Avoid Sugar If You Want To Lose Weight
Avoid Sugar If You Want To Lose Weight
Avoiding sugar is widely-accepted as a successful method for healthy weight loss. By lowering your sugar intake, you in turn stabilize blood sugar levels and insulin response, lower bad cholesterol levels and eliminate other sugar-consumption side effects such as mood swings and digestive issues. It also lowers the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases.
Replace Granulated, Refined Sugar With Natural Sucrose
When sugar cane undergoes the refining process to extract the raw sugar from the plant, the repetition of washing, boiling, filtering and drying removes all of the plant's natural vitamins and minerals, leaving us with the nutritionally-depleted refined sugar found in most products on the shelves.
There is a difference between sucrose in processed foods and the natural sucrose found in fruits and vegetables. Added sucrose contains empty calories, meaning they do not contain any nutritional value. They are simply added, unnecessary calories and can lead to addiction.
Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup
In the United States, high fructose corn syrup is the most common replacement for regular sucrose and can be found in many breads, carbonated beverages, cereals and condiments. Health experts believe that the recent rise in obesity in the United States can be linked to the increased use of high fructose corn syrup in so many food products. High fructose corn syrup has also been found to have adverse effects on insulin response.
Eliminate All Artificial Sweeteners
As well as avoiding high fructose corn syrup, it is important to eliminate all other artificial sweeteners from your diet as well. Instead, try a natural sweetener such as Rapadura. Rapadura is a whole organic sugar native to South America. It is natural and unrefined, is full of vitamins and minerals and is especially high in iron.
Another popular natural sweetener is Stevia which is also from South America. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar and has zero calories. Stevia has been found to regulate blood sugar and is often sold in South America to those suffering from diabetes and hypoglycemia. Stevia is available in liquid, tablet and powered form.
Read Food Labels To Avoid Hidden Sugar
Sugar sometimes masquerades itself in store-bought, processed foods as other ingredients, and it is important to carefully read food labels when following a low-sugar diet. Some ingredients to look out for are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, sucrose, rice syrup, dextrin, glucose, fruit juice concentrate, lactose, maltodextrin, malt syrup, maltose, saccharose, sorghum, treacle and xylose.
Additional Tips
• Eat sweet vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, parsnips, and carrots, to curb sugar cravings.
• Increase consumption of fruits such as apples, bananas, strawberries and blueberries.
• Add high-fiber, whole-grain foods to your diet as well as foods high in protein. Be sure to check labels to avoid any hidden sugars.
• Replace sugary drinks with water. Health experts recommend drinking at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Drink a couple cups of green tea every day for additional antioxidants and minerals.
Avoiding sugar is widely-accepted as a successful method for healthy weight loss. By lowering your sugar intake, you in turn stabilize blood sugar levels and insulin response, lower bad cholesterol levels and eliminate other sugar-consumption side effects such as mood swings and digestive issues. It also lowers the risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases.
Replace Granulated, Refined Sugar With Natural Sucrose
When sugar cane undergoes the refining process to extract the raw sugar from the plant, the repetition of washing, boiling, filtering and drying removes all of the plant's natural vitamins and minerals, leaving us with the nutritionally-depleted refined sugar found in most products on the shelves.
There is a difference between sucrose in processed foods and the natural sucrose found in fruits and vegetables. Added sucrose contains empty calories, meaning they do not contain any nutritional value. They are simply added, unnecessary calories and can lead to addiction.
Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup
In the United States, high fructose corn syrup is the most common replacement for regular sucrose and can be found in many breads, carbonated beverages, cereals and condiments. Health experts believe that the recent rise in obesity in the United States can be linked to the increased use of high fructose corn syrup in so many food products. High fructose corn syrup has also been found to have adverse effects on insulin response.
Eliminate All Artificial Sweeteners
As well as avoiding high fructose corn syrup, it is important to eliminate all other artificial sweeteners from your diet as well. Instead, try a natural sweetener such as Rapadura. Rapadura is a whole organic sugar native to South America. It is natural and unrefined, is full of vitamins and minerals and is especially high in iron.
Another popular natural sweetener is Stevia which is also from South America. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar and has zero calories. Stevia has been found to regulate blood sugar and is often sold in South America to those suffering from diabetes and hypoglycemia. Stevia is available in liquid, tablet and powered form.
Read Food Labels To Avoid Hidden Sugar
Sugar sometimes masquerades itself in store-bought, processed foods as other ingredients, and it is important to carefully read food labels when following a low-sugar diet. Some ingredients to look out for are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, sucrose, rice syrup, dextrin, glucose, fruit juice concentrate, lactose, maltodextrin, malt syrup, maltose, saccharose, sorghum, treacle and xylose.
Additional Tips
• Eat sweet vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, parsnips, and carrots, to curb sugar cravings.
• Increase consumption of fruits such as apples, bananas, strawberries and blueberries.
• Add high-fiber, whole-grain foods to your diet as well as foods high in protein. Be sure to check labels to avoid any hidden sugars.
• Replace sugary drinks with water. Health experts recommend drinking at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Drink a couple cups of green tea every day for additional antioxidants and minerals.
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