I just ate a big, fat yummy Christmas cookie from Puffy Muffin. It even was iced with sprinkles. 15 minutes later I feel gross! It would be one thing if I only ate cookies once a week, but I have to have my daily sugar fix. I don't drink soft drinks or any caffeine, but I do have my daily "fix". The amount of sugar American's eat and drink every year has soared nearly 30 percent since 1983 and is likely a major contributor to the soaring rates of overweight and obesity in this country. Although the USDA recommends we get no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a day, the average American downs about 34 teaspoons -- more than three times as much. Gross!!!
Below are a few ways I can eat less sugar:
1) Instead of a cookie or two a day, I will eat a cookie three times a week. (See I am sticking with realistic goals, and then will move to one a week.)
2) Read labels! I will buy bread, ketchup, crackers, tomato sauce, etc. that have no sugar or less than two grams.
3) Did I mention read labels?! - Not only for sugar, but for fiber and protein. Beware of these words: brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, high-fructose corn syrup, galactose, glucose, honey, hydrogenated starch, invert sugar maltose, lactose, mannitol, maple syrup, molasses, polyols, raw sugar, sorghum, sucrose, sorbitol, turbinado sugar, and xylitol.
4) Bake my own sweets using apple sauce, stevia, or agave nectar for a substitute.
5) Try my very best to avoid processed foods.
6) Don't skip breakfast - I will try eating steel cut oats with agave nectar.
7) Exercise - A walk for 20 to 30 minutes a day helps lower the level of glucose in the bloodstream.
If you simply reduce the amount of sugar you consume you will protect your entire immune system, which in turn will protect you from developing a wide variety of chronic diseases.
