Want to reduce the amount of sugar you or your children are eating?

You may have heard all about sugar swaps but sometimes these swaps are not very healthy alternatives, especially if they contain certain types of sweeteners. Here are a few tips for you to start trying to implement that are healthier ways to swap sugar or reduce it.

• If you add sugar to drinks such as tea and coffee, aim to cut this down gradually. So if you have 3 sugars, get used to 2, then once you are used to this cut it down to 1. Then you could even have half a spoon until you don’t need that even. If you just want to swap sugar all together for something a little healthier, try honey or stevia.
• If you want to eat fewer sugary snacks but feel like swapping to fruit seems unrealistic as it is such a change, try things like Nakd bars, Trek Bars or health bars sweetened with honey.
• Increase your protein with every meal and snack. This helps your blood sugar to be more stable and reduces cravings for sugar.
• Buy the same foods that you like but choose the sugar free alternative – but by sugar free I don’t mean sweeteners either, as these are worse for you than sugar! I mean try sugar free jams or sugar free cereals sweetened with dried fruits and so on.
• Eat fewer refined carbohydrates – this will limit you intake of sugar as the body see these as pure sugar once they are broken down. So start to reduce things like corn, white pasta, white bread, white rice and large white potatoes and swap to sweet potato, new potato, brown rice, quinoa, wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta and buckwheat.
• Start to drink other drinks like smoothies and freshly squeezed juices to replace some of the sugary drinks you may be having, as this still gives you sweet fix if you need it.