
Sugar in Your Drinks A lot of drinks have unnecessary added sugars and should be limited in your diet. Enhanced waters such as Vitamin Water is 120 calories and has 32 grams of sugar. Bottled iced teas can also be filled with lots of sugars; Lemon Gold Peak is 180 calories and 45 grams of sugar. The best bottle iced teas to drink are the unsweetened iced teas such as Pure Leaf Unsweetened Green Tea. Energy drinks also have a lot of sugar, Red Bull has 110 calories and 27 grams of sugar. Bottled coffee drinks can be even worse for you than having a
Grams of Sugar
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40
20
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Coca Cola
Vitamin Water
Orange Juice
barista make you a latte. Starbucks Frappuccinos are 260 calories and 45 grams of sugar which is just as much as a 20 ounce Coke. Sugar also hides in many store bought and restaurant made smoothies. Several of these smoothies have unnecessary added sugars, artificial flavors and colors. A McDonald’s Strawberry Banana iced Fruit Smoothie has 65 grams of sugar. Even the smoothies with only natural sugars from fruit still contains a lot of sugar. Red Machine Naked Juice is 320 calories and 48 grams of sugar per serving. Fruit juices also have a lot of added sugars. Orange juice usually has 21 grams of sugar per serving, apple juice usually has 28 grams, cranberry juice usually has 37 grams, and grape juice has the most at about 38
Red Bull
Snapple
grams of sugar. Even the juices that have no added sugar are still sugar filled because the same amount of sugars and calories in a single orange are then made into a juice which often takes several oranges so drinking a juice is equivalent to eating several oranges. Finally mixed alcoholic drinks often have a lot of sugar. Mixed drinks often include fruit juices and flavored syrups. A Margarita can contain 30 grams of sugar per serving.
Naked Smoothie
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BUY SMARTER GROCERIES Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables When choosing what to buy for the week at the grocery store you have to remember to keep the processed sugar products low and replace them with more natural sugars. Natural sugars can be found in fruits and vegetables and are easier for your body to process with very high nutrients. The body uses the natural glucose found in fruits and vegetables and converts it into energy that your body uses to function. These natural sugars will actually make you feel a lot better. You do have to watch out for the fruits that have been genetically bred to be extra sweet such as Pink Lady and Fuji apples.
Better Groceries Shopping for groceries with less sugar is all about looking at the labels. Look for the products labeled
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“no added sugar” or “unsweetened”. Some examples of these products are: unsweetened soy milk, no syrup added canned fruit, no added sugar cereals, and unsweetened nut butters. If the label is unclear just check the nutrition facts on the package to see how much if any added sugar is present. Always check the nutrition facts on savory foods because they can have surprisingly high sugar levels. Ready-made soups and sauces often have hidden added sugars. Remember all the names that sugar hides under and check the ingredient list on the food products you’re purchasing.
AVOID HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP Sugar Made From Corn High Fructose Corn Syrup is the sweet syrup made from processing corn stalks into sugar. It is sweeter than cane sugar and much cheaper to produce. Companies decide to use High Fructose Corn Syrup in their products instead of cane sugar because of how much cheaper it is. High Fructose Corn Syrup works differently from sugar. Molecularly they are similar however when you consume HFCS it makes the body store fat much more than white table sugar does. This causes significant weight gain and has contributed directly to the obesity epidemic in America. When consumed, the fructose in HFCS, goes directly into your liver. Putting all of that fructose into your liver leads to fatty liver disease and this, in turn, leads to diabetes. So, high fructose corn syrup is the real driver of the current epidemic of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, dementia, and of course, Type 2 diabetes. Most products that contain HFCS are cheap packaged desserts and baked goods such as Wonder Bread, Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, and Pop Tarts. Other products that contain HFCS include ketchup, tomato based sauces, cereals such as Special K, salad dressing, and Yoplait Yogurts. The Corn Industry is just as bad as the Sugar Industry when it comes to what they do and do not want you to know about HFCS and the health implications associated with their product.
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ADD FLAVOR TO YOUR LIFE Sugar Alternatives
Pure Maple Syrup
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There are several alternatives to processed white sugar that are less processed and slightly better for you. Stevia is a native herb that is simply plant fiber. It has no calories and no glycemic impact making it suitable for diabetics and one of the most popular sugar alternatives. Coconut sugar is another alternative. It is made from coconut palm sap and has actual nutritional value. This sugar scores low on the glycemic index as well. Dates and date sugar is also a good substitute. This sugar has nutritional value from the fruit it was made from and is specifically a good alternative for brown sugar. However it does not melt and is difficult to dissolve. Raw honey is another product that is actually sweeter than sugar. It is full of vitamins but with this benefit comes a lot of calories, more calories than white sugar has. But these calories are not empty calories like sugar. Pure maple syrup is another alternative to sugar,
Cocoa
Vanilla Extract
Dates
Cinnamon
Spices and flavors will distract your taste buds and make them not want sugar. You can almost train yourself to find sweetness in alternate flavors. it can also be found in a dehydrated form. Similar to honey it has more calories than normal sugar but it has more nutritional value.
