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5 Simple Steps to Help You Eliminate this Deadly Ingredient from Your Diet
Oh, that sneaky little ingredient sugar! It’s in darn near everything we eat or drink! You are probably not even aware of all the sneaky little ways it’s been put into our diets so you are more than likely eating much more of it than you ever realized. In fact, studies show that most of us are eating around 22 teaspoons of sugar every single day. Is your mouth hanging open?
You haven’t heard anything yet; the average American child eats about 32 teaspoons of sugar every single day. And that’s before he heads off to Johnny’s birthday party! We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that obesity rates, as well as diabetes rates, are off the scale. Americans eat more than 150 pounds more sugar every year than our ancestors did 200 years ago. If you aren’t shocked and alarmed by these statistics then nothing will surprise you.
Of course, most sugar reaches us via HFC (high fructose corn syrup). Yes, it comes from corn. Yes, GMO corn. HFC is found in so many things, food items you never dreamed had sweeteners, such as crackers, bread, ketchup, granola, cheese, yogurt, pickles, salad dressing, dips, sauces and soup.
How can you avoid this hidden, but deadly ingredient? Follow these 5 steps below to eliminate these processed sugars from your food.
Photo credit: bigstock
1. Read Labels
You need to pay close attention to what you are buying. Even though something isn’t sweet, such as spaghetti sauce, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have sugar in it. (Yes, there is sugar in spaghetti sauce) Read those labels carefully. If you can stay away from pre-packaged, processed foods, the better your chances that you will avoid the sugar trap.
2. Eat Organic
Eat organic as much as possible. At least when you consume organic foods you know you aren’t getting any GMO foods. Although there are organic treats that have sugar, but it’s usually organic cane sugar. While it’s still sugar, at least it’s natural and not a GMO product (read more how to aoid eating GMO’s). If you truly want to eliminate all sugar, again, read those organic labels as well.
3. Avoid All Sports Drinks, Soft Drinks, Even Fruit Juices
It’s hard to break the addiction to soft drinks. Beside the sugar, the caffeine jolt you get is a hard habit to get rid of, but you can do it. Sodas are nothing more than a can of empty calories, no nutritional value whatsoever, but it’s packed full of GMO HFC. Americans love of soda is perhaps one of the main reasons for the increased obesity rate in our children (find out how diet soda linked to premature death in women) . Although many schools in America have removed sodas, they have replaced them with sports drinks, which also contain just as much HFC as sodas, and sometimes double to caffeine, and “fruit juice”, which also contain just as much, and sometimes more, sugar than a conventional soda. Check the label and you will see that the box of “100 percent Real Juice” your child buys at school contains high levels of sugar and/or HFC.
4. Eat as Many Whole Foods as Possible
You can avoid a lot of the hidden sugars by eating as many whole foods as possible. Whole foods include things like: organic fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes, eggs, milk, chicken, fish, and meat. Think nature. If it came from nature, then it’s a whole food. There are some minimally processed foods that are ok such as yogurt , and cheese, but again, be sure you read the labels so you don’t get surprised by hidden HFC’s.
5. Substitute Natural Sweeteners (NO artificial sweeteners!)
You can always substitute a natural sweetener in place of sugar. There are some super substitutions around such as molasses, date sugar, real maple syrup, raw, unrefined honey, molasses, and stevia. Just be sure you avoid those artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, Nutra-sweet, Equal, sucralose, Sweet and Low, and aspartame. These are chemicals that are probably even worse than eating sugar.
If you follow these simple steps you should be successful in cutting out the refined and processed sugars from your diet and therefore, avoiding the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and many others. You might find your first few “sugar free” days a bit difficult as your body adjusts to its new and more natural state, but these feelings of withdrawal only last a few days. Afterwards, you are going to feel so much better and you will be extremely happy that you did the right thing for your body. It’s time to take back our health, folks! You can do it!
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