Small changes in your nutrition can yield big results. Let’s talk about sugar for a minute. Excessive consumption of added sugar is linked to heart disease, weight gain, diabetes, and tooth decay. Added sugar is found in obvious places like soda, cookies, and candy, but it also lurks in processed foods like bread, sauces, and condiments.
If you want to cut added sugar from your diet, start by eating less processed foods that contain it. There are over 50 words for sugar on ingredient lists: high fructose corn syrup, dried cane sugar, sucrose, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, and malt syrup, to name a few. You need to read labels carefully.
Using less sugar in your own cooking and baking can also help. You shouldn’t notice a change in taste by cutting the sugar by up to one-half in your recipes. Spices and extracts are also an excellent way to enhance flavor. In combination, these easy-to-implement strategies can make a big impact on your health. Small changes can yield big results.