Less Sugar and Low-Sugar Options to Protect Your Health

fruit

Did you know the average adult consumes about 150 to 170 pounds of sugar a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture?

That’s a lot of sugary snacks, soda, candy, and sweet treats. We’re talking about too much added food sugar in your diet. It’s a problem.

And it’s a recipe for weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and other health problems.

So what should you do when your sweet tooth gives you the signal it needs more cookies, soda, and candy?

Resist the urge to polish off another candy bar, or take a long swig of soda. You can still satisfy those sugar craving without the added calories and tooth decay from typical sweets.

What’s the secret? It’s really no secret, just a different way of thinking about sweets. Instead of eating foods made with added sugar, switch your sugar source to something different like:

Artificial sweeteners are zero-calorie alternatives like saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose that are often used to sweeten candy and drinks that are sugar free. Artificial sweeteners are a good alternative to added sugar, but too much may be bad for your health.
Sugar alcohols. Read the ingredients on the packaging of sugar-free food, and you may see xylitol, sorbitol, or maltitol listed on the label.These are another form of sugar-free sweeteners, but can cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
New sweeteners like stevia used to make sweetener products like Truvia and Pure Via may be another healthier alternative to traditional sugar. Stevia is gaining popularity as a sweetener for smoothies and used in baking.
More fruit. Ever wonder why an orange, apple or berries taste so sweet? They contain sugar. But not the kind of added sugar used to make cookies, for example. Fruits contain natural sugar, which doesn’t have as many negative side effects as added sugar.

When you have renal disease, you have to pay close attention to your diet to avoid too much sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and protein, to protect your health. That might sound hard. But it’s not.

We’ve made it easy with a large selection of Renal-Friendly foods that only take a few minutes in the microwave to prepare, and don’t require dirtying a lot of dishes.

You’ll even find Chocolate Caramel Crisps and White Drizzle Chips on the list of approved foods.

And that’s pretty sweet.