Recently, Nate and I watched one of those fear mongering type documentaries about the health risks of sugar. I think we have all started to learn more about how awful sugar actually is for you, but this documentary helped put it in perspective for us even more. This came at a good time as I’ve been having a serious ongoing craving for any sour gummy candy I can get my hands on.
Since telling people we are pregnant I’ve had LOTS of conversations about the long long list of rules of what not to eat and drink. We all know sushi, a glass of wine, and lunch meat are the devil (insert small eye roll). But what about sugar? How often does anyone talk about what happens in our bodies when we consume 2 times the daily recommended amount of sugar in one sitting? Do I even know how much sugar I should be consuming in a day? Do I know how much I AM consuming in a day??
I started paying closer attention to labels while at the grocery store and I was very very surprised. Sugar is EVERYWHERE. It’s especially annoying as it shows up in my “healthy” foods like plain yogurt or some organic flax-seed-esque cereal. I don’t want to eat all my sugar not in my dessert! If I’m going to have a bowl of ice cream every once in a while, I really don’t need 16 grams of sugar in a granola bar at 3pm.
So for the last couple of months we’ve tried to really decrease our sugar intake in our regular daily meals. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not perfect at this whatsoever. But little by little we are trying to make better choices.
Here are some of the changes we’ve made:
- Old: Cascadian Farms Organic Graham Crunch Cereal 8grams of sugar; admittedly not that terrible, but I LOVE cereal and sometimes my serving size doesn’t exactly match up to what they “suggest”
- New: Shredded Wheat 0 grams of sugar, but I add blueberries of course; bonus, LOTS of fiber!
- Old: Skim milk 11 grams of sugar
- New: Coconut Milk Unsweetened 0 grams of sugar; I know coconut milk has a lot of fat so it’s for cereal purposes only
- Old: Coffee Mate Natural Bliss Vanilla creamer 5 grams of sugar
- New: Organic Heavy Cream 0 grams of sugar; I’ve learned to love my coffee with a splash of heavy cream. Because it’s so creamy and delicious you really only need a small amount.
- Old: Raspberry Jam on my english muffin 10+ grams of sugar per tablespoon and we all know I’m not just using one
- New: A small amount of butter or peanut butter, again higher in fat but I was using butter and jam anyways so I’ll call it even.
- Old: Any old yogurt that looks good at the time 10-25 grams of sugar (yes 25!!)
- New: Fage Total 0% 7 grams of sugar plus some berries. *I also love Siggis in all flavors, they always have more protein than sugar. Calling that a win.
Some other lower sugar snacks I’ve gotten on board with: popcorn, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs, and raw nuts.
I know not all of these choices are perfect, but I’ve tried to be more aware of what I’m fueling my body and growing this baby girl with. While I still can’t always say no to the Sour Patch Kids, I do feel like I’m craving sugar a tiny bit less thanks to these changes.
What are some of your favorite lower sugar choices?
