Sugar can be hard to reduce in your diet. It's literally everywhere and sugar cravings
can be be really difficult to manage. I know because I used to be a sugar addict. In this video I'm going to share my top ten
tips to reduce sugar in your diet without going crazy. If you're interested, keep watching. Hi guys! welcome back to THE WHOLE HAPPY LIFE. My name is Ria and I'm a holistic nutritionist with an applied
science background. Today's topic is sugar and how to reduce it in your diet. I'm going to give you practical tips to reduce the sugar. These are things that I have learned from my own experience because
I was a sugar addict at one point and these are also things that I
have learned from my clients' experiences. So I hope these things work for you. Now before we dive in I need to mention two
things. First is this video is talking about tackling
added sugar - not natural sugar in whole foods. So I'm talking about reducing sugar in things
like breakfast cereals, processed foods, snacks,
candies. I'm not talking about reducing your sugar in things like tomatoes, carrots, apples, oranges. I think sugar in natural foods is not a problem because they have fibre and they have a lot of the vitamins and minerals
intact. The problem really is added sugar. Now how much added sugar should you have per day ? What
is the limit? Well the World Health Organization actually
has a limit. So their limit is 50 g per day. They recommend staying below that. To put that into perspective, that's not a lot. If you were to have a can of soda, you would
have roughly 40 g. So that doesn't leave you much room for more
sugar. Now if you're looking for maximum health benefits, the recommendation is below 25 g per day. Now that you know the details and the background, let's dive into the tips. Number 1: read the labels on all of your processed foods. So I'm not really a big fan of eating processed foods. I try to stick to whole foods, but sometimes you
gotta eat the processed foods. How can you tell if you're having too much sugar or not. Learn to read the labels. On the ingredient list, all the ingredients that were used to make the food are listed. The first ingredient is typically the one that is used the most
and the last ingredient is the one that is used in the
least quantity. So look through the ingredient list and try
to look for words that signify sugar. Now the the problem is sugar actually has 60 different
names! I don't know all of them and I don't expect
you to know all of them. I have them in the description box below. The most common words you want to look for
are sugar - obviously. And syrup - so brown rice syrup..malt syrup. Then you have high fructose corn syrup. So look for the word syrup and also look for
words that end with -OSE. ose. Glucose, fructose, dextrose. Those are all sugars, so try to avoid foods that have a lot of sugars in them. Number 2: eat more whole foods. Whole foods are foods that are in their natural form. So for example, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, that sort of thing. When you eat whole foods, there are no added
sugars. It's not processed, no one added sugar to
it. So if you have a diet that is primarily whole
foods you automatically reduce the amount of sugar
in your diet. Number 3: try not to drink your calories. One of the easiest ways to have too much sugar is to
drink it. Because it doesn't feel like we're getting
that much. And it's just very easy to overdo. So whenever I am drinking something, I am
very mindful of the amount of sugar in it. I try to ask for unsweetened beverages whenever I am going to a cafe whenever I go to a cafe. If I'm getting an iced tea or an iced coffee,
I try to get it unsweetened. And if you're going for bottled beverages,
refer to point 1, which was to read the label. So try not to drink all of your calories in
the form of sugar. Number 4: don't get carried away with the
natural sweeteners. And I really wish someone had told me this. When I transitioned from a high sugar diet
to a low sugar diet, I went from using white sugar to using things like coconut sugar,
maple syrup. I used honey. I used brown rie syrup. I used all these natural sweeteners and you
know what? I basically replaced my white sugar addiction
with a natural sugar addiction. I was still addicted to sugar and I still
overdid it. Now I'm not saying you can never have natural
sugar. Just bear in mind that is very concentrated
and it isn't as good for your health as having fresh fruit. Number 5: eat more protein. When you don't eat enough protein with every
single meal, your blood sugar tends to be a little bit erratic. So let's say you have breakfast, it's a sugary
breakfast cereal with a little bit of milk. And you're out the door at around 8 o'clock. So you've had your breakfast around 7:30. By the time 10:30 rolls around you're probably
going to be hungry. That's because your breakfast didn't have
enough protein and it had too much sugar. So your blood sugar went up and then you had
that dip and during that dip, you have that sugar craving. Now if you want to prevent that sugar craving,
