5 Easy Ways To Cut Your Sugar Intake In Half

5 Easy Ways To Cut Your Sugar Intake In Half

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Try this one-day sugar detox to help wean you off the sweet stuff.

By Arianna Davis

A recent World Health Organization report recommends getting only 5 percent of our daily calories from sugar. Most Americans consume nearly triple that. Giving up the sweet stuff may seem daunting, but a few simple changes will ease the pain significantly.

Breakfast

yogurt

Replace vanilla-flavored yogurt with plain nonfat Greek.
Save: 19 grams
(Need more sweetness? Top with a low-sugar fruit like raspberries.)

Do The Math: To figure out how many calories you're consuming from sugar, multiply the grams of sugar on the nutrition label by four. A food with 15 grams, for example, has 60 calories from sugar per serving. In a 2,000-calorie diet, that's 3 percent.

Lunch

burger ketchup

Add one tablespoon of ketchup to your burger instead of two.
Save: 4 grams

Downsize a 12-ounce soda to an eight-ounce one.
Save: 14 grams

Afternoon Snack

black woman coffee

Switch from an eight-ounce latte to an eight-ounce coffee with two tablespoons of cream.
Save: 7 grams

Dinner

canned tomatoes

Make homemade pasta sauce with canned tomatoes instead of using jarred sauce.
Save: 4 grams

Dessert

banana smoothie

Swap one cup of vanilla ice cream for a fruity treat: Slice a medium banana, freeze, and toss into a blender.
Save: 14 grams

Total Sugar Saved: 62 grams
(248 Calories, 12 percent of a 2,000-calorie diet)

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Before You Go

Whole-wheat crackers, 8
bhofack/iStock/360/Getty Images
Up to 12 grams sugar

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko
Crispy chicken and spinach salad, prepared in a restaurant
TBird59/iStock/360/Getty Images
Up to 13 grams sugar

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko
Tomato basil soup, 1 can
molka/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 13-22 grams sugar

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko
Crunchy broccoli salad, 1/2 cup
ElenaFabbrili/iStock/Thinkstock
7 grams sugar

Source: Kraft recipes
Energy drinks, 8-ounce bottle*
Up to 21–30 grams
*Some energy drinks are sold in 16-ounce bottles

Source: University of California, Davis, Department of Nutrition fact sheet
Yogurt, single serving-size cup (usually 6 ounces)
moranaF/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 25–34 grams of sugar

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko
Coleslaw, 2 tablespoons
TheMalni/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 12 grams of sugar

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Baked beans, 1/2 cup
Ju-Lee/iStock/Thinkstock
11–16 grams of sugar

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Beef jerky, 1 serving
bhofack2/iStock/Thinkstock
4–6 grams of sugar

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Vanilla almond milk, 1 cup
bhofack2/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 14 grams of sugar
(Unsweetened almond milk: 0 grams sugar)

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Hamburger buns, 1 bun
sautepl/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 3–6 grams

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Teriyaki marinade
Svetlana Kolpakova/Hemera/Thinkstock
Up to 8 grams sugar

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko
Cereal bars, 1 bar
rzeszutek/iStock/Thinkstock
12 grams of sugar, on average

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Hot cereal, 1 envelope
AbbieImages/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 7–12 grams

Source: Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide, by Robert H. Lustig, MD, MSL
Dark chocolate, 1 bar
Zakharova_Natalia/iStock/Thinkstock
Up to 16–21 grams
(You can find dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao with as little as 5 grams of sugar)

Source: Eat It to Beat It! by David Zinczenko

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