Cutting sugar from my diet

veriterc

Don't forget there is often a lot of 'hidden' sugar in 'low fat' products such as yoghourt and ready-meals (even savoury main courses).   

thespiceman

Hello @Geoark   Have spoken for a while how is the sugar reduction going.

Understand from reading you have done very well. 

Apples, Pears all good in Cereals like Porridge or even Cornflakes. Always have Yoghurt natural or Greek Plain no sweeteners with Cinnamon or Fennel Seeds.

Like Berries, Cherries, Blueberries all frozen those supermarkets sell bags last a long time.  Black berries new to me.

With looking what is around food stuffs everything has sugar in it.  Understand and looking at food labelling is something I have been doing but always surprises even me.

Sugar in bread where did that come from.

Buy tinned fruit but in juice as good as fresh . Not in syrup.  Buy fresh Apples not Pears or Peaches, Apricots.  Bought a load all went off after two days with spots, marks , blemishes. Ridiculous and cost me money.

I will admit buy dried fruit and know there is sugar in them but combine it with nuts for a breakfast topper..  Usually Apricots, Prunes Sultanas.  Any of those but I know portions sizes.

Buy Pasta Sauce.  Has sugar in it tend to buy the Italian brands but even so careful. Make own sauces for Ragu and other one pots tomato based sauce. and will put in a sweetener to counter act the acidic taste. Know just a squirt of Tomato Ketchup.  One teaspoon.

Certain Spices in any recipe can replace sugar. Like Cumin, Cinnamon, Coriander, Paprika, Turmeric, plus Fennel Seeds are the ones I use all helps.

It is worth having a look at portion control and maybe seeking advice on that as well.

Every one hands are different.  If you use a hand as a portion. I tend to measure everything out.

Also it is worth drinking water with every meal. This helps with not only digestion but the teeth .

Always if I can have Bread or Cheese , Nuts after every meal helps me to digest food . Instead of a sugary pudding. Now and again Rice Pudding.

Understanding how and what is in food I believe is the key to controlling sugar, salt and fat.

Please take care

@thespiceman

newborn

 the sugar industry has much to answer for.  As many posters say, you get accustomed  to  a taste.  But then, you fight to find any manufactured foods without sweetener of some sort, and all are probably best avoided.  

The natural sugars inside fruit are  not thought to be particularly problematic, as I understand,  being differently accepted by the body. Unless there's an extreme need, it's probably  ok for most.

Have you looked at fodmap?  Honey, apples,  garlic top most lists, with odd surprise items.  Much gut trouble and operations could almost certainly be sidestepped if the general public, and medics, were more aware of the food baddies.   NICE is pushing, now, especially  via Kings Dieticians.  Some people experiment with different lists, eg monash.

But, there isn't just a simple one size fits all list.  Wheat and gluten may be best avoided, without necessarily being full allergy.  Dairy may be poison to one, but another can take at least limited amounts.

  Keeping off ready meals and junk and manufactured foods means if you truly want to shovel sugar onto your food, you need to make it deliberate. That alone will often have the unintended side effect of your weight dropping to a level your body decides is about right for you.

There have been tv series and books by Dr Michael Mosley and others, on similar  lines plus stress on being kind to your gut bacteria

debbiedo49

Great advice, thanks

Bevoly

Can try the SUGAR SMART website. Jamie Oliver and Sustainable foods charity are doing a national campaign. Great sugar free recipes on YouTube Chang4Life with apps you can use in stores to see how much sugar is in the foods before you buy. I have RA and my flare ups are almost non existent when I cut out sugar. I'm now on a whole foods diet and loving it.

debbiedo49

Thanks for the info