According to Statistics Canada, sugar consumption in Canada is at an all-time high. The average Canadian consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar per day – that’s 20 bags of sugar per year! Even thinking about 26 teaspoons of sugar per day makes my stomach turn. How is that even possible? When you realize all the foods and drinks that contain sugar, it isn’t hard to see how easily it can add up.
Consider how much sugar is in the following:
9.5 cubes of sugar in * 1 can of coke
6.5 cubes of sugar in * 1 can of Red Bull
3.5 cubes of sugar in * 4 Oreo cookies
7.5 cubes of sugar in * 1 Snickers bar
7 cubes of sugar in * 1⁄2 cup Häagen-Dazs raspberry sorbet
The World Health Organization (WHO) is once again urging people to lower the amount of sugar they consume. To help make this transition smooth, Diana Steele, a Canadian registered dietitian, shares five tips to establish healthy cooking habits and a healthy lifestyle:
~ Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages. Sweetened beverages, including fruit-flavoured drinks, carbonated drinks, sports and energy drinks, may be the single largest drivingfactor of the obesity epidemic. Replace these beverages with calorie-free drinks such as water, tea or drinks that provide vitamins and nutrients such as almond milk and 100% pure fruit juice.
Almond Fresh Unsweetened, is a refreshing, no sugar added beverage which can be enjoyed by the glass or be used as a cooking ingredient in healthy, low-sugar meals (1 serving of Almond Fresh Unsweetened almond milk *0 grams of sugar, 35 calories, and fortified with nine essential vitamins and minerals!)
~ Skip sugary ingredients. Instead of jams, jellies, honey and syrups, consider adding vanilla or almond extract or spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger which impart a sweet flavour without the use of sugar.
~ Say no to candy and chocolate. Plan to have a snack between meals to help maintain blood sugars and prevent sugar cravings. Consider plain yogurt with berries, raw vegetables and hummus or a fruit and unsweetened almond milk smoothie.
~ Add nutrients, not calories. Make healthier choices when choosing desserts. Consider having tinned peaches packed in water, apple crumble with oatmeal topping, low-sugar Greek yogurt with fresh berries or simply a glass of steamed unsweetened almond milk with a dash of cinnamon.
~ Cook together. Skipping the sugar is no cake walk. Canadian health experts continue to point to cooking together as a family to establish healthy cooking habits and a healthy lifestyle. Selecting weekly meals and shopping as a family will also help instill healthy eating habits. Remember, start simple and make small changes over time and overall health.
Which of the above tips have you already incorporated into your lifestyle, or which do you think you could probably use right now? I have switched to zero-calorie drinks and love drinks like Almond Fresh in my smoothies and coffee, and have been experimenting cooking with it too. Thankfully, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I’m already ahead of the game there – admittedly it’s in my drink choices that sugar seems to get me!
We have a giveaway to help encourage some healthy lifestyle changes, with the help of Almond Fresh. Simply share which of the healthy sugar-reduction tips you have already incorporated or are willing to try, in order to be entered to win!
One of our readers is going to win this amazing Almond Fresh themed gift basket valued at $150 and packed full of everything you need to create healthy, reduced sugar meals and drinks! The basket includes:
· Two Almond Fresh tumblers
· 3 coupons for free Almond Fresh almond milk
· Bamboo kitchen scale
· Single Service blender
· Set of six bamboo placemats
· Stainless steel measuring spoons
· Stainless steel measuring cups
· Set of four silicone spatulas
~ Say no to candy and chocolate. I have already done this and it is amazing how great a person starts to feel after omitting something like sugar!
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages.. I am ING to Quit drinking pop as we speak 😉
We eat a lot of greek yogurt with fresh and frozen berries…. works for breakfast or dessert!
Reduce or eliminate sugary beverages. This is something we already do, as well as many of the other things listed. With a history of diabetes in the family, we definitely watch what we consume!
No snack after 8pm 🙂
add nutrients not calories….I eat greek yogurt and fresh berries for a breakfast everyday for a snack later will have a bran muffin or all bran bar
No late night snacks… Oh, and eliminating sweet drinks.
Reduce or eliminate sugary beverages 🙂
Have been avoiding sugary drinks and trying to drink ice tea or infused water instead
I skip the sugar in my coffee.
Say no to candy and chocolate. Plan to have a snack between meals to help maintain blood sugars and prevent sugar cravings. Consider plain yogurt with berries, raw vegetables and hummus or a fruit and unsweetened almond milk smoothie.
I’ve eliminated sugar sweetened beverages.
