COLUMN: How to beat that sugar surge

Sugar, in its varying forms, is in nearly everything.

If you start with the premise that only glucose should be eaten (found in most meats and vegetables), you won’t go far wrong…

Here are my top five tips to kick your sugar habit!

1. Cut out all the sugar you already know you are adding to your diet, such as sugar in your tea or coffee. It’s straightforward but crucial!

2. Switch your white bread to either rye or sourdough, ideally with multi grains. In a nutshell, these foods have a lower glycemic index so when you eat them, your blood sugar remains stable.

3. Eat more vegetables than fruit. Most fruits (bar a few) are very high in fructose – a type of sugar. Vegetables aren’t, so eat more.

4. Cut the soda and juice. We all know about fizzy drinks, but what about fruit juice? It’s labelled as healthy because it contains fruit, but it’s SO high in sugar. Because all the fruits’ fibre has been taken away, you’re essentially just drinking pure sugar. Stick to water or homemade, vegetable-based smoothies.

5. Avoid pretty much all ‘white carbs’ like white bread, white pasta, white rice and white potatoes.

Instead switch to brown alternatives as they have a lower glycemic index and don’t give you a huge blood sugar spike when you eat them.

They also have lots more flavour…

I hope this has highlighted just how much sugar we consume without our knowledge. If you don’t believe me, next time you go shopping, look at foods’ ingredients. If they don’t contain sugar, look for an ingredient ending in ‘ose’ – it’s still in there!

By Rebecca Lovatt.