How to go sugar-free if you have specific dietary requirements
The trend towards ditching sugar for weight-loss and better health is growing, but it’s important to distinguish between the sugar added to food and beverages, and that occurring naturally in healthy produce like fruit and vegetables – especially if you are vegetarian or vegan.
Most of us eat far more sugar than is good for us. South Africa’s Food-Based Dietary Guidelines advise using ‘sugar and foods and drinks high in sugar sparingly’. And the World Health Organization defines that as 25 to 50g a day or less – that’s only six to 12 teaspoons, half our current average.
Consuming excess sugar has been linked to conditions from obesity and metabolic syndrome to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic inflammation and liver disease, not to mention dental plaque and cavities. If you replace foods and beverages high in added sugar with healthy alternatives, you can undoubtedly enjoy better health. But that is not the same as eliminating all sugar from your diet – which would include the sugars occurring naturally in fruit, vegetables and even unflavoured dairy produce.
Should you be a vegan (meaning you avoid eating, wearing or using anything derived from or tested on animals), a vegetarian (you don’t eat meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or by-products of animal slaughter), or a lacto-vegetarian (you are vegetarian but eat dairy), then fruit and vegetables, along with nuts, will be food staples, notes Vegan SA.. These foods are important sources of essential nutrients, antioxidants and fibre key to good health and protection against disease.
If you’re lacto-vegetarian, you should know that most flavoured yoghurts have added sugar in some form, says Cape Town dietitian Gabi Steenkamp, who has a special interest in treating diabetes. But the total sugar value listed in the nutritional analysis on the label will include both the added AND the inherent sugars (lactose, in the case of dairy products). That’s why even plain, natural yoghurt contains between 3 and 6g sugar per 100g. This is the lactose naturally occurring in dairy products. So, a fruit-flavoured yoghurt containing 8.7g sugar per 100g will contain 3g inherent lactose and 4.7g sugar from the fruit pulp and added sugar.
Instead of aiming to eliminate all sugar from your diet, then, cut back on it – sensibly and sustainably.
1. Start slowly
Start by avoiding the most obvious sources of sugar – baked foods like cakes and muffins, sweets and sugary beverages. Even so-called ‘vitamin water’ is essentially sugar water with a few added vitamins and has around 5 to 8 teaspoons of sugar per 300ml, says Steenkamp. Reduce the sugar you add to tea or coffee gradually until you add none – retraining your palate is better than resorting to artificial sweeteners which mostly contain chemicals. Artificial sweeteners can deplete your microbiome (the millions of micro-organisms in your gut vital for gut health).
Sugar alcohols (sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol) may be okay in moderation, but in large amounts can lead to bloating and diarrhoea. Natural sweeteners are better for your gut, says Cape Town registered dietitian Claire McMahon – honey, dates, maple syrup, and possibly agave and stevia (they remain controversial). Just have them in small quantities, if weight-loss is your focus.
2. Read food and beverage labels
To avoid products with added sugar, you need to recognise the many different names used for sugars. Watch for those ending in ‘ose’ – sucrose, glucose, fructose, dextrose, maltose and lactose. Also corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup (which has entered the South African market in the likes of beverages, cereals, pastries and dressings and sweets); apple and grape juice concentrate (fruit juice from which most of the water has been extracted, and to which sweeteners like corn syrup may have been added, or sodium to vegetable juice blends). “The higher they are listed, the greater quantity used,” says Steenkamp.
3. Choose whole foods
Processed foods are likely to contain added sugars or refined ingredients, so focus on vegetables, fruits, whole unprocessed grains, legumes, and if you’re vegetarian or vegan, tofu (else lean meats, poultry and fish).
4. Include other ways to manage weight
Cutting back sugar is alone is not the solution to better health and weight-loss – include regular brisk exercise (20 to 30 minutes a day), and have a nutritious, balanced, sustainable diet. “The idea is to eat sensibly for life, so you must enjoy your meals,” says Steenkamp. If you have special dietary requirements (vegan etc), consult a professional dietitian for guidance, and discuss possible supplements.
Also read: Everything you need to know about food intolerances
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