How much sugar do you consume in a day? Any tips on reducing it?

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How much sugar do you consume in a day? Any tips on reducing it?

By sugar I mean, inclusive of natural sugars (fruits), chocolates, sweets, cakes, soda, etc. (and even refined carbs if you wish) - list of quantities along with what the items are would be useful.

On average the sugar I have on a good day is - 3-4 frozen berries, 2 small-ish bars of 85% dark chocolate (about 50g). I get strong sugar cravings, especially after lunch and dinner - but never for carby sugars e.g. doughnuts, etc I cannot stand, nor sugary drinks. My main weakness is a 50:50 fat sugar combo type things so a bar of milk chocolate, yoghurts, ice creams, cheesecakes, thick chocolatey milkshakes etc.

Bump

Surprised at the lack of response - have I put it in the wrong section of the forum?

Fat/sugar combo is hugely addictive for me. So for me it's all (and I mean ALL) or nothing. There's no in between for me.

Currently, no refined/concentrated sugar at all. Two pieces of fruit max, though usually one, no dried fruit. I'm not much of a sugary person in general, my downfall is carbs, esp salty ones. I've almost entirely cut out pasta/bread/cereals/crisps/rice for the last 3 months (two portions a week on av ), and am doing 16:8 which has actually stopped the urge to eat all the carbs. I have two veg and lean protein heavy meals a day (aiming for 6 veg portions) and it seems to work well

Probably quite a bit usually in the form of chocolate/sweets/cereal bars but hate sugary drinks

I was never big on sugary things but DH and the kids are and my consumption slowly went up . I gave up sugar for Lent (except fruit including dried fruit) and it has made me feel really good. At first I was having a few raisins when I got the urge for chocolate or a cake, but now I have a bit of cheese and an oatcake. I have banana and yoghurt with cinnamon and raisins for dessert if I feel the need for a dessert, at first I was having that every day and now that has fallen too.
I don't intend to keep this up forever, but for me giving something up almost entirely is easier than cutting down, and I hope it has reset my need for sugar so I won't be having a chocolate biscuit after lunch and a cake or icecream or whatever after dinner and a random biscuit because I am hungry and chocolate when watching TV when I start allowing some sugar back in.

Agree with @springydaff. I successfully cut out all sugar before I found out I was pregnant. I can go without sugar if I don't have any at all. If I even have a square of chocolate, I have to have whole bar and then probably go looking for more.

I tried hard to reduce our families sugar when I realised that a kids oaty bar had more than the daily sugar rda for my 2yo! It's meant really reducing processed snacks. Cereal bars in particular are out. I try to bake zero / low sugar cakes or biscuits sometimes. Other than that we have fruit or things like bombay mix, nuts, cheese and crackers, crisps, packet biscuits like rich teas or digestives that are lower in sugar than individually wrapped bars. We got a bread maker and make bread now, less sugar salt and no weird preservatives. I cook from scratch mostly anyway so that's not a big change. This sounds very good doesn't it but then when the kids are in bed I break out the chocolate!

I've been eating so much more at this time of uncertainty that I'm genuinely worried about me teeth 😩
I had got it all under control after Christmas and had lost a stone too.

Probably about 8 teaspoons at the moment. With working from home I’m having so many more cups of coffee!
Basically 95% of my sugar is from drinks

No added sugar/baked goods at all (type one diabetic and dairy free). I do however have at least one fruit per day, today it’s a conference pear.

I eat probably 2-3 portions of fresh fruit per day- don't worry about the sugars in that as it all comes with fibre etc so isn't the same as processed sugar.

Otherwise I drink a couple of mini cans of tonic in the evening a few times per week (pregnant hence no gin added!) and sometimes I have some chocolate or a packet of sweets or a cookie, though I do try to keep that for the weekends only.

When I'm stressed I crave sugar so not being able to go to the shops has really helped with that!

Loads more lately with what's going on, plus baking a birthday cake that needs eating in 3-4 days! Was getting it under control and did keto for large parts of lsst year but ho hum!

A good tip for reducing your intake is slowly reducing the amount in your teas and coffees, you still get a boost from the milk and if you do it slowly (a half to third tsp reduction every few days you won't notice). Plus swap one bar of chocolate for some nuts? Macadamia, cashews or other fatty nuts are best because they'll fill you up for longer.

Even baking your own cakes etc is healthier than buying processed? Plus sweeteners raise your blood sugar levels too so maybe cut down on sweetened pop etc. You can try carbonated water or tap water with lemon? Or even a bit if cordial mixed in would be better than big fizzt drinks?

Thanks for the replies so far. Just to clarify, sweet drinks and carby sugars I’m fine with almost totally never having. It’s creamy sugary things which I find tough to cut down on. Like others have said, cutting down is harder than completely giving it up but giving up sugar completely seems unfeasable too.

Pretty much none. I only drink water and I eat mostly grilled fish with veg.

None. Otherwise I eat all of it.

Thanks for all of the replies so far everyone.

No-one has replied for a while but I thought you may appreciate the tip:

As you're craving creamy-sweet things, could it be the fat you're craving rather than the carbs? How about making sauces out of coconut milk or adding double cream to a tomato soup or pasta sauce? Also proper butter..marg is evil!!

I crave sugar all the time. To the extent that I eat spoonfuls from the bag. So I have put a stop to that and am happy for now to have replaced it with fruit or raisins. Or even chocolate or biscuits. At least they are food!
I let my kids have cake or brioche or biscuits once or twice a day as they are extremely active and skinny. One of them is a fussy eater and needs carbs.
The rest of our meals are healthy and we are vegetarian. We are also active. I am trying not to demonise sugar, but I do crave it.
I probably have fruit/ raisins/ biscuits 4 times a day?

Here’s a tip.....don’t buy it.

I don't have it in the house. I buy stuff for the kids that I don't like.

Yeah have more good fats as they make you feel fuller for longer. Real butter, avocado, nuts, olive oil, and high quality protein. I can only cope with cutting sugar out completely or else I eat it a lot because it gives me cravings.

I have a serious sweet tooth and have to really control myself not to eat too much sugar. On weekdays I have a coffee with one sugar in it, one of those natural fruit and nut bars (which I know are full of sugar), a glass of orange juice and another piece of fruit like an apple or grapes.

I'm worse at the weekend, I have chocolate or cake.