FitSugar

10 Ways to Cut Back on Sugar

FitSugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:45 -0700

Americans are consuming way more sugar than they should - 22 teaspoons a day. It's clear we need to cut back, but it's hard to break old habits. The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging people to aim for no more than 100 calories of sugar a day (six teaspoons). Here are some easy things you can do to lighten up on the white stuff.

Cut back slowly. If you give up sugar cold turkey, you'll probably end up going into shock and consuming every kind of dessert you can get your hands on. So make the change to less sugar in your diet gradually.
Try to ween yourself off of the sugar you add to foods. Stir less sugar into your cup of joe and sprinkle less sugar on your cereal or oatmeal.
Choose your sugar vice for the day. If you can't live without sugar in your coffee, M&Ms after lunch, or an after dinner bowl of ice cream, then don't, but be sure to limit your sugar intake for the rest of your day. Keep in mind that one soft drink, a small candy bar, a few plain cookies, or a small portion of light ice cream or frozen yogurt is equal to 100 to 150 calories of added sugar.
Don't be fooled by natural sugars. Brown sugar, molasses, Sucanat, and turbinado sugar are still sugar.

To see the last five tips, read more.

Avoid liquid sugars. A 12-ounce can of coke contains 40 grams of sugar, and a 20-ounce bottle of Vitamin Water contains 32 grams. You'd be better off drinking plain water with lemon or lime, sparkling water, 100 percent fruit juice, milk, or tea instead.
Buy plain yogurt instead of flavored yogurt. Either sweeten it with fresh or frozen fruit, or mix half plain yogurt with half fruit yogurt.
Don't be fooled by healthier versions of treats. An oatmeal raisin cookie and strawberry ice cream are still made with sugar. So are many energy bars.
Get fruity.To satisfy your sweet tooth, choose naturally sweet foods like fruit, dried fruit such as dates or apricots, fruit smoothies, carrots, sweet potatoes, and homemade popsicles.
Check labels on fruit products. Fruit is naturally sweet enough, but some companies choose to make it sweeter by adding sugar. Choose jams and juices that are sweetened with nothing but fruit.
Check labels on other foods and look for hidden sugars. If a label says sucrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cane juice crystals, evaporated cane juice, dextrose, molasses, or malted barley extract, it contains sugar.

Source: Flickr User Mykl Roventine

Label Able: Vegetable Glycerin

FitSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:30:50 -0700

I was going on a trip and picked up some Kashi TLC Trail Mix bars. I trust their products completely so don't feel it's necessary to read labels before buying them. While in the car, I happened to check out the list of ingredients and saw vegetable glycerin.

If you're curious to know what it is or why it's used keep reading

Label Able: Sorbitol

FitSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:03:14 -0700

I'm a very picky label reader, and I won't buy anything at the grocery store unless I scan the label first. If you're the same way, you may have come across the ingredient sorbitol. It's a sugar substitute you'll often find in diet or "light" foods, in sugar-free gum, candy, and mints, and in diet drinks. You'll also find it in mouthwashes, toothpaste, and cough syrups. Sorbitol is made from glucose, and is 60 percent as sweet as sucrose but has one-third of the calories. This sweetener has been safely used for over 50 years, and the only requirement of the FDA is that companies write on the label, "Excess consumption may have a laxative effect." Yes, it's true. If you eat too much of this sweetener, you can end up with extreme abdominal cramping and regular trips to the ladies room. Proving once again that moderation is key - even with low-cal sweeteners. Sorbitol is OK for diabetics and has been found to be non-carcinogenic. I'm not big into diet foods, but at least I know this ingredient is safe.

Is Agave Nectar Healthier Than Sugar?

FitSugar — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:30:00 -0700

Natural sweeteners are gaining popularity since people are trying to avoid overly processed white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. You may have seen Truvia and PureVia on store shelves, which are both made from the stevia plant. Another plant-derived sweetener is agave nectar, which comes from the agave plant. It's sweeter than honey but not as thick in consistency.

I often use agave nectar in place of white sugar when baking. To see which one is healthier to use, read more.

	One tbsp sugar	One tbsp. agave nectar
Calories	46	60
Total Fat	0	0
Carbs	12	16
Fiber	0	1
Sugar	12	15
Protein	0	0

While it may seem that sugar contains less calories, carbs, and sugars, agave nectar is sweeter than granulated sugar, so you end up using less - about 40 percent less. Not only that, but agave nectar has a lower glycemic index (GI) rating, which means it won't cause a spike in your blood sugar levels the way sugar does. High-GI foods like white sugar tend to make us feel hungry sooner since they are digested quickly. So foods made with agave nectar may keep you feeling fuller longer than foods made with the white stuff, which translates to eating less. Also, did you see that agave nectar contains some fiber? We can always use more of that in our diets. Although both come from plants, agave nectar is less processed and closer to nature, so for all these reasons, you can feel good about using it in place of sugar. But beware: you'll need to fiddle with recipes when baking with agave nectar, since it is a liquid and not a dry ingredient like sugar.

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Do You Avoid White Sugar in Foods?

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Sometimes you can't avoid eating white sugar, because it's a pretty common ingredient in some healthy foods such as yogurt, cereal, and energy bars. I definitely try to look for foods that contain natural sugars though, such as fruit juice, barley malt, honey, or agave. The thing is, since I have quite a sweet tooth, some foods like ice cream and chocolate just taste better when made with real sugar, so I don't avoid the white stuff completely, I just don't overdo it. I definitely prefer white sugar over artificial sweeteners, though, and I guess many companies such as Snapple and PepsiCo feel the same. They're switching ingredients in some of their products from high fructose corn syrup back to sugar because they feel it's more "natural." So how do you feel?

Are Sweeteners PureVia and Truvia Safe?

FitSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:00:00 -0800

There's been a lot of talk lately about the natural sweetener stevia. Being calorie-free, it seems like a great alternative to sugar for people trying to lose weight. A few months ago, Coca-Cola announced it would begin using its stevia-derived sweetener Truvia in a few products, prior to being approved by the FDA. Not to be left in the cold, PepsiCo has also created a no-calorie stevia sweetener, PureVia. However, PepsiCo announced that it would be waiting for FDA approval before using its new sweetener. Recently, I saw both Truvia and PureVia on the shelf at my grocery store. Does that mean they're both approved by the FDA now? To find out read more.

Both PureVia and Truvia are made by extracting rebaudioside A (Reb A) from the leaves of the stevia plant. While the FDA has not yet approved the use of whole-leaf stevia or stevia extracts as sweeteners, they have issued a "No Objection Letter" to the use of Reb A, saying that it's "generally safe." If you want to give PureVia or Truvia products a try, it's recommended to do so in moderation. Have you used either of these sweeteners? Tell me what you think of them in the comments section below.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup vs. Sugar

FitSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:00:00 -0800

You've probably seen those commercials boasting that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) isn't as bad for you as you think, since it's made from all-natural corn. It's misleading though because just like refined white sugar, HFCS is a highly processed sweetener. Both sugar and HFCS provide zero nutrition and loads of empty calories.

Check out the chart below to see how the two compare.

	Calories	Carbs (g)	Sugars (g)
1 tbsp. white sugar	46	12	12
1 tbsp. high-fructose corn syrup	53	14.4	5

To find out if one is healthier than the other read more.

HFCS is more processed and it's cheaper than sugar so it's added to more foods. The campaign that's in favor of HFCS says it's OK to eat in moderation, but since it's found in so many foods, it's tough to avoid. HFCS also affects the hunger hormone in your body known as leptin, which creates an increase in your appetite and causes people who eat foods with HFCS to overeat. So the concept of self-control is thrown out the window.

The bottom line is that your body processes both sugar and HFCS in the same way, and eating either can lead to obesity and diabetes. That means neither is healthier than the other. That's not to say you should ban all foods from your diet that contain sugar or HFCS, but try to eat less than 40 to 45 grams of added sugar a day. Read labels and look for the names sugar, HFCS, as well as this list of sugars.

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Is Stevia Safe?

FitSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:30:00 -0700

If you're trying to eat healthier, you may be trying to ditch foods made with white sugar and artificial sweeteners. What about the sweetener stevia? Have you ever heard of it? People are adding it to their coffee, flavoring their iced tea, and baking with it. Stevia is an herb from South America, and since the leaves from this plant have a sweet flavor that is 30 times sweeter than sugar, it's being used as an all natural sugar substitute. People watching their weight like the idea of stevia because it's calorie free. Is it safe though? To find out read more

It's a plant, so it must be safe, right? Well, the only problem is that although it's been approved in other countries such as China and Japan, the FDA considers it an unapproved food additive. At this time, the FDA feels that no one has provided them with adequate evidence proving that it's safe. It was however approved in 1994 to be sold as a dietary supplement, so that's why you can find it at some health and vitamin stores. What's more is that the Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks stevia should be avoided because studies show that sperm production was affected in rats, and there was an increase in cell production in their testicles. Hamsters fed a derivative of stevia gave birth to smaller and fewer babies. Studies also show that it may cause cancer.

I'm not sure I will be using it anytime soon and will just work it out to eat my sweets in moderation. How about you, do you use stevia? Tell me why you like it in the comments section below.

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Zsweet Is Sweet Enough for Me

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:30:00 -0800

Many people out there are looking for a way to satisfy their sweet tooth without compromising the size of their waist. Zsweet ($15 / 1.5 pounds), a natural sweetener, may just be a solution for this dilemma. The "Z" stands for "zero" since it contains zero calories and has zero glycemic affect, making it a viable option for diabetics.

The main ingredient in Zsweet is erythritol, fermented glucose (simple sugar), that occurs naturally in fermented foods like soy sauce and wine. Unlike other sugar alcohols based sweeteners, Zsweet has a high digestive tolerance, so it won't leave your belly aching.

The best thing about Zsweet is you can bake with it and it is easy since you measure it just like sugar. I used it for cookies and received many compliments on the cookies; no one had any idea that I used a sugar substitute. However, I made pudding with Zsweet without much success. While the children loved it, the adults at the dinner party all found it too sweet, almost harshly so. I should have checked out the suggested recipes on the Zsweet site. My hubbie and I decided that the baking with this sugar substitute must have altered it more than just simmering on the stove for the pudding.

You can try it for yourself. To find it just check this store locator for a grocer near you that carries it. Or you can buy it online directly from the Zsweet store.

Agave Nectar: Sugar Substitute From South of the Rio Grande

FitSugar — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:49:30 -0700

Since Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow, I wanted to tell you that the agave plant produces more than just tequila. It kind of seems like it is a super plant and practically every part of the plant can be eaten - the blossoms and even the stalks. The part that interests me, though, is the nectar that is sweeter than honey, but less viscous. In fact it is so sweet that when baking with it you use 1/3 cup agave to one cup sugar. If you are going to bake with agave nectar reduce the amount of liquids in the recipe by the amount of agave added since it is a liquid. It does seem pretty straight forward, and I am going to try baking with it. The caloric load of agave is similar to sugar, about 25 calories per teaspoon, but since it is sweeter you use less and thereby decrease your overall calories.

I have tried it in a drink, you can use it in place of simple syrup when making a margarita - like this one from PartySugar. You can also use it to sweeten tea.

I am curious if any of you have baked with agave? If you have any tips, please share them in the comments below.

Looking to buy some? DVO Enterprises sells 24 oz. bottles for $10.95.