I get the message! Most of you cannot even imagine cutting most of the sugar or artificial sweeteners out of your diet.
But, I have learned some simple ways of working around the high sugar content found everywhere at your local grocery store.
The first thing to accept is that you can no longer buy and consume most pre-packaged foods. Sometimes now, when I’m at the grocery story, I look around myself and think, “What am I doing here? I can’t eat anything on these shelves!” If you don’t believe me, try buying a cereal without sugar in it! Here are your choices: oatmeal you fix yourself or plain shredded wheat.
If you want to really cut down on sugar without cutting it out all together, start checking the ingredient labels on cereal and other foods you like to consume. If the sugar content is more than 5 grams per serving, either skip it or, with cereal, combine it with plain shredded wheat to cut down on your total sugar grams.
If you want to add fruit to your cereal, choose those fruits that are low in sugar and high in fiber like apples and blueberries. These fruits have enough fiber to keep moving through your system, so they don’t shock it with a sudden, quick spike in blood sugar level. BTW, dried fruit like raisins and prunes are extremely high in sugar. I learned this the hard way, with a major Candida attack!
When it comes to milk on your cereal, why not try something different? I know most of you have probably tried soy milk. Not me because I’m allergic to soy! Instead I started using unsweetened almond milk on my cereal and in my coffee. It’s delicious, it’s low fat, it has good protein, and it helps me avoid the milk sugars in cow’s milk.
The good news in a low sugar diet is that you can still eat regular meals for lunch and dinner, because meats and vegetables are fine. Avoid white flour, rice and potatoes as much as possible because they turn into pure sugar in your stomach.
The other problem is what to drink when you want something besides water. I combine lemon water with tea and stevia or a very low cal canned drink like Minute Maid Light Cherry Limeade.
For dessert, I’ve started baking my own muffins and cakes so I can replace the sugar with stevia and the fat with applesauce. But if you MUST HAVE SOMETHING GOOD AND SWEET RIGHT NOW, try this great no-cook fudge recipe. It’s delicious! Really! And the coconut oil is good for you! My dietician told me so!