We have no candy and chocolate in the house, it is restricted to eating out of the house only
Eliminated sugar sweetened beverages, skipped sugary ingredient and said no to candy <- it was hard but I did it for the good of my health as I was consuming way too much sugar.
I am going to replace some sodas with water and cook more as a family.
I’ve stopped drinking sugary drinks when I was pregnant the first time, but I still have a sweet tooth so chocolate, especially in baking, needs to be scaled back!
I am trying very very hard to cut out sugar and junk food..Eating more fruit and greek yogurt and making smoothies 😉
very limited soda intake. Water with citrus essential oils mmmmmmmm
We stopped buying soda over a year ago and very rarely have junk food around the house. We eat more fruit 🙂
Eat fruit unsted of drinking juice
I’ve cut down on my sugar intake and for me I’m proud I have a very bad sweet tooth lol, and Ive been eating more fruits and salads
Just eliminate junk food from the shopping trip and eventually the kids forget what they are missing.
I love Almond Fresh… great substitute when I found out I was lactose intolerant.
I try to skip the sugar in my coffee.
I am going to try to reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages
I reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages by drinking only water and unsweetened Almond Fresh 🙂
we drink water instead of sugary pop add a slice of lime orange or lemon to get a tasty treat !
Eliminate junk food.
we haven’t had any pop, and rarely juices, in our house for years
reduce our family’s juice consumption
I already drink unsweetened almond milk. Very glad I do. 🙂
My daughter and I cook together… sometimes, but I think we could do it more to encourage healthy habits.
I have changed our eating habits, I do not buy pop or unhealthy snacks!
I like to drink almond milk and sometimes use sugar twin on my cereal.
Keep it out of the house! We consume so much less when it’s not around.
I am going to try to reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages.
unsweetened almond milk and fresh fruit smoothies!
I have eliminated pop and juice. We get our sugar rush from fruits now.
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages…… haven’t had pop in so long. that’s a start!
I have eliminated sugar sweetened beverages and we have reduced the amount of candy and sweets we eat (fresh fruit is a great alternative)
I eliminated sugary pops and replaced with water and replaced snacks with Apple’s
Reduce or eliminate sweetened beverages!
Smoothies in the morning loaded with soy or coconut milk, some fruit and hand ful(s) of spinach! cant even taste it!
I had no idea of all the nutrients in Almond Milk! wow! I need to try this.
I have eliminated sweetened beverages.
Add nutrients, not calories is a good tip for me.
I have switched to black coffee and it tastes great without sugar.
I have been trying to skip sugary foods and I also love drinking Almond fresh milk on a daily basis.
Would love to win!!! I recently became vegan !!
I’m trying to cut out pop…and failing. However, I have been able cut sugar out of other stuff
I only use sugar for baking purposes
Add nutrients not calories. My husband is a diabetic so I have been doing this for awhile now. He loves the apple crumble.
We are trying to Skip sugary ingredients when we bake.
Awesome ideas!! What a lovely gift basket too!
Fresh fruit in plain greek yogurt
I have completely eliminated sugar in my coffee and tea. I also cook at least four times a week with my fiance. I find that when we cook together we choose healthier meals.
I stopped buy juice and am using the juicer to make it where I control the sugar
When I purchase almond milk I always opt for the unsweetened variety.
We have eliminated sugary beverages and we only have chocolate/candy on special occasions to help reduce our sugar intake.
I rarely drink juice or sugary drinks. And I add cinnamon to everything!
I definitely have sugar cravings but I’m working hard to reduce the amount of sugar I consume.
I attempt to cook as many meals and snacks from scratch as possible in order to make sure I use healthy ingredients.
I also reduce the amount of sugar called for in recipes.
I’ve reduced our consumption of sugary beverages. We rarely have soda pop, our main drink of choice is water; there’s no better thirst quencher! 🙂
I drink herbal tea instead of pop!
we have Reduce and eliminated sugar sweetened beverages. I have switched to tea with no sugar and i also drink water now instead of pop
I incorporate the skip sugary ingredients tip into my lifestyle. I try to avoid sugary ingredients and go for more natural options.
We have switched to drinking water instead of pop in my house
I have quit drinking pop and only drink water with one small squirt of crystal light and for my morning coffee I use raw honey in place of the sugar
Cutting out anything with added sugar (so pretty much anything that comes in a box or is pre-packaged).
I cut soda out completely
We skip sugary drinks. The only liquid we have in the house is water. Then there is no temptation.
