There is more sugar in a lot of drinks, sauces, and breakfast foods than you might think. One way to start cutting down on extra sugar is to read the labels of the foods you buy. Choose whole foods and full-fat foods over processed and low-fat foods to cut down on extra sugars as well.
Researchers have found that added sugar, which is found in drinks, sweets, and other processed foods, makes people fat, increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and tooth decay
13 Simple Ways to Stop Eating Lots of Sugar
This is a lot more than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans say you should eat. They say that extra sugars should make up less than 10% of your daily calories.
1. Cut back on sugary drinks
Most of the extra sugar Americans eat comes from sugary drinks like soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened coffee, and more (7Trusted Source).
Also, drinks like milkshakes and fruit juices that a lot of people think are healthy can still have shocking amounts of added sugar.
One cup (271 grams) of cranberry juice cocktail has more than seven teaspoons of sugar, which is 31 grams (8Trusted Source).
Aside from that, your body doesn’t count calories from drinks the same way it counts calories from food. The calories in drinks are quickly taken, which makes your blood sugar level rise quickly.
You don’t feel as full after drinking as you do after eating real food, so people who drink a lot of calories don’t eat less to make up for it (9, 10).
Cutting back on sugary drinks can help you lose weight and be healthier in general (11, 12).
2. Avoid sugary desserts
If you want to eat something healthy, most sweets are useless. They have a lot of sugar, which can make you feel tired and hungry and make you want more sugar (13).
People in the US get more than 18% of their added sugar from sweets made with grains and dairy, like cakes, pies, doughnuts, and ice cream (14Trusted Source).
There are other options if you want to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding too much sugar:
- fresh fruit
- Greek yogurt with cinnamon or fruit
- baked fruit with cream
- dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher)
One more reason to eat whole fruit? If you replace sweet treats with fresh or baked fruit, you will not only eat less sugar, but you will also get more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
3. Avoid sauces with added sugar
Kitchens all over the world have sauces like ketchup, barbecue sauce, pasta sauce, and sweet chili sauce. But most people don’t know how much sugar they have.
There are about 5 grams of sugar in a 1-tablespoon (17-gram) dose of ketchup. That means ketchup has 29% sugar, which is more sugar than ice cream (15, 16).
To cut down on the secret sugars in sauces and condiments, look for ones that say “no added sugar.”
4. Eat full-fat foods
There are low-fat versions of all your favorite foods, like peanut butter, yogurt, and salad dressing.
If you’ve been told that fat is bad for you, it may make sense to choose these options over the full-fat ones, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.
However, they generally have more sugar and sometimes more calories than their full-fat counterparts, which is not good.
A 6-ounce (170-gram) serving of low-fat vanilla yogurt has 144 calories and 24 grams of sugar (17Trusted Source).
5. Eat whole foods
Whole foods haven’t been changed or processed in any way. Also, they don’t have any additives or other man-made things in them. Whole fruits, beans, whole grains, veggies, and meat on the bone are some of these foods.
On the other end of the scale are things that have been processed very little. It’s hard to limit how much of these processed foods you eat because they are made to taste great and contain salt, sugar, fat, and additives in mixes that are meant to do just that (21Trusted Source).
6. Check for sugar in canned foods
Adding canned foods to your diet can be helpful and save you money, but they may also have a lot of extra sugar.
Fruits and veggies naturally have sugars in them. These don’t generally cause problems, though, because they don’t raise your blood sugar like added sugar does.
Stay away from canned foods that are packed in syrup or have sugar listed as an ingredient. Fruit is already sweet, so choose kinds that say “packed in water” or “no added sugar.”
7. Be careful with “healthy” processed snack foods
Some prepared snack foods are thought to be good for you. At first glance, they look healthy. In fact, words like “wholesome” or “natural” may be used to market them in a way that makes them seem better than they really are.
Most of the time, these snacks—like granola bars, energy bars, and dried fruit—have the same amount of sugar as chocolate and candy bars.
