Eat Less Sugar
And Salt From Today
Tips to help you eat less sugar and salt, it can be a very difficult goal!
Both sugar and salt are contained within food and used as flavouring extras on top.
This is why it's so easy to eat too much of both, without even knowing it.
Over-eating either sugar or salt has so many bad effects on your health, as we'll see, making this a potentially lethal combination.
Eat Less Sugar
Sugar doesn't contain any good nutrients at all! It only has calories.
And more calories. And.. yes even more calories.
But sugar makes food taste nice, which is fair enough. It doesn't mean we have to shovel it in! Especially as it's the main cause of tooth decay and weight gain (you guessed it, because of all the calories!).
That means if you're looking to lose weight then sugar should be the first thing to cut down. Much easier said than done, as I'm sure you already know! It's hard because you can become addicted to the sugar rush.
You feel down or drained? You think a quick sweet or pudding or chocolate will give you a boost? Well yeah it does, but for a very short time. You get a "sugar high". But then your body overcompensates in bringing this "high" down, and you end up feeling even lower than before.
It can easily become a vicious cycle, where you eat more sugary foods because you end up feeling lower and lower. But this can be stopped, and it's down to you to stop it.
It's important to take one step at a time. There's no way anyone can just stop eating sugary foods completely. And I wouldn't recommend that. Cut down slowly to a point where you feel the difference. No more mood swings, no rollercoaster of high's and low's, lost some weight, reduced acne, more energetic.. whatever it is, you really will feel it.
Here are 6 more everyday tips to eat less sugar:
Eat wholegrain cereal instead of ones coated in sugar or honey.Make sure any tinned fruit is in natural juice and not flavoured syrup.Drink less soft drinks and make sure they're sugar free or low-calorie (diet).Try and get used to tea and coffee without sugar.Eat less cakes, chocolates, sweets and puddings. Try low-calorie or low-sugar versions.Use less sugar than the recommended amounts in recipes, the taste won't change much at all.
Eat Less Salt
I think I under-estimate my salt intake more than sugar. Most food of all types contain salt (in fact 3 quarters of our salt intake comes from within the food we buy). This is why I've decided to never add extra salt to any food I eat.
Now I've got used to adding pepper and other herbs and spices instead. Food tastes even better now my taste buds are used to less salt, and it only took a couple of weeks!
But like I said, most of your salt is already in your food from the supermarket. So this should be the main place where you reduce your salt. Get in to the habit of checking labels for levels of salt. Remember the recommended daily allowance is 6 grams, so look for the percentage of the RDA or GDA and choose the product with the least salt.
Eating less salt, I feel better knowing I'll have less risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to nasty things such as heart and kidney disease, and stroke. See your GP immediately if you are worried about your blood pressure.
You can never really cut down too much on salt, so every which way you can do it, is great. I suggest that if you reduce your salt intake by a third, then you'll feel the improvement.
Here's a few more everyday tips to eat less salt:
Use less salt in your cooking. Try herbs, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and roast vegetables for flavour. For meat try marinating in a home made sauce.Try making your own stock instead of using cubes.Get out of the habit of putting extra salt on your food automatically. Once you're out of the habit, it's much easier. Use pepper instead.Use less ketchup, mayonnaise and soya sauce. Most sauces tend to be high in salt.Ready meals generally are high in salt. Check their labels and buy ones with less. Get used to checking labels for salt levels in most of the food you buy.Try to largely cut down on salted and smoked meats, such as salt beef.Largely cut out crisps, salted nuts and salty snacks in general. Try to snack on fruit instead.
Final WordWhen you do eat less sugar and salt, give your taste buds time to adjust. It is going to take a few weeks before they do, so stick with it.
It is harder for some than others, so it's always a good idea to get your family involved too.
No doubt whatever age they are, if they eat less sugar and salt, it will benefit everyone.
Also, you can motivate each other to keep going through those times, when it just feels too hard.
It is difficult, but I'm sure you will achieve these goals.
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