Add Flavor Instead of Sugar If you are determined enough to stay as far away from any sugar as possible, even sugar alternatives, you can try adding flavor instead. Cinnamon is a super spice that adds subtle sweetness to whatever you add it to. It also boosts your immunity and can help with memory, and has no calories. Unsweetened cocoa powder is another possible flavor to add. Adding cocoa powder can satisfy your sweet tooth without you having to consume any sugars. Vanilla extract is another flavor you can add. Vanilla extract is 12 calories a teaspoon however it is strong enough so you never have to add too much. It has also been said that it can help aid weight loss. Citrus flavors are also good to add instead
of sugar. Citrus such as orange can add a subtle and natural sweetness while citrus such as lime and lemon add a tart and tang. There are many more natural substitutes that you can find besides resorting to processed white sugar, whether you are just trying to choose a better sugar to use or cut out sugar entirely and substitute with flavor.
Stevia
Coconut Sugar
Raw Honey
Citrus
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SLEEP MORE Getting Enough Sleep If you’re someone who experiences strong sugar cravings everyday you might want to analyze just how much sleep you’re getting every night. If you are getting less than five or six hours of sleep every night you are more prone to having sugar cravings. It is recommended that the average person should get seven to nine hours of sleep every night and many different studies have found that sleep deprivation of two hours or more of this recommended average leads to overeating and junk food cravings. Sleep deprivation also leads to sweet foods being more appealing to adolescents, with a consumption of dessert servings up to 52% higher, and to an increased intake of food in men as well as cravings for caloriedense foods in adults. So getting a proper amount of sleep can be a great way to curb cravings, which also will help you cut down sugar in your diet overtime. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that on average you should be getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
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DONT CUT IT ALL OUT AT ONCE Our Sugar Addiction Americans are addicted to their sugars; most of our food products contain sugar because of how much we crave it. The sugar industry has gradually weaned us onto sugar and caused this addiction. A decade ago, critics appeared skeptical sugar could become addictive. Yet as new studies emerge and prominent experts speak out, sugar addiction has become a legitimate, concerning focus as sugar consumption, particularly as highfructose corn syrup (HFCS), escalates. Psychology found a food addict’s brain operates similarly to a drug addict when they think about eating sugary, fatty foods. In recent animal studies involving sugar, an animal will choose an Oreo over morphine. This is because the cookie has the perfect combination of sugar and fat to hijack the brain’s reward center. Some specialists believe that sugar can be eight times more addictive than cocaine.
It is also best to set reasonable sugar goals for yourself. You also need to give your body time to adapt by giving yourself a realistic period of time to reach your sugar intake goals. Occasional indulgence is not a bad thing as long as most of the time you are keeping sugars low in your diet. Eventually you will start to crave the natural sweetness of berries, vanilla, and roasted almonds. Just like those hard-core drugs, getting off sugar leads to withdrawal and cravings, requiring an actual detox process to wean off.
How to Free Yourself From Sugar
Like any other drug you must decrease your intake over time. If you completely cut it all out at once you will experience withdrawal symptoms. Cutting it all out at once also means you are more unlikely to succeed. If you follow the ten steps in this booklet and gradually reduce how much sugar is being put into your body you will no longer be addicted.
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CONCLUSION The Best Part of Cutting Your Sugar Intake There are so many benefits to eating less sugar. Your overall health will improve significantly and you will feel it. Not only will you feel happier and more energetic but your heart, waist-line, and body will be healthier in the long run. Once you’ve cut out sugar you’ll find that you will be at a healthy weight with a lower risk of diabetes. You’ll have fewer cravings and because of this will probably save money. Your blood pressure and bad cholesterol will also lower, and you will have a decreased risk of heart attack. Your brain function will also be sharper and you’ll be less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and depression. You will also no longer be a sugar addict with younger looking and clear skin and healthier mouth. You will not be at risk of fatty liver disease and certain cancers.
Last Thoughts It’s not easy to cut something out of our diets that appears in most things we eat. You just have to learn how to read food labels, know where sugar hides, and recognize what sugars are actually okay for you. Avoid the very processed sugars such as white table sugar, and High Fructose Corn syrup. Never resort to using no calorie sweeteners or diet products that are full of chemicals that harm your body, even though a sweet thing with no calories is very tempting. Make your own coffee at home so you know exactly what’s going into it and same goes for food; try to prepare most of your own meals so you know what is being put into your body. Make sure to get enough sleep to lessen cravings and give yourself reasonable periods of time to achieve your goals. By following these ten steps you will be able to cut down on sugar in your diet over time and improve your overall health.
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