Your Guide to Going Low Sugar
I work a lot with hormonal health, fertility, digestion, and adrenal health with my clients, and that often means reducing and/or increasing certain compounds in someones diet. Following a low sugar way of eating for a period of time can be a very effective tool to help manage glucose and insulin dysregulation, androgen levels, energy and fatigue, sleep, and assist in gut protocols.
If you’ve been asking to follow a low sugar way of eating by myself, or are simply looking to make some healthy swaps, read on!
The purpose of this blog isn't to demonise sugar, but to educate you on how to make health-promoting choices for yourself.
Firstly, what is ‘low sugar’? When I say low sugar I am talking about low added sugars. Not sugars that exist in whole fruits and vegetables. Added sugars are what you are looking to keep relatively low on a low sugar diet. When you are looking at low sugar foods to eat, I suggest familiarising yourself with how to read:
1. The ingredient list
Packaged foods in Australia list ingredients in order from that of the most quantity to least. This alone will give you a good indication on how much sugar is in the product. Does sugar (or a word that means sugar) exist in the first 3 – 5 ingredients?
This is one of the most popular ice cream brands in Australia. There are three words for sugar in this list - sugar, glucose fructose syrup, and glucose syrup. Sugar is the second, third and fifth ingredient. Without even looking at the nutrition information, we know that this is a high sugar product!
2. The nutrition panel
Firstly, I suggest reading the right hand column of a product, as this is listed at quantities per 100g or 100mL. This means the number you see is a percentage. For sugar content, ideally this number is low, however you will need to take into account the portion size of what you are going to eat.
It is helpful to know that 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends no more than six teaspoons for women and nine teaspoons for men of sugar daily.
This is a very popular chocolate brand. There is 57.8g of sugar per 100g of this product, meaning that sugar makes up 57.8% of the product. This is quite a lot! But remember that you may not eat 100g of chocolate in a sitting. The brands suggested 'serving size' is 4 squares. In 4 squares of this chocolate there is 14.5g, which equates to 3.6 teaspoons of sugar. That is almost 1 teaspoon per square. This is a very high sugar chocolate!
Some names for sugar that are not sugar include (but are not limited to):
100% sugar free sweeteners I recommend include monk fruit and stevia. Erythritol is another option, however this can cause digestive upset in some people, so try a small amount first to see if this is well tolerated for you.
Natural (unrefined) sugars that provide nutrients beyond fructose and glucose include raw honey, raw maple syrup, rice malt syrup, date syrup, coconut sugar, and molasses. These are better options in my opinion than white table sugar, but still fall into added sugars due to fact that they have the same effect on your body.
Low sugar recipes I recommend:
Jen's Easy Fudge - 1/2 cup cacao powder, 1 cup tahini, 1/2 cup honey. Set in the freezer and slice into bite sized pieces
Brooke's Simple Sweet Treat - Cut up a banana, drizzle with tahini, and top with cacao nibs
My Satisfying Snack - Combine 1/2 cup coconut yoghurt, 2 heaped teaspoons of carob powder OR 1 tablespoon of vanilla protein, and 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Serena's Easy Choc-Chip Cookies - First make a flax egg by mixing together 4 teaspoons of flaxseed meal with 4 tablespoons of water. In another bowl mix together 1 cup of oat flour, 1/2 cup almond meal, 4 teaspoons of erythritol, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil. Add in the flax egg and 1/4 cup chocolate chips and mix well. Roll into balls, flatten, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden on top
Looking for more snack ideas? Try my Top 4 Protein bars blog. If you are looking for individualised dietary support, sessions with me can be booked here.
Jaclyn is a qualified Naturopath with a focus on hormonal conditions, preconception and pregnancy care, skin, and adrenal health.
Jaclyn Cave, BHSc (Nat) BComm (Soc)
Masters Womens Health Med (UNSW - completing)