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]]>Avoid Sugary Drinks
From soda and ice tea to sports and energy drinks, many beverages are packed with tons of added sugar, so they’re best avoided. The same rule applies to many store-bought fruit juices and smoothies.
Check Food Labels
Sugar often hides in unexpected places, so it’s a good idea to check the labels whenever you’re buying anything from sauces to granola to make sure they’re not packed with sugar.
Sugary Sauces
Speaking of unexpected foods packed with sugar, it’s a good idea to avoid sauces such as ketchup, barbecue sauce, and spaghetti sauce because they contain a pretty high amount of sugar.
Healthier Desserts
If you have a habit of eating sugary desserts, consider replacing them with healthier alternatives that can satisfy your sweet tooth, such as fresh fruits, Greek yogurt, and dark chocolate.
Shop Carefully
You’ll be more prone to eating sugary foods if you already have them at home. That’s why it’s a good idea to limit items with high sugar content in your house and fill your fridge and pantry with healthy whole foods.
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]]>Bananas
Bananas are probably one of the most popular natural sweeteners that you can easily add to your bread, cookies, pancakes, and muffins instead of sugar. Bananas are a great alternative to sugar that will make these foods super fluffy and flavorful.
Figs
Figs are also healthy and sweet fruits that you can soak for a few hours and blend to make a tasty fig puree. Use this puree as a spread or add them to cookies, muffins, pancakes, smoothies, and other dishes instead of sugar.
Apples
Much like pureed bananas, applesauce is an excellent alternative to sugar when it comes to preparing soft and fluffy baked goods. It’s inexpensive and very easy to prepare at home, so make sure to put your homemade applesauce to good use.
Dates
As you probably know, dates are one of the sweetest fruits out there, which means they’re an excellent natural sweetener. They have a wonderful caramel taste that will add more flavor to your smoothies, baked goods, salads, and more.
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]]>The Healthy Sugar Trap
It’s so common for us to over-consume sugar because we think it’s okay since it’s a healthy sugar. Fruit is probably the best example of this. While fruits do contain healthy sugars, you should still only eat them in moderation because otherwise it’s too much sugar.
Fruit Juices
This leads us to classic drinks such as orange juice or apple juice. Similar to the last example, many operate under the assumption that because they’re fruit-based drinks, they must be healthy. But in addition to the healthy sugars we brought up, these juices also contain plenty of added sugars as well—at least in the store-bought varieties.
Too Much Tea and Coffee
And finally, it’s time to address the fact that so many people love their tea and coffee breaks. During these breaks, some assume that a small spoon of sugar in their coffee is no big deal. But when you add up multiple coffee breaks together, you have yourself a solid amount of sugar consumption.
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]]>Why Does Brown Sugar Harden?
Brown sugar is white granulated sugar coated with molasses and when it’s exposed to air, it hardens because the molasses coating evaporates over time and the sugar granulates stick back together.
How Can You Soften Brown Sugar?
Unless your brown sugar has gone bad, you should be able to soften it again. You’ll know if your brown sugar has gone bad because there will be bugs or contaminants in it. The fastest way to soften brown sugar is to put the sugar in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl, draping it with a napkin, and heating it up for 20-second intervals until it’s soft again. If you have more time, you can soften brown sugar by putting in a slice of bread in an airtight container for a day or two.
How to Store Brown Sugar
To prevent your brown sugar from going hard in the first place, you should store it in an air-tight container. If you don’t plan on using your brown sugar for a few weeks, you can store it in the freezer. It can stay frozen for as long as you need and it only takes two to three hours to defrost.
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]]>One tablespoon of honey (21 grams) comes with 64 calories and 17 grams of sugar. It is made of half glucose and half fructose. Honey doesn’t contain fat or protein. Its biggest strength is vitamins and minerals. The list includes B vitamins, calcium, copper, iron, zinc, etc. They are mostly derived from the soil and nectar-producing plants. The quality of honey comes from its source. Darker honey is generally more beneficial than pale honey.