For the most part we already skip sugary ingredients and choose other things instead 🙂
Avoid sugary ingredients
Trying to use more fresh fruits and vegetable
ALREADY TRYING TO CUT BACK,BUT NOT EASY!
I try to use non-sugary ingredients to add flavour, such as adding cinnamon to my coffee.
We are preparing a lot more meals at home, which is automatically reducing the sugar. It’s surprising when you read the label how much there is out there! I’m also drinking less pop, but it’s hard to give up!
In baking, rather than sugar, I like to use apple sauce instead of sugar.
I drink water 90% of the time, and make my own jams and canned fruits with less sugar.
I’ve started drinking my coffee black!
We have eliminate sugar sweetened beverages – no sugar in coffee and we drink water instead of pop/soda
I really like using the Greek yogurt to replace higher sugar yogurts and using them in dips!!
I type this as I drink a can of Coke… Talk about sugar!! It is my once a week treat though, which was just odd timing in the case of this post… 🙂 Anyway, what I have been doing to limit my sugar is treating myself to one can of pop per week – I got into the habit of 1-2 cans a day and that was bad news!! Also, I used to put 2 spoonfuls of sugar in my coffee, and then one day I was on holidays and we had no sugar in the condo so I had my coffee with just milk and I discovered I really liked it! So no more sugar in my coffee from now on, yay! I am starting with small steps like that, since I know I was getting too much sugar in my diet (I was borderline diabetic with my last pregnancy, which was an eye opener).
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages. I have already cut way back on canned colas
Make your own juice – bought juice contains too much sugar
i cut the sugar in recipes
Cutting out sweetened beverages wasn’t a big stretch, however, cutting out flavoured fact coffee drinks was harder, but we did it!
( Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages.) We have eliminated sugary drinks, like pop,sweetened drinks..Also do not use sugar in our coffee and teas. Drink more herbal teas now! We now also drink and use Almond milk for drinking and in recipes!
I’ve stopped adding sugar and sugar substitutes to my tea and coffee. It took a while to get used too, but now its normal for me!
I only drink juices that are naturally sweetened
I don’t eat processed foods which eliminates a lot of high sugar foods and I skip the candy and chocolate.
I have incorporated all of them. My daughter has type 1 diabetes and we avoid refined sugars at all costs
I like the idea of cooking together, not just for your physical health but for your emotional health as well.
Replace some of the egg and all the sugar with applesauce. So yummy and moist!
I’ve already eliminated sugary drinks from my diet. It’s only water or unsweetened tea for me.
No more sugar in the coffee
I love almond milk in my smoothies!
my son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a bit over a year ago so the one the aim for is Skip sugary ingredients. We have been looking for healthier substitutes and foods with much lower carbs
I’ve cut out all sweets from my diet and stopped drinking sugary drinks
We as a family our on a health kick, we skip sugary juices and pop!
Add nutrients not calories
I’ve stopped adding sugar to my tea and coffee and prefer the taste over a sweetened one!
I love Almond Milk:)
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages
I have reduced sugar for many years now….I use Stevia drops in stead of sugar in my coffee….it’s a natural herb so will not harm you like other artificial sweeteners. It’s also great to reduce sugar in baking. Give it a try…you will love it and zero calories.
Naturally sweeneted juice for me!
so no to candy and chocolate
I already drink unsweetened almond milk
I am entering your giveaway.
It would be great to win this amazing Almond Fresh themed gift basket.
In response to your requirement to Share which of the healthy sugar-reduction tips
i have already incorporated or are willing to try, in order to be entered to win.
I have already incorporated Saying no to candy and chocolate.
Thank you for having this giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!
Say no to candy and chocolate.
Substituted sugar with Honey in many of my recipes
I will try Almond fresh I have diabetes and really need to get sugar down
Omit the sugar in my coffee and avoid desserts.
I have already incorporated almond milk into our diet in smoothies and baking.
All of them. We’re a pretty low sugar household.
I have been cutting out candy and chocolate to reduce sugar intake.
I have switched from sweetened to unsweetened iced tea and I am making sure that our desserts are fruit heavy and sugar light
We’ve stopped drinking soft drinks and sweetened juices.
The “Say no to candy and chocolate” – I never eat candy anymore, and rarely eat chocolate (maybe an occasional small piece of dark chocolate, but that’s it). I like snacking on raw veggies instead – especially celery and cucumber.
I will try to skip sugary ingredients!
