Less sugar: 10 tips on how to stick to this resolution

Gummy bears, chocolates, lemonades: many people have a heart for sweets. It’s worth exercising moderation – for the sake of your health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults should consume a maximum of 50 grams of free sugar per day. This corresponds to around 16 sugar cubes. Free sugar is the sugar that manufacturers add to their products, but also that which is naturally present in honey or juices.

Quite a few people significantly exceed this 50 gram limit every day. Sometimes this happens completely unconsciously: “Sugar is often found in foods that you wouldn’t suspect, such as ketchup or ready meals,” says nutritionist Prof. Martin Smollich from the University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein.

Too much sugar consumption promotes many diseases

The problem: Free sugar hardly provides the body with any valuable nutrients, but it does provide a lot of calories, i.e. energy. The consequences of excessive sugar consumption are not just obesity. “Sugar promotes the development of tooth decay, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and dementia,” says Martin Smollich.

Reason enough to see pastries, soft drinks and sweets as something that you consciously treat yourself to in small portions. “If you regularly consume too much of this, you are not doing anything good for your body,” says Martin Smollich. But it’s not about giving up sugar completely. It can have its place in a balanced diet, but in moderation. How can this be achieved? Ten tips:

1. Raise your sugar awareness

How much sugar is in which product? You first have to develop a feeling for it – and deal with it. Even if the findings are sometimes frightening: “A chocolate bar can contain up to ten pieces of sugar cubes, a 100 gram bar of white chocolate can contain around 21 pieces of sugar cubes,” says Gabriele Kaufmann from the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE), giving two examples. This means that the daily target quickly becomes overfilled.

2. Be aware of the hidden sugar too

“It can help to carefully read the list of ingredients on the labels of food and drinks when shopping,” says Gabriele Kaufmann. It is important to know that there are many terms for sugar compounds. Endings with -ose or -syrup are a sure indication of this. Normal table sugar is also called sucrose. By the way, it consists of glucose (dextrose) and fructose (fruit sugar).

By the way, sugar can hide not only in ready meals, ketchup and sausage, but also in pickled cucumbers or red cabbage from a jar.

3. Don’t take on too much

Anyone who wants to sustainably reduce their sugar consumption should take small steps. “It’s no use banning yourself from sweets, for example, from now on, it only increases your cravings,” says Martin Smollich. It is more sustainable to continue eating sweets consciously, just less and less than before. In addition, sweets should take on the role of an extra that you treat yourself to after filling meals – not instead of them.

4. Don’t fall for fruit juices

Most people know that there is a lot of sugar in cola and lemonade. However, juice is not a healthier alternative – it also adds a lot to your sugar account. “With a large glass of orange juice you have already consumed 50 grams of sugar,” says Martin Smollich. The fact that it comes from the fruit makes no difference: sugar is sugar.

To stay with drinks: If you drink coffee and tea, you should ask yourself whether it actually needs to be sweetened – and if necessary, get used to it.

5. Avoid ready meals

Because there is often a lot of sugar in ready meals, for example in pasta sauces, it is better to cook yourself as often as possible. You simply leave out the added sugar.

6. Mix the fruit yoghurt yourself

Fruit yoghurts also have a comparatively high sugar content. A 150 gram cup of strawberry yogurt easily contains around 18 grams of sugar. “The sugar content can be reduced significantly if you use unsweetened natural yogurt and mix in chopped, fresh fruit,” suggests Gabriele Kaufmann.

7. Drink plenty of water and tea

To prevent cravings for sweets, you should drink a lot, preferably water or tea – the latter without sugar, of course. “Drinking a large glass of water can also make sense if you have an acute craving for chocolate etc.,” says Martin Smollich. If you want some flavor, you can add fresh mint, lemon balm, lemon juice or a few pieces of fresh fruit.

8. Get a “treasure chest”.

If you want to reduce your candy consumption, you can do so using the “treasure chest” method. “In this box you put the sweets you have approved for yourself for a week or just for a day,” explains Gabriele Kaufmann. Once the contents of the box have been eaten, the ration is gone. In this way, you perceive the amount you consume very realistically – and force yourself to divide up the sweets carefully.

9. Reward yourself for successes – but not with chocolate

It works, you eat significantly less sugar than before? Then it’s time to reward yourself with something that really brings you joy – for example a new sweater, a book or a day out. “Such rewards increase the motivation to keep at it,” says Gabriele Kaufmann.

10. If it just doesn’t work: Consider therapy

No matter how firmly you decide to eat less sweets, do you regularly find yourself on the sofa with a bar of chocolate that you eat completely within a short space of time? Maybe also to comfort yourself?

If reducing sugar consumption doesn’t work for weeks and months, you should seek help to work on the causes – keyword: emotional eating. “Behavioral therapy is often effective,” says Martin Smollich.