Diet & Weight Loss Archive

Reducing your sugar intake

Although beverages are the most important source of added sugars, they aren't the only ones. There are additional ways to reduce your intake of added sugars, and it doesn't have to mean giving up desserts. Here are several ideas for reducing the amount of sugar in your diet, targeting sugary drinks just as a first step:

Give your taste buds time to adjust. If you're in the habit of having two spoonful's of sugar in your coffee or tea, for instance, start by going to one-and-a-half for a week, then down to one. If sodas are part of your regular routine, cut your consumption by one a week, then two.

Adapt your recipes. You can make your favorite recipes less sugary by reducing a little bit at a time—try using one-quarter less sugar than the recipe calls for, then one-third—right up until you notice the difference. You may come to prefer the less-sweet variation.

Reach for fruit rather than juice. Squeezing fruit breaks down the cells and releases sugar into the juice, so that it enters the bloodstream more rapidly. Moreover, a glass of juice is usually the caloric equivalent of three whole fruits. Instead of drinking fruit juice, eat a piece of fresh fruit. You can make fruit drinkable and still preserve its fiber by blending it with almond milk or low-fat yogurt in a smoothie. If you just can't give up juice, make it 100% fruit juice that is not sweetened and limit the amount to a 4-ounce glass.

Check your cereal box. If you enjoy cold cereal or instant oatmeal for breakfast, look at the labels and choose one with minimal added sugar. It's also worth noting that cereals made with refined grains are quickly broken down into sugars in the body. To wean yourself off your favorite cereal, try combining it with a whole-grain, high-fiber cereal, and add fruit.

Cutting down on salt

Even if you ban salt from your table, it is still easy to exceed the sodium limit. To avoid doing so, try the following:

Eat mostly fresh foods. Most of the sodium we eat comes from restaurant meals and processed foods, including canned vegetables and soups, pasta sauces, frozen entrées, lunch meats, and snack foods. If you start with unsalted, fresh foods and prepare them yourself, you can exercise better control over your sodium intake.

Take care with condiments. Sodium is found in many condiments besides ordinary table salt—including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, seasoned salts, pickles, and olives. Baking soda, baking powder, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) also contain sodium.

Read the labels. The Nutrition Facts label on packaged food lists milligrams of sodium per serving, so it's important to note how many servings the container holds. The percent daily value is based on 2,300 mg, so if your own daily sodium limit is lower, the amount of sodium in a serving is actually a higher percentage than the label indicates. Be aware that some over-the-counter drugs also contain sodium.

Speak up. When dining out, ask to have your food prepared with less salt. You can also ask for a lemon or lime wedge to add more flavor to your food.

Spice it up. Cut back on salt by using more herbs and spices like basil, coriander, cumin, cayenne, powdered mustard, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and turmeric. You might try making your own blends of spices and herbs to use along with lemon or lime juice or flavored vinegars.

Seek out specialty salts. Some kosher and gourmet salts contain less sodium than standard iodized table salt; check the Nutrition Facts label to make sure.

How much is too much?

So what's the controversy about? It centers on how much salt is safe for consumption, and it's still being debated. The American Heart Association recommends a limit of 1,500 milligrams (mg) per day. The FDA recommends a limit of 2,300 mg of sodium per day. The U.S. Dietary guidelines used to recommend a limit of 1,500 mg per day for a wide swath of people (everyone 51 and older, all African Americans, and anyone with high blood pressure, kidney disease, or diabetes), but this year changed it to 1,500 mg per day only for people with high blood pressure, and 2,300 mg for everyone else.

What you should do

It's best to avoid processed food. Choose fresh, frozen (no sauce or seasoning), or no-salt-added canned vegetables, and opt for fresh poultry, seafood, and lean meat, rather than processed meat and poultry.

Krivitsky recommends limiting sodium to 500 or 600 mg per meal, and making sure it comes from healthy sources, like whole-grain breads and cereals.

How can you find out about sodium content? Start reading Nutrition Facts labels. You really can find low-sodium options. For example, one cup of Post Shredded Wheat has no sodium, and half a cup of Prego No Salt Added pasta sauce has just 40 mg of sodium.

Krivitsky also recommends ditching saltshakers and flavoring food instead with spices, such as cumin, rosemary, basil, ginger, or dill; flavored vinegars; and lime or lemon juice. "Low salt doesn't mean less flavor," points out Krivitsky. "It just means less salt."