If you ever wondered how to lose weight and cut fat, you’ve undoubtedly been thinking about how to cut down on sugar. And if you’ve ever been trying to stop eating sugar, you already know that this is no easy task. At least, not easy initially and not easy without any help. Especially considering that there is sugar in seemingly everything these days.
Because of all these factors, it feels like it is impossible to achieve a low sugar diet. Basically everything, from bread to beer, contains it. So, if you can find it in everything, how do you cut down on it and have a low sugar diet? The trick is to learn which foods contain more, and which you can comfortably cut out of your diet. Which foods you can have more, and which are better to limit, and which are better to avoid altogether?
Today, we’re going to talk about various ways you could cut sugar out of your diet, or at least how you could limit its amounts to the normal range. You will find what will work best for you and your goals. But first, why would you need to remove sugar from your diet? Let’s check it out.
The effects of sugar on your body
Sugar does have benefits, but there is a reason why it is called “the white death”. It basically wreaks havoc on your body. It doesn’t only cause you to gain unwanted weight in the form of fat leading to obesity, but it is also the leading cause of diabetes, cancer, tooth decay, as well as heart disease – the leading causes of death and health issues that you would surely want to avoid, not only for saving your money, or for your bodybuilding goals, but simply for staying healthy!
Nonetheless, it is still important to note that “the white death” is actually the ADDED sugar. The one that you’re going to find in, for example, an orange, is perfectly fine. That’s because fruits are full of nutrients and the sugar you’ll get from them is beneficial (but then again, still only in proper amounts).
The huge problem is that most of us, whether we’re aware of it or we’re not, eat FAR too much sugar on a daily basis. For example, the average US citizen consumes 68 grams a day. That’s a total of 17 teaspoons of it every single day! This is significantly more than the recommended maximum. In fact, it is double that number. That’s because it is 25 grams for females and 37 grams for males!
What’s the point? We drastically need to reduce our daily intake of this “white death”. At least, a lot of people should. That leads to the question: how do we do that?
How To Cut Out Sugar?
Avoid the desserts
I know… I know… and let’s face it… you knew it too. Yes, they can be tasty, they can be super tasty. But desserts aren’t only full of sugar, but they also offer almost nothing in the way of actual nutrition. So, you basically eat sugar without benefits. The huge problem is that since they are full of sugar, which causes your blood glucose levels to spike and then crash, it makes you tired fast, increases your hunger, and then increases your desire to consume even more foods and more importantly – even more of it.
Generally, almost a fifth of the sugar in the US diet comes from desserts alone. Instead of going for something that is full of processed sweeteners and chocolate, you better opt for a healthier dessert. They may have higher sugar amounts than other foods, but they are still significantly better. Such as fresh fruit, yogurt, or dark chocolate. They are not going to make you feel sluggish, ruin your blood glucose levels, and expand your waistline.
Ditch the sugary drinks
Lots of people may not be eating lots of sugary foods, yet they are still having double the sugar amount per day they should have. How’s that possible? Because of the drinks they drink.
Around 44% of the sugar found in the average American’s diet comes from sugary drinks such as soda, sports drinks, and energy. That’s why these “sports and energy” drinks often do more harm to your bodybuilding goals than help. That’s why I almost always recommend ditching them and only in very few cases, in specific situations and for specific people they could actually be helpful.
Oh yeah, you can also include the fruit drinks here. You may wonder: But they are healthy, aren’t they?! They are not, actually. They are marketed as “healthy”, so consumers wouldn’t think that they could be the leading cause of their sugar intake. Fruit drinks are usually packed with sugar. The only ones allowed with moderation – fresh juices.
Drinking such sugars is truly a horrible way to max out your daily calorie allowances. That’s because they will not satisfy hunger, they will significantly increase its intake, and they are going to significantly add up to your calorie intake. So, you’ve reached your calorie and sugar intake limit for the day without even having your lunch yet, simply because you’ve drunk too many sugary drinks.
What to do? Avoid anything but water, tea, and a bit of coffee. Of course, sugarless. Most people do not actually need any juices, energy, or sports drinks. To stay healthy or reach their bodybuilding goals!
Choose Whole Foods
Whole foods are basically… whole foods. We’re talking about any foodstuffs that are not processed. Most of the processed foods are pumped full of sugar. Even if they are not having a lot of it (because lately, some companies learned the trick of actually lowering the amount in their products), they are already full of additives. What to do? Cooking at home is going to make sure that your food is not processed.
Among highly processed foods we’re talking about various kinds of desserts, soda drinks, and junk food in general, not only those high in sugar, but those that are high in salt and fat. Such as sausages. Do you know that they are actually adding sugar to sausages too? It is obvious the amount per 100g in a sausage is not as high as it is in a dessert, but it is still not a good food option and still adds up. That’s because it is still processed food increasing your daily limit and it is likely full of additives and preservatives.