a good idea is to get enough protein with every single meal. So I recommend at least 15-20 grams of protein
as a minimum per meal, so you're getting your protein throughout the day and you're stabilizing
your blood sugar levels and you're not going to have those cravings. Number 6: eat more fat, this is along the
same lines as eat more protein. So basically when you eat enough fat with
all of your meals, you're less likely to have those sugar cravings because your blood sugar
levels are stable and you're fuller for longer. So I recommend that you eat fats from whole
foods sources, not from things like oil. Because when you have fat from whole food
sources, you're actually getting all of the nutrition. So let me give you an example. Let's say you were to compare avocado oil
to avocados. Avocado oil is just a pure fat - there is
nothing in there by fat. But avocados have vitamins such as vitamin
B, they have the K vitamin, they also have vitamin E and fibre. So when you're getting your fat from avocado,
actual avocado, not the oil, you're getting a lot more nutrient bang for your buck. Try to stick to whole food sources whenever
possible for your meals. So you can have avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut,
that sort of thing. Limit your oils. Number 7: remove temptation. Now if you have sugary snacks lying in your
cupboard, you're more likely to eat them. It's because they are right there. You're not going to have sugary snacks if
they are not in your home. So it's sort of like an out of sight, out
of mind situation. It's very unlikely that you're going to get
dressed, get in your car and go to the grocery store when that sugar craving strikes. This leads me to my next point - number 8. Just because you can't have the sugary snacks,
that doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself. So I recommend keeping some low sugar snacks
around at home. You can keep freshly cut fruit in your fridge
if that helps, but sometimes you want something a little extra. So one simple thing that you could do is frozen
grapes. So grapes are naturally very sweet and once
you freeze them, they take on a very different texture and they become a little bit more
enjoyable. Now frozen grapes is one thing. The second thing I like to do is frozen bananas. You can actually make frozen banana popsicles. So take a ripe banana, peel it, put a popsicle
stick in it if you have one, you don't have to use a popsicle stick. Put it in the freezer for 24 hours or until
it completely hardens. And the next day when you have that sugar
craving, you can actually take that frozen banana, dip it in a little bit of melted dark
chocolate, put some shredded coconut on top and you have a frozen banana popsicle. It's got fruit, it's got healthy fat from
the coconut and it's got dark chocolate. You cant go wrong with that. Another example is apple nachos. I'm not going to tell you exactly how to make
it here as this video will become too long, but I will put a link in the description box
below. Number 9: don't use sugar as a way to relieve
stress. Now when I was in engineering, I used to have
a lot of sugar. I was very stressed out and sugar was the
first thing I reached for as form of stress relief. Now sugar does lower your stress, however
it's a short term solution, it's not a long term solution. I have realized over the years that the best
way to manage your stress, is not through food, it's not through sugar, it's through
other avenues. Things like meditation, yoga, going for a
walk in the park, having a bubble bath, anything that works for you. Anything that reduces your stress is a good
way to do it. One of the things I find really helps with
stress management is self-care. I actually have a video on this, I will link
it in the description box below. Number 10: never say never. The problem with having a black and white
approach to sugar is that it doesn't work long-term. Life is about finding balance. Now I'm not saying to have sugar in moderation
because I don't think you can have sugar in moderation. It is very difficult to stay in the moderation
zone. But having sugar occasionally, when they occasion
warrants it is not a problem. Let me give you an example. Let's say it's your grandma's 90th birthday
and she's baked a cake. All by herself for her birthday. Are you gonna say no to that? I don't think so. Because that's a special occasion. That's an occasion that warrants having a
piece of cake. You don't have to have the whole thing - you
could share it withe somebody. But sometimes it's ok to have the sugar, so
give yourself that allowance. Alot of things in life, nutrition included,
are about finding balance, so find that balance that works for you. If you enjoyed the video and you learned something
new, give it a thumbs up because you know how that makes me feel and don't forget to
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of the whole happy life. I create videos on health, nutrition, minimalism,
lifestyle, that sort of thing. Anyway, I will see you in the next video. Bye!
