High blood sugar can come with a bunch of problems. It can boost the risk for type-2 diabetes and heart disease. It can attack your metabolism and damage valuable organs like your liver. It can also be directly affected by the foods you eat.
The amount of sugar in your blood is primarily determined by what you’re eating. High sugar processed foods, for example, cause blood sugar levels to spike. Eat too many of them too often, and you’ll gain weight and start putting yourself at risk for the conditions mentioned above.
But sweet tastes are hard to kick. So many processed foods have so much sugar or sugar-like substances added to them that they are tough to kick. The sweetness of these foods can mess up your ability to taste and dull your tastebuds.
Sugar is also addictive. So, when you cut it, not only does nothing really taste sweet, you’re also not feeling your best.
So, what are you supposed to do?
The first thing is not to get discouraged. You can cut sugar intake, find substitutes, retrain your tastebuds, and even reverse some of the damage that a high-sugar diet has caused.
Here’s how:
Start Small: If you eat a lot of sugar, or are used to having something sweet after a savory meal, simply cut back little by little. It could mean going from four cans of cola per day down to two or three for some. Maybe it’s replacing an after-dinner cake with some fruit.
Identify Naturally Sweet and Healthy Foods: Strawberries, apples, pears, grapes, pineapple, and more are all super healthy and very sweet. They may not hit you the same way as cake or candy but just wait: once your tastebuds recalibrate, you’ll think these items are candy.
Pick Your Spots: Healthy blood sugar doesn’t mean you have to abandon sweets altogether, but it does mean you have to choose when to indulge. A controlled portion of something sweet, maybe on a weekly basis, can offer something to look forward to and satisfy a sweet tooth.
Just remember these two words: controlled portions.
And if you go overboard, don’t let it completely derail your efforts. Just start again!