Cooking simple dishes with meat and vegetables marinated in homemade sauces and herbs is going to cut out the huge amount of sugar from your diet.
Opt for Low Sugar Cereals
Breakfast is an important time of the day, but breakfast cereals are notorious for being loaded with huge amounts of sugar. I guess you already know it, but if you don’t – you should be. You also should know that even those who claim to be healthy are still full of sugar. Are you ready to blow your mind?
Some of the most popular American cereal brands contain almost HALF of their total weight in added sugar. Just think about it! If you buy 35.2 ounces (1 kilogram) of cereal, then 17.6 ounces (500 grams) of it is pure sugar. You won’t only spend a lot of money for that amount of sugar, but you’re also going to “pay” with your health too. This is something pretty shocking for anyone looking to cut “the white stuff” from their diets.
But it is not only cereal, lots of breakfast foods like waffles, pancakes, and muffins are full of sugar too. It is actually very easy to exceed your recommended daily allowance for sugar even before you leave the breakfast table, from breakfast foods alone. Add the sugary drinks (coffee or tea with sugar and/or juices) and voila – you’ve exceeded your limit in the first half an hour upon waking up.
What can you do to avoid this? Opt for healthy oatmeal with fruit, avocado, eggs, and/or Greek yogurt. These foods are full of nutrients which means that they are good for your body. And they are also low in sugar. Not to mention that they are very tasty too!
Double check labels
Yeah, I know that it is frustrating, as it is not enough to trust branding that says their food is “healthy” but you also need to read the label too. Always read it. Lots of foods that have a big lettering on their label suggesting “low fat” compensate for it by being high in sugar (or the other way around), for example.
What should you do? Always pay attention to the ingredients on the back of your food and check the fats, sugar, protein, carbohydrates, etc. Also look for sneaky alternative names for sugar: caramel, molasses, rice syrup, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup, or cane juice. As well as any other type of sugar like cane sugar, inverted sugar, or whatever else.
- TIP: the first ones on the list, the higher the percentage of the foodstuff is made of them. For example, if sugar is first on the list, then most of the product is made from sugar.
Eat lots of protein-rich foods and healthy fats
Protein is the macronutrient that helps you keep fullest for the longest. It makes you feel significantly fuller and for longer than sugar does. That’s because most protein-rich foods are slowly broken down and digested. On the other hand, sugar actually serves as an “appetite booster”. That’s because of the insulin that tends to spike after you consume sugar. Insulin increases after you eat anything, but it skyrockets from sugar.
This is the reason why it is very easy to overeat and binge on sweet sugary foods such as candy and desserts. This is also why you may be feeling full, and yet, you can still have enough space to eat some sugary foods.
Protein, on the other hand, can help you keep fuller for longer, which helps reduce the calorie intake. Then there’s fat that is high in energy (I’m talking about healthy fats, such as those you can find in nuts, avocado, salmon, and others) which works to reduce hunger too.
Use natural sweeteners
Did you know that sugar is addictive? It is actually incredibly addictive. And it doesn’t matter if you notice it or not in your daily lives. Additionally, similar to gaining tolerance to drugs and alcohol, you can gain tolerance to it as well. This tolerance means that you will be required to increase your intake in order to feel satisfied. And when talking about tolerance, there are withdrawal effects. So yes, it is possible to experience withdrawal symptoms from lack of sugar in case you’re not switching from a high-sugar diet to a low-sugar diet.
What can you do? Because it is hard to give up on sugar, try natural alternatives such as stevia, erythritol, and xylitol. These are exactly as sweet as sugar, but they will not spike your blood sugar as much (won’t make you then eat more) and they come with far fewer calories.
Conclusion
Because of the way sugar works in our body, it is called “the white death”. It leads to blood glucose spikes, to insulin spikes, and can easily lead to various highly dangerous health issues. Learning how to cut sugar from your diet is tricky and it is definitely not something you will do overnight. But starting to learn how you do it is extremely important. So, over time, you’ll eventually pay attention to things you haven’t been doing before, and this will help reduce your daily intake well below the level of an average American.
This won’t only enormously help you achieve your bodybuilding goals but it will help to stay healthy, leading to a host of benefits such as reducing cancer risk, less chance of heart issues, less body fat, and significantly more energy in your daily life.
But sometimes you may need a helping hand. Especially when it comes to cutting cycles and weight loss. Yet, reducing sugar is extremely helpful even in bulking cycles! Regardless of your goals, Supps For Life got you covered.
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