10 TIPS FOR CUTTING BACK

#1 Try to have bigger meal portions. The fuller you feel, the less likely you are to snack on sugary foods.

#2 Make sure you are eating fibrous foods in your diet that help to curb cravings for sugar. Choose fruit such as dates, which have similar sweetness to artificial sweets, but have high fibre content.

#3 Replace sugary drinks with drinks that still taste good but are more naturally sweet. For example, making fruit smoothies. Switch fizzy drinks with water. If you find water to be boring, try flavouring it with lemon, fresh mint leaves, ginger, or berries. Alternatively, you could make herbal tea and leave to cool in the fridge to have a homemade iced tea.

#4 With foods like yoghurts, avoid flavoured ones that have added sugar in and go for the plain natural yoghurts and add your favourite fruit to it, chopped up. Maple or agave syrups can be added for an extra bit of sweetness.

#5 Slowly wean off sugar in tea and coffee by having half a teaspoon less

(or a quarter teaspoon less) until you get more sensitive to the sweetness, eventually you won’t need any in it. Artificial sweeteners are not advised as they often have other negative health impacts.

#6 Increase your protein intake by adding different nuts, pulses and beans. These will help you to keep fuller for longer.

#7 Often when we are stressed, we crave more sugary foods, which triggers the reward system in our brain. By finding your own way to relax and relieve stress through hobbies, meditation or chatting with friends, it may help to avoid that cycle of craving something sugary as soon as we start to feel stressed or anxious.

#8 Boredom could also be why we crave sugary foods. When boredom strikes, try ticking off something from your to-do list that you have been meaning to do for a while. This will help to reenact a positive behaviour instead of going into the loop of eating when the feeling of craving arises.

#9 Dehydration can cause you to crave sugar. Make sure you are drinking enough and eating hydrating foods such as fruit and vegetables.

Below You may experience headaches and feeling low or tired when giving up sugar. Below and above Seeds, nuts, cinnamon and fruit are helpful to reduce sugar cravings.