6 surprising ways to cut your sugar intake in half

I Quit Sugar's Marie Antoinette Issa shares her top tips to halve your sugar intake, with some simple swaps.

1. Water down your juice.

Fruit juice is not the healthy drink marketers would have you believe. In fact, a large glass of apple juice has roughly the same amount of sugar as a can of Coca-Cola. 

If you’re not quite ready to stop sipping, then try diluting your juice with water. Start with a 50:50 ratio (you’ll barely taste the difference), then gradually reduce the amount of juice as you work your way towards a full glass of H2O.

2. Reduce the quantity in (most) baking recipes.

Most recipes actually contain way too much sugar, and can taste just as delicious without.

If you like to bake, you might be able to reduce some of the sugar that you use. While this won’t work for dishes that require sugar for consistency – like cookies, meringues or brittles – for recipes where it’s not needed for structure you probably won’t even notice the difference. Think those sugary cakes and muffins that fill the pages of your recipe books.

Start by gradually reducing the sugar content listed in a recipe. Experiment and taste test as you go to find the sweet spot.

Bonus tip: Replace some of the sugar with a little more vanilla for some extra taste.

3. Swap half your jam for peanut butter.

If you top your toast with sugary spreads, replace half with a natural peanut butter. 

Not only does it make for a tastier sweet/savoury combination, but eating your sugar with a source of fat and protein can help slow the sugar rush and satiate your appetite.

4. Add cinnamon to your morning porridge instead of sugar.

If your morning cereal feels a little plain without that sprinkle of something on top, consider ditching sugar or honey for cinnamon.  This spice lends a sweet warming taste to breakfast and can also help lower blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes.

5. Sweeten your tea with stevia.

In large quantities, this fructose-free sugar substitute can have a bitter aftertaste. Ease yourself in by swapping half your sugar for stevia in your tea. Then when you’re ready, ditch the sugar completely. Hey, it worked for Adele… 

6. Flavour coconut yoghurt with your own fresh fruit.

Most low-fat fruit yoghurt is pumped with sugar to make up for the flavour that is lost when they remove the fat. Instead, try a creamy coconut version and sweeten it with your own fresh fruit (we like low-fructose berries or kiwifruit). 

And if you still haven’t quite broken up with the sugary cereals of your childhood, try substituting half their quantity with a lower-sugar variety. Or even better, make your own from scratch.  

This article was originally published by I Quit Sugar