Slightly Less Sweet

Previously, we discussed many different sweeteners. While each has advantages, most have some distinct disadvantages, too. Usually, when experts recommend eating less sugar or sweeteners, it revolves around weight loss. However, Greatist has compiled a list of 21 Good Reasons to Eat Less Sugar That Have Nothing to do With Weight Loss.

The average American eats 23 teaspoons of added sugar per day. This is 2.5 - 4 times the American Heart Association's recommendation (plus hundreds of extra calories)! Check out the Center for Science in the Public Interest's infographic Sugar: Too Much of a Sweet Thing to see what this actually means.

Sometimes, we consciously choose a sugary food or drink (like WebMD's list of the 7 Most Tempting Sugary Foods). Other times, we're eating products that you'd never expect to be sugar-filled. Examples are shown in Huffington Post's infographic These Foods Have More Sugar Than a Krispy Kreme Donut.

However, taste buds can be changed. Reader's Digest's 13 Easy Ways to Break Your Sugar Addiction & the above WebMD article share tips. Here are a few to get started.
-  Read nutrition labels or ingredient lists to compare & limit added sugars. On labels, sugars are listed near the middle. Both naturally occurring & added sugars are included. But, our 7/15/15 post lists common sweetener suffixes to look for.
- Most people do better by gradually reducing sweetness. Try mixing sweet & unsweet. Or, just repeatedly add a little less sweetener to diminish over time.
- Prioritize which sugary treat is most important to you & skip the rest.
- Use fruit or spices to add healthier flavor.