Suh-weet!

Hey everyone! Vanessa on the blog today, supplementing Karen’s sugar discussion this week. And I’ve got some thoughts.

Can I just say up front, it is completely normal to enjoy sweet foods. If you think about it, for most of us our very first food (formula or breastmilk) was sweet; that’s why it’s ingrained in most of us to carry that taste preference into adulthood. And yet: our clients “confess” to us all the time about their sweet tooth as if it is something that is somehow unnatural. So first: let’s normalize this preference! 

Next: it is completely possible to be regularly eating more sugar than you realize. If you are looking to decrease the amount of sugar in your life, be sure to get a global perspective of where it is most present in your intake. We get it: it’s in candies, cookies, cakes, sodas, et cetera… but is it also in our bread, salad dressing, cereals, protein powders and tomato sauce? Does it need to be? Maybe not. For me, I like my sugar to come from my desserts and I made my peace with that a looooooong time ago. I am not so ok with it being in other common foods, and so I choose those foods accordingly. Could this be an option for you also?

Lastly: take a look at your beverage choices if you are trying to decrease your sugar intake. Sodas, juices, lemonades, iced tea, energy drinks, vitamin waters, and many alcoholic as well as NA choices may contain more sugar than you realize. Do your best to be an informed consumer and check out that “Added Sugar” line on the Nutrition Facts label of your drink. (And if you are looking for a bubbly option that has more sweetness than carbonated flavored water but less than soda, check out my product pick this week!) Remember: it’s all about small changes that you can make in your daily patterns. Think about where sugar might be more optional for you and go from there!