Sugar is probably the most common form of poison that we even gift each other on a regular basis. Yes, Sugar makes a person feel great and is linked to the happiness aspect of a person in many ways. All special occasions demand a sweet to mark the importance of the event. Even so, sugar on a regular basis or in large amounts has a great impact on our health and can hurt in more than one ways.
High sugar is linked to obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and fatty liver. This makes it all the more important to control the intake of sugar, leave alone the factor of sugar addiction which can make a person upset.
Fast foods, sweet treats and processed foods as major sources
The highest intake of sugar in our day to day life is from the sweet treats that we have on a somewhat regular basis. And these are the easiest targets if we plan to cut down on the sugar intake. All our sweet dishes should be made to occasional instead of regular and that will help a lot in reducing the sugar consumption. The sweet dishes, the sugary drinks and processed foods that we consume add a lot of sugar to our diet.
Packaged Foods and Food Labels
For all the packaged foods, read to eat or easy to cook the main point of concern that should be actively checked is the amount of added sugar in the product. The added sugar label speaks a lot and yet is the least advertised. Even products which are marketed as a health treat such as something made out of oats or from whole grain is not that safe enough. A lot of added sugar is present in such products. As much as 15 to 18 grams per 100 grams which in layman terms means 4 to 5 teaspoons of sugar in every 100 grams of the product.
Just having oats or whole grains to some percent does not make the end product healthy. The sheer amount of sugar in the process to make it flavorful is a hard hit to the end consumer’s health.
Chocolates and Juices on the Rack??
I have seen most milk chocolates have around 45 grams of sugar per 100 grams and that is a huge number. It is as much as having one cube of sugar when you each two cubes of chocolate. A lot to add to someone’s sugar intake. And the added sugar is something which impacts most of the packaged foods to a large extent. Be it biscuits, chips or spreads. Ice-creams are another sugar box and have around 20-25 grams of sugar per 100 grams and the worst part is we tend to consume ice-cream in higher quantity than chocolate cubes. Thus making it an item to deprioritize from your shopping list if sugar consumption is to be managed.
Chocolate shakes or sugary drinks are easy targets. Agreed, it might not be that easy for someone who is very much used to the consumption or somewhat addicted to the consumption. Sweets in the liquid form pose a high risk to us as they are easy to consume and makes it tough to track the amount of sugar we just gulped in. And for that matter the list of such items is huge as well. Starts right from the morning cup of tea or coffee and ends at the sugary drinks that we normally have at special events. Avoiding or reducing sugary drinks is one way, but what if those are hidden under the label of health drinks.
Many fruit juices available on commercial basis and are promoted as healthy drinks need to be checked for their label of added sugar. Most of them have a lot of added sugar to make them delightful. What use is a so called health drink if it has too much of sugar ? We tend to believe the commercials we see on television and jump into buying the stuff without much thought. While checking the added sugar label is important, so is it important to check for artificial sweeteners mentioned on the packaging. They could do more harm than just the sugar. Who knows ?
Mental preparation to reduce sugar
The most important step on the path to reducing sugar intake is to prepare oneself mentally. Nothing can happen without that. Most good things require patience and practice to develop as a habit. Till that point they are just like new year resolutions. Started with a bang and faded away no sooner than that. Remember every time you add just one more spoon of sugar or a small pastry or the next glass or drink, you slowly increase your chance of falling to one of the diseases. And if you are not seeing any adverse effects of the sugar you consume, it might be because you are blessed at the moment and your body is taking all the effort to keep everything intact. But that may not be a life hack. Precaution is the best way to safeguard against the perils of bad health.
And preparing oneself mentally is the best way to start taking preventing measures. Habits cannot be forced, it needs a conscious change, one step at a time.
Planning the sugar reduction
Plan your steps to reduce the sugar intake. It will not happen overnight and takes patience and practice to find a way out from unhealthy habits. I would say just write out your sugar intake for a few days and you will start finding opportunities to reduce the intake. Once we start writing down, it is easier for us to realize how much of excess or unwanted consumption are we into. About a week of such data can help us with a list of all the products that we consume on a daily basis. Split it into two parts, the homemade things and the packaged product. It is easier to calculate the sugar consumption from the packaged stuff. Get your estimate from those outer packaging that we throw away quickly. That will help get an insight on the amount of sugar consumed from packaged foods.
Rethink Sweetness
Next comes the homemade menu. For simplicity, just observe and note down the amount of sugar that gets added into each dish. That will help complete the tracker which we started. Now its time to act on the inputs. Rethink if you can reduce the sugar addition in the homemade products and plan accordingly. You may even try reducing the amount slightly and check if the taste is still good. And for packaged products, the first question would surely be do I need to consume the product ? If yes, can the consumption quantity be reduced ? That is the best way.
The next best way is to find replacements. Find a low sugar packaged product if consuming packed food is a need due to some reason. For homemade foods, the way is to try honey or jaggery as a sweetener than sugar or artificial sweeteners. Honey and jaggery have their own set of health benefits, although it is true that all dishes cannot be sweetened using them. Another lovely way would be to add fruits to your dish to sweeten the dish without additional sugar. I remember making a dish with added jackfruit as a sweetener instead of sugar or any other sweetener. A way to calm the sweet tooth and yet not consume too much sugar.
These baby steps to reduce the sugar consumption build up in a long run into good habits that keep a person away from the risks of excess sugar consumption. So, lets do it ! One step at a time !
Nagesh Naik 
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