Skip sugary ingredients caught my eye because I just ate half a tub of ice cream. It appears I need to work on this
Cook together./ I try to let my 4 year old help me to cook things while using less sugar
I started eliminating sugar in my coffee
trying to cut out candy but its HARD lol
getting lattes half sweetened
I have Skippped the sugary ingredients!
i used to have 2 sugars in my coffee, now I just have barely a sprinkle..
Add nutrients, not calories.
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages. I’ve eliminated all the sweetened beverages some years ago!
I’m already trying to incorporate “Say no to candy and chocolate” and have more vegetables. Especially with it being summer and having an excellent selection of veggies, I’m trying to snack more on crunchy veggies than candies and chocolates.
saying no to candy and chocolate.
I have a huge weakness for gummies….
I’m willing to try “Skip sugary ingredients”. I’ll give up candy too…but not chocolate. lol
Well one that I would not be able to do is saying no to candy and chocolate. lol
But we cook together as a family so I know what is going into the lunches and suppers that my family eats.
I cut sugar out of my coffee.
instead of buying flavoured yogurts I have been buying plain yogurt and adding my own fruit.
I also get my kids involved in cooking ~ they love seeing what goes into our meals!
Almond milk is the only milk I drink. Not only does it taste good but its also so good for you. I use it in everything that requires milk, I also only eat things that I am able to pronounce too. With major allergies like I have you have to be careful these days!
drink unsweetened almond milk
Add nutrients not calories
I use stevia in my drinks instead of sugar.
I am not a big sugar eater and have already eliminated it from a lot of things in my diet. Coffee with a sweeter is a real treat for me.
I try to avoid or reduce the amount of sugary beverages we have
Love to cut down sugar on all my sweets
I drink at least a cup of this a day with protein powder…I love this stuff and when I saw your facebook post on the brand, I came over here!! Great product and great giveaway, thank you!!!!
I skip sugary juices and beverages – water with lemon juice is delightful to drink all through the day! I also add cinnamon to anything I’m craving sweetened (like my morning coffee) and then I don’t need the sugar!
I am willing to try ” Add nutrients, not calories.”
I went from 2 teaspoons of sugar in my coffee to none.
very timely as this past week i made the choice to eliminate pop and white breads
I have already reduced my consumption of sugar sweetened beverages.
We tend to use a lot less sugar these days.
I would be willing to incorporate Skip sugary ingredients.
We’ve reduced or eliminated sugar sweetened beverages and only get unconcentrated juices.
i am diabetic, so already do most of these; great to hear of a low-sugar product – i rarely drink milk, as its too sugary (naturally occuring lactose)
Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages. I rarely drink pop always buy 100% juices
I don’t put sugar in my coffee and try to have natural sugars instead of processed
I grow stevia and use it in my tea as a sweetener
I have cut back in recipes. and plus there are times I may had a different sweetener in stead of sugar
We have Reduced or eliminated sugar sweetened beverages.
I don’t put sugar into my beverages & don’t drink sodas or colas
We no longer drink sweetened beverages
Almond milk and non-processed sweeteners are definitely the way to go! I’ve been switching my household to Almond Milk and stevia or agave as alternatives to sugar. Local honey is a great option as well. And, I just read an article about making your own coffee creamer, so that’s my next experiment. 🙂
I’m been cutting out chocolate and ice cream my go to cravings food for about 2 months now. I allow myself a treat once or twice a week instead of daily.
I involve my kids in shopping and steer them clear of sweets and treats. They do well when choosing fruit, veggies, and healthier snacks.
I am down from triple triple to a single sugar in my coffee and started to use natural products like pure maple syrup instead of the processed grocery store kind.
I’ve cut way down on sweetened drinks. Added bonus: I’m drinking more water now than I used to and I feel much better.
Cut down the amount of,sugar in recipes
I think the “Add nutrients, not calories” tip that advises to think about making healthier choices is the one I’ll try to incorporate into my life as often as I can.
I’m working on saying no to the candy and chocolate………I always keep dried apricots and nuts at my desk at work to avoid the vending machine.
I have skipped the pop for water at meals and snacks.
I am trying to say no to candy but I have an awful sweet tooth. I really want to cut back on my sugar
When I get thirsty I’m more likely to reach for a glass of water than a pop or juice.
Say no to candy and chocolate… na just kidding. I’ll go with reducing sugar sweetened beverages
cutting out sugar, whenever possible 🙂
even in baking I reduce the sugar required. No one knows any different
I no longer add sugar, or any sweetener to my coffee, I’ve started buying unsweetened coconut milk, and lately to help me keep track of just how much sugar I’m getting in a day I’m also using a food tracker and keeping track of everything that goes in my mouth! I’ve been battling with candida for awhile so it’s a huge motivating factor in reducing my sugar intake.
