As you’re transitioning into the new year and making better choices for your health and diet, it’s a good time consider reducing your sugar intake. Excessive sugar intake is bad for your teeth and your overall health, but it can be hard to curb the craving for sweets because they seem too addictive. If you can’t quite sugar completely, it’s still helpful to cut back as much as you can to promote a healthier you in the New Year.
Remove Temptation
In order to reduce your sugar intake, you need to start by reducing its presence in your home. Clean out your cabinets and fridge and toss all of the leftover sweets like pie, cupcakes and cookies. Also, get rid of highly processed foods items such as soda, salty snacks and frozen meals as they can be high in both sugar and sodium. Once you’ve eliminated the bad sugary snacks, replace them with healthier snacks including naturally sweet fruits like grapes and berries. Avoid sticky dried fruits like raisins as they can stick to your teeth and lead to cavities. Learn more about how a healthy diet can improve your oral health at Greater Baltimore Prosthodontics.
Increase Water Intake
When you’re craving sugar, you may actually be misreading what your body wants. A sugar craving may mean that you’re dehydrated and by drinking a glass of water, that craving may go away. Making sure you drink enough water every day is essential for your overall health and if you’re continuing to consume processed sugar food and drink, using water to rinse out the sugary residue can help protect your teeth.
Look For Sneaky Sugars On Food Labels
Once you’ve eliminated the foods you know contain excessive sugar, it’s time to learn to recognize the sneaky sugars they hide in food labels. One way to recognize a sugar in an ingredient list is if it ends in “ose” such as maltose, sucrose, fructose, etc. There are other names for sugars that don’t end in “ose” so look for ingredients such as cane juice, corn syrup, barley malt and fruit juice among others. The ingredient list on packaged foods lists them in order of the highest amount to lowest amount and if sugar is toward the top, find a healthier option.
Sugar Substitutions
If you have a sweet tooth that won’t go away, look for healthier alternatives to sugar in your foods. Try adding fruit to oatmeal or cereal instead of sugar for sweetness without the empty calories and potential oral health issues. In recipes, try substituting unsweetened applesauce, extracts like vanilla or almond or cutting back on the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. Enhance foods with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or allspice instead of using sugar.
Reducing your sugar intake reduces your risk of developing health issue such as heart disease and diabetes while also protecting your teeth from decay and cavities.
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