How to live life with less sugar...

How to live life with less sugar:

This is the hardest part for my patients, finding the willpower to say no to a biscuit at work, a chocolate at school or slipping that spoon of sugar into your tea or coffee.

Sugar although tasty, is bad for our teeth.

·      Biscuits

·      Chocolate

·      Cakes

·      Sweets

·      Fizzy drinks

·      Ice cream

·      Alcohol

   All contain high sugar.

Fruit and Fruit Juices

   

  Although when fresh are a good source of fibre and vitamins, they contain high sugar and are bad for our teeth.

This diagram shows well the amount of sugar in tasty treats:
(some are suprising)

If you look back to my other blog post: How to prevent problems in a sweet tooth:

You will see that-

 it is not how much sugar you eat that is the problem, 

it is how often you eat the sugar which causes decay.

Tips and Tricks:

Fruit and Fruit Juices:

1. Ensure the fruit and juice is fresh and has no added sugar.
2. Avoid dried fruits as this contains a lot more sugar than normal fruit and stick in your teeth.
3. Consume them with your meals to prevent acid attack.
4. Replace fruit snacks with vegetable alternatives
5. Replace fruit juices with water     (you can dilute this over time to help children to adjust).
6. Opt for a lower sugar content fruit.

Sugary snacks and treats:

1. Limit special treats to the weekends
2.  Give special treats as a pudding straight after a meal
3.  Make all drinks in-between meals sugary free
4. Ensure any concentrated drinks or 'squash' are sugar free
5. Swap sugar in tea and coffee for 
6.  Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate                                                                                       (a smaller amount will give you a better fix and its lower sugar).
7. Avoid boiled sweets or treats which you eat slowly over a long period of time                                 (longer time= longer damaging effect)

I also advised in my previous blog post  to: 

eat any sugary foods with your meal  and to make all snacks and drinks between meals sugar free.

That message seems simple enough, yet it is hard to implement and maintain in the family home.

Especially when children are growing and hungry. They want and need to eat food between meals.  

If sugar is in everything what can I eat?

What snacks can I give them if I can't give them healthy fruit?

Opt for a low-sugar or sugar free alternative.

Some of these snacks and substitutes can be used:

·      Cheese

·      Crackers

·      Vegetables

·      Humous (ideally home made or check flavoured store brought sugar content)

·      Meat

·      Eggs

·      Natural yoghurt

·      Sugar free sweets

·      Nuts

·      Sugar free peanut butter

·      Sugar free sweeteners for tea and coffee

·      Sugar-free squash *

Natural Cacao **

   

*Be careful choosing sugar free drinks, as ‘no added sugar’ does not mean sugar free.

**If you really can’t get control of the sugar craving, opt for high dark % chocolate

Children can be particularly tricky as a lot of children are particular with what foods they will eat and how much, try and follow this tricks and tips but if you are still struggling it might be worth speaking to your GP or a nutritionist for further help.

Ensure you are cleaning your teeth twice a day, using floss and interdental aids and using a fluoridated toothpaste (spit it out and don’t rinse it off for maximum results) to remove bacteria and food on your teeth.

Do not brush your teeth for 1 hour after you have consumed anything with sugar as brushing the acid will remove more tooth tissue.

Chew sugar free gum, rinse with water or a fluoride mouthwash if you want to freshen your breath, remove debris or top up your fluoride straight after meals.