I didn’t realize how much sugar was even in almond milk until a lady at the grocery store pointed it out to me one day! Since then I have always purchased the unsweetened versions. I love Almond Fresh, it’s one of the only “milk” products I drink! Thanks for the great giveaway! 🙂
We have said no to candy and chocolate!!!!
we try to reduce the amount of pop we drink
I have cut down the amount of sugar I use in recipes.
I’ve eliminated sugar sweetened beverages!
I/ve switched to stevia I also add a Banana to my Almond milk smoothies for a natural sweetener. love the tips and post thanks!
We’ve been cutting down on sweetened beverages.
I have already eliminated sugar sweetened drinks
We don’t drink sugary beverages anymore
Finally got rid of sugar in my coffee…always use Almond Fresh in my cereal. Will now have to look for the unsweetened. Love the calorie count!!!
I don’t drink soda or sugary drinks and I don’t bake with refined sugar!
I have cut back all processed product containing sugar donttake sugar in tea or milk. traded almond millk for regular milk love this product wish this is more on sale!!!!
cut back all processed product containing sugar donttake sugar in tea or milk. traded almond millk for regular milk love this product wish this is more on sale!!!!
Our family switched to unsweetened Almond milk awhile ago. No pop in our house!
I reduce sugar sweetened beverages. I usually stick to water, coffee & tea.
I need to “skip sugary ingredients”…that stuff is in everything.
I cut half sugar quantity in recipes
I Drink Water instead of Pop and i stopped adding sugar to my Cereal bowl.
Say no to sugary ingredients
I will use cinnamon to sweeten my tea instead of sugar.
TRYING XYLITOL AT THE MOMENT…
No soda or fruit drinks, just lemon and water or plain water, or tea, too much sugar in too many foods nowadays.
Less is more!
I am already low carbing, a d making my way to wheat free. Big part of that is going sugar free. 🙂
No need for sugar, it tastes delicious without it!
I love baking and have had a blast this last year working out different ways to make it healthier! I often skip the sugar all together and use ripe bananas or homemade apple sauce instead. I am also trying to help my kids to learn this as well, and they are handy helpers in the kitchen who are seeing it in practice. They also love to be the testers of recipes to see what works best 🙂 I love using almond milk in a variety of items, especially my homemade “ice cream”.
We limit sugar sweetened beverages. I love a little unsweetened almond milk in my morning coffee, and in the summer flavouring water with fresh fruit slices
I stopped drinking sugar laden beverages last year. Am compiling a new cookbook from recipes from the Facebook page Low Carbing among friends. To encourage me to prepare main meals and now desserts with sugar alternatives. Living the low carb lifestyle now.
I use brown sugar insted of white sugar
Great post! I have learned to be a label reader and to understand all the names that sugar goes by. I substitute where ever I can with natural sweeteners or have learned to live without it. Love Almond Fresh, it is my brand of choice and drink it daily in my superfood smoothies.
I will add vanilla into my coffee instead of sugar…interesting….
I have already cut out all sodas (regular and diet). Now my sweeteners of choice are honey and cinnamon.
I have stopped drinking those sugar filled drinks from coffee shops
instead of pop have changed to carbonated water that has no sugar (no fake sugar either) or salt…the fizz helps deal with the need for pop as well a remove a lot of sugar from my intake:)
I definitely try to skip sugary ingredients. That’s why I love cooking with Vanilla Almond Fresh!
I try to reduce my consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
I gave up sugar in my coffee and tea
We have eliminated sweet beverages – can’t remember the last time I’ve had pop. It’s been years!
We are no longer drinking sodas. For us this is huge, we all were hooked on ginger ale for far too long…
I try to drink fewer sugary drinks.
i stay away from refined sugars, and when i’m craving sweets, its usually fruit or dates that i eat
We have started making oatmeal cookies with oats and a banana (also with almonds and cinnamon).
I am gluten free so I mostly make everything from scratch, when I am baking I always cut the sugar in half as well as I only use coconut sugar.
I’m going to be drinking less sugary drinks.
Of the healthy sugar-reduction tips, I have already incorporated “Reduce or eliminate sugar sweetened beverages” – every little bit helps 🙂 thanks
I am willing to reduce the sugar ingredients when baking. Much healthier.
I have stopped putting sugar in my tea and my coffee – don’t even miss it anymore!
I have reduced my intake of sugary drinks and treats too!
add nutrients, not calories