7 ways to reduce your sugar intake

If you have diabetes, reducing the amount of sugar you consume is crucial to effective diabetes control. Even if you don't have diabetes, reducing added sugar is a healthy, smart choice. Here are seven effective ways to cut back on dietary sweetness:

Not all countries mandate food manufacturers to list added sugars, but it's still worthwhile to check the ingredients in packaged foods for extra sweetening. Let the list be your guide when deciding what to put in your cart.  Here are some of sugar's many aliases that you should look out for:

• Agave nectar
• Brown sugar
• Cane crystals
• Cane sugar
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Crystalline fructose
• Dextrose
• Evaporated cane juice
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Malt syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Sugar
• Syrup

"Reduced sugar" or "less sugar" means a food has at least 25 percent less sugar than a similar full-sugar food. A food that's "sugar free" has less than a half-gram (1/8 teaspoon) of sugar per serving. "No added sugar" means no sugars were added during processing. Note: Foods marked "sugar free" and "no added sugar" may contain sugar alcohols, a type of sweetener that isn't fully absorbed, so it won't raise your blood sugar as much as regular sweeteners. However, these do add calories to your diet and can cause gas, bloating and diarrhea, so keep portions small.

It's a very simple concept, really; if your food is processed at a factory, it likely has extra sugar (not to mention salt, preservatives and artificial food colouring). If it is bought in a raw form, nothing has been added to it. If your loaded grocery cart is more than 50 percent processed and packaged foods, consider putting a few items back and heading over to the produce, seafood and dairy sections for healthier choices.

Want a specific example of how processing changes the healthfulness of a food? When peaches are canned at a factory, they are typically packed in heavy syrup that contains 35 grams (1.2 ounces) of added sugar per cup of fruit. Your better alternative is to buy fresh, frozen or canned fruit packed only in water or its own unsweetened juice.

Some experts estimate that the average adult gets 10 to 20 percent of calories each day from drinks — almost all of it from added sugars. Soda is the worst offender, but hardly the only one. Most fruit juices have been sweetened as well, so always check the ingredients in bottled or canned drinks. Pick up 100 percent pure juices instead.

Sprinkle less into coffee and tea, on cereals and on cut fruit. Enhance sweetness with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger.

These include aspartame, sucralose and saccharin. You may be able to cut the sugar in baked goods by one-third to one-half without noticing a difference. Or try replacing sugar in recipes with applesauce or with an artificial sweetener developed specifically for baking.

Reducing sugar is always a wise choice. Following these hints will help you keep your sugar intake in check.