Sugar, one of our biggest enemies. It follows us almost everywhere and, even when we try to escape from it, it appears in front of us, disguised in the most varied ways.
The World Health Organization states that the daily total of sugar added to the foods we consume should not exceed six teaspoons. The problem is that, without realizing it, we easily exceed this value and seriously harm our health.
Excessive consumption of this ingredient seriously increases the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, depression or rheumatoid arthritis.
It is urgent to remove sugar from your body and make your taste less sweet. And before you think you can't do it, remember: our body only needs 21 days to adapt to a new habit. Being aware of the bad habits we have and making an effort to replace them with others is half the battle to achieving long-term change. The goal is to gradually start eliminating sugar from your diet. Let's do it?
Gradually remove the sugar from the coffee.
Most people drink, on average, three coffees a day. If you add a packet of sugar to these three coffees, you have already exceeded the recommended daily amount. If you can't drink coffee without sugar, you don't have to immediately nip the problem in the bud. Start by adding half the package and, little by little, move up to 1/4, until finally you can drink your coffee with 0% sugar.
Always read the labels of what you buy.
This is, perhaps, the most important point of this entire article. Supermarket shelves are full of products that are sold as healthy and light – biscuits, yogurts, granolas, bars and cereals – that are loaded with sugar. Always read the labels of what you put in your shopping cart.
Swap soft drinks for water.
One of the biggest sources of sugar are the drinks that we consume in the blink of an eye. Soft drinks (even those called light ) are full of artificial sweeteners and sweeteners. Prefer water or tea.
Choose naturally sweet foods.
To replace that chocolate after lunch or that bag of cookies in the middle of the afternoon, choose natural foods that are already sweet in themselves. Dates and dried figs are good options for a morning or afternoon snack, to accompany with walnuts or almonds, for example.
Avoid refined carbohydrates.
The white breads and pastas we consume are full of disguised sugars. Choose artisanal products (in the case of bread) and replace normal versions with wholemeal ones (in the case of pasta). The good news is that you don't have to give up sugar completely, as there are several alternatives that you can include in your diet: stevia, xylitol, coconut sugar or honey.
