Is it necessary to completely give up sugar?

Every day more and more information appears on the Internet about the harm of refined sugar. One of the latest such developments states that scientists have found a relationship between the abuse of sugary foods and a high risk of death due to cardiovascular disease.

In another new study, published in the authoritative American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that compared to people who used a normal amount of sugar, those who overdid it with sweet foods increased the total risk of death from the occurrence of death.

These facts are enough to stop a person from emphasizing sweets. If you are considering or already adhere to such a diet, it is useful to know the 5 most common mistakes made during subject to its observance.

Mistake #1 – trying to completely ignore your sweet cravings

Some people are too fanatical about this restriction, trying to completely eradicate this bad eating habit with an effort of will.

In fact, it would be more correct not to completely avoid sugar and sweets, but to review the foods that a person usually abuses.

Instead of candies, biscuits, chocolate it is better for a person to consume products that are naturally sweet – ripe fruits and vegetables, dried fruits and natural sweeteners.

And deliberately ignoring the desires of the body, makes a person irritable and sometimes it is very difficult to stick to this diet.

And in addition, it is subjected to stress, which additionally can worsen the state of health.

Mistake #2 – Avoiding Only Sweets

Most often, people who follow a sugar-free diet only cut out or cut back on foods with added refined sugar.

But it should not be forgotten that sugar can be hidden in the composition of not only sweet foods. For example, spaghetti sauces, ketchup, chicken nuggets, curry, and even the seemingly healthy lactose-free nut milk actually contain a fair amount of sugars.

Each of us can discover these hidden sugars by carefully reading the labels of the foods we buy.

Mistake #3 – forgetting that sugar can come in many forms

We need to read the label, but now at a higher level.

Now we are interested in the content not only of sugar, but also such forms of it as glucose-fructose syrup, molasses, sugar concentrate, lactose, fructose, palm sugar, cane and brown sugar, corn syrup, etc.

All these varieties of sugar, including artificial substitutes such as aspartame, xylitol, sorbitol and having nothing to do with a healthy diet, are absolutely undesirable when following a sugar-free diet.

Mistake #4 – Giving up the “healthy” forms of sugar

It turns out that there are a number of natural sugar substitutes that are obtained with minimal processing. They can be included in the list of possible sources of sugars.

These substitutes include date palm and barley sugar, ground apple, agave nectar, sorghum syrup, maple syrup, honey, stevia and natural coconut sugar. However, don’t go to extremes with these sweeteners either, but consume them in moderation.

Mistake #5 – denying yourself sugar for too long

For most people, it is enough to take a break from sugar consumption for 72 hours – this time is enough for to re-sensitize their taste buds and get them into the habit of reading food labels and finding better food sources to get rid of their sweet tooth.