When it comes to health benefits, honey has several. It’s great for soothing a cough. Honey also has a positive impact on treating irritable bowel syndrome, especially when taken on an empty stomach. It’s also known for promoting reproductive health and reducing PMS and menopausal symptoms. Although it can be an allergen, for most people it’s completely safe. With over 300 varieties to choose from, you’ll easily find a favorite to satisfy your sweet tooth.
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]]>The first thing many people notice when they cut it out is they feel nauseous, have a headache, and have unexplainable mood swings. It’s not entirely clear why this happens, but it’s certain that sugar affects your brains a lot and that you can even become addicted to it.
Sugar causes a release of dopamine, so giving it up leads to biological changes in the brain. Dopamine is also called the reward chemical, which means that your brain releases it when you get a reward. Not getting the sugar you’re used to causes unpleasant side effects. The good news is that the symptoms of withdrawal will go away after a few weeks, so the key is to be patient and power through it.
One important thing to note is that cutting out sugar completely is not necessary, especially if you’re otherwise healthy. It’s enough to eat it moderately and prioritize other healthier food choices over it. An occasional dessert is fine as long as you don’t base your whole diet around sugary foods.
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]]>Protein Bars
Protein bars are often considered healthy but most of them do actually hide sugar or unhealthy sweeteners. That’s why it could be smart to avoid eating protein bars often, or at least choose the ones that are lower in sugar.
Granola
Granola has become one of the most popular healthy breakfast foods, but that probably isn’t the case if you’re buying granola. Store-bought granola is often packed with added sugar so make sure to read the labels or make your own granola at home.
Beverages
Keep in mind that a lot of drinks we consume regularly such as soda, iced tea, cocktails, or even drinks that are considered healthy like lemonade or smoothies are surprisingly high in sugar.
Bread
Even though the amount of sugar that certain brands of bread contain is still not very significant, it’s worth knowing that this is also one type of food that can contain hidden sugar.
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]]>Drink Green Tea
Although green tea contains caffeine, there’s a lot less of it in a cup of tea than in a typical cup of coffee. Just one cup of green tea can be enough to wake you up perfectly so that you can continue being productive until the end of the day.
Eat Fats
When our energy levels are down, we crave sugar and carbs. But if you fill up on fats instead, you will give your body a lasting energy source and it won’t make you feel sleepy and tired but keep you alert and going.
Don’t Skip Protein
It’s important to include protein in your lunch because it will make you feel full longer, providing you with enough energy and a clear mind. Eggs are a great choice and you can easily boil them at home and take with you to avoid buying lunch at work.
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]]>While fruits and vegetables contain sugar, they are also packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which makes them good food choices with great nutritional value. On the other hand, processed foods are often full of sugar that’s not even necessary for taste, with the simple goal of making you addicted and wanting to buy more of the said food. Here are 3 tips that will help you reduce the amount of sugar you eat.
friends . By ? @nyc_sweetmates . #grubzone- Read the labels. You will be surprised when you find out about the sugar content in some foods that aren’t even sweet, like ketchup.
- Eat clean and satisfy your sweet tooth with fruits. Pre-packed foods are much more likely to have added sugar that’s bad for you.
- Shop carefully. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry or without a list. Planning your meals before shopping for the ingredients is the best way to avoid eating stuff that’s bad for you just because it’s convenient.
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]]>Figs
Figs and grapes are on top of the fruits with most sugar list. That is the main reason why these tasty treats are so sweet. But it doesn’t mean that you should completely forget about figs. It only points out that you should limit how much you have.
Grapes
Just like figs, the grape is loaded on sugar. It is definitely something we all love to enjoy in it, especially at the end of the summer. Another amazing product from grapes is wine, so there is no chance in hell you should forget about this fruit.
Cherries
Cherries might be your favorite ones, but these fruits are packed with sugar. Only one cup of cherries has 18 grams of sugar. That sure does sound like quite a lot, but summer wouldn’t be the same without them.
Pears
Pears are another one of those sweet fruits that you simply can’t get enough. If you are trying to cut back on sugar, you might want to forget about pears.
Bananas
Bananas are extremely high in calories and also among the fruits with most sugar. But sugar is not the only thing they contain. Bananas are also packed in vitamins and minerals that make your life better.
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