This is shown by dried fruit. There is a lot of fiber, calories, and antioxidants in it. This food does have a lot of natural sugar, though, and some varieties may be “candied” with extra sugar, so you should limit how much you eat to avoid eating too much (23Trusted Source).
Here are some ideas for low-sugar, healthy snacks:
Seeds and nuts
meat with no added sugar
Eggs that are hard-boiled
fresh fruit
8. Limit sugary breakfast foods
Plus, the study found that, on average, granola has more sugar than any other cereal type, even though it is often sold as a healthy food.
A lot of added sugar is also in breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles, muffins, and jams (25, 26, 27, 28).
Try these low-sugar breakfasts instead of those sugary ones you save for special events:
Fresh fruit added to oatmeal to make it sweet
Oatmeal with nuts and fruit
Cheese and vegetable scrambled eggs
I put avocado on whole grain toast.
9. Read labels
You can also look at the list of ingredients to see if it has sugar. The item has more sugar if sugar is higher on the list of ingredients. This is because ingredients are mentioned from the most used to the least used by weight.
Added sugar is called more than 50 different names on food labels, though, which makes it harder to find. Most of the time, these are what happen:
- high fructose corn syrup
- cane sugar or cane juice
- maltose
- dextrose
- invert sugar
- rice syrup
- molasses
- caramel
10. Consider eating more protein
Eating a lot of sugar has been linked to eating more and gaining weight. Alternatively, a meal low in added sugar and high in protein and fiber might have the opposite effect, making you feel less hungry and more full (29, 30).
Protein has also been shown to directly make people less hungry. In one study, adding 25% more protein to the diet cut hunger by 60% (31Trusted Source).
To stop wanting sugar, eat a lot of whole foods that are high in protein, like nuts, legumes, meat, fish, eggs, and full-fat dairy products.
11. Switch to natural zero-calorie sweeteners
A lot of fake sweeteners, like sucralose and aspartame, are on the market that don’t contain any water or sugar.
But these fake sweeteners might cause problems with the bacteria in your gut, which can make it harder to control your blood sugar, make you want to eat more, and make you gain weight. This is another reason why it might be best to stay away from fake sweeteners (32, 33).
There are a few other natural sweeteners that look like they might work. Stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and allulose are a few of these (34, 35, 36, 37).
All of them come from natural sources, but they are processed before they get to your local food store. Still, more study is being done on these sugar substitutes.
12. Limit items with high sugar content in the house
You might eat more sugary foods if you keep them around the house. When all you have to do to get a sugar hit is go to the pantry or fridge, it’s hard to stop yourself.
But if you live with other people, it might be hard to keep some foods out of the house. That’s why you might want to have a plan for when you want sugar. Puzzles and other activities that take your mind off of things have been shown to help reduce cravings (38Trusted Source).
Keep some healthy, low-sugar snacks around the house to munch on instead if that doesn’t work.
13. Get enough sleep
Getting enough sleep is very important for your health. Not getting enough sleep has been linked to sadness, not being able to focus, a weaker immune system, and being overweight.
But not getting enough sleep may also change the kinds of food you choose, making you more likely to choose foods that are high in sugar, fat, salt, and calories (39Trusted Source).
Research shows that people who went to bed late and didn’t get a full night’s sleep ate more fast food, calories, and soda and less fruits and veggies than people who went to bed early and got a full night’s sleep (40Trusted Source).
A recent survey study also found that women who had gone through menopause were more likely to have insomnia if they ate more added sugar (41Trusted Source).
If it’s hard for you to stop eating foods that are high in sugar, getting more sleep might help you get back in control.
The bottom line
The food that most Americans eat has way too much added sugar.
A diet high in extra sugar is bad for you and is linked to a lot of long-term health problems, like cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.
As much as possible, you should cut back on sugary foods like drinks and desserts. But you should also be aware that sauces, low-fat foods, and processed snacks also contain sugar.
If you want to completely control how much extra sugar you eat, eat whole foods instead of highly processed ones.