Any recommendations for going sugar free?

[Mackers123]

Hi, I would like to try going sugar free but am at a loss of where to start. I am vegetarian, so I do grab processed food for quick and easy cooking such as sausages, burgers etc. I also love biscuits, cakes, the usual sweet stuff.

I would like any recommendations for recipe books, or forums, facebook groups or anything else that can help this journey.

Thanks in advance

I've been very low sugar for years. My dentist certainly notices. Here are my ideas, you can use or ignore. Even savoury ready-made foods tend to have a bit of sugar. So decide your own limit, taking into account convenience versus what you are trying to achieve by cutting out/down sugar. Decide what you mean by sugar. Just sucrose, or fructose, dextrose, glucose etc. My own choice is no sucrose, glucose, dextrose, honey etc, (except in tiny quantities in ready-made savoury dishes) very low dried fruit and very low fruit juices, but no limit on fresh fruit.

Then just read labels. Be aware for example that some dried fruit bars have as much sugar as a Mars bar, and fruit juices can have as much sugar and acidity as cola.

On the other hand 100% cocoa chocolate has no sugar. Montezuma's is nice, reasonably cheap and easy to get from their website or Tescos.

As for recipes, I just use my old ones with no sugar. Eg apple crumble is fine with no sugar in the topping or the fruit. I used to add a few sultanas but don't even bother with that now. I make hot chocolate with 100% cocoa powder. I substitute toast or fresh fruit for cake and savoury biscuits for sweet ones.

I avoid sugar substitutes (natural eg honey or manufactured eg saccharine) so my taste buds adjusted pretty quickly.

@Willdoitlater

I've been very low sugar for years. My dentist certainly notices. Here are my ideas, you can use or ignore. Even savoury ready-made foods tend to have a bit of sugar. So decide your own limit, taking into account convenience versus what you are trying to achieve by cutting out/down sugar. Decide what you mean by sugar. Just sucrose, or fructose, dextrose, glucose etc. My own choice is no sucrose, glucose, dextrose, honey etc, (except in tiny quantities in ready-made savoury dishes) very low dried fruit and very low fruit juices, but no limit on fresh fruit.

Then just read labels. Be aware for example that some dried fruit bars have as much sugar as a Mars bar, and fruit juices can have as much sugar and acidity as cola.

On the other hand 100% cocoa chocolate has no sugar. Montezuma's is nice, reasonably cheap and easy to get from their website or Tescos.

As for recipes, I just use my old ones with no sugar. Eg apple crumble is fine with no sugar in the topping or the fruit. I used to add a few sultanas but don't even bother with that now. I make hot chocolate with 100% cocoa powder. I substitute toast or fresh fruit for cake and savoury biscuits for sweet ones.

I avoid sugar substitutes (natural eg honey or manufactured eg saccharine) so my taste buds adjusted pretty quickly.

that's great, thank you for this. I do use a substitute sugar a lot (Erythritol), it's one of the better ones but I am sure it makes you crave sugar. But I just can't drink tea without and I have tried.. as you said set my own limits and maybe ill be able to cut that out.

It’s fine to have sweetener or sugar in your tea. Cutting down on any of your sugar intake is a good thing - it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. However if you did want to cut it out then I found that cutting down really slowly did the trick. I used to have one teaspoon sugar in my morning coffee, couldn’t drink it without. Cut down to 3/4 spoon and didn’t notice much difference, did that for a few weeks, then down to half, then eventually down to 1/4. I stuck with 1/4 spoon for months before finally able to cut it out completely.

I agree with a lot of what is written by @Willdoitlater. It’s about setting your own limits. I place no limits on fresh fruit or veg but I do draw the line at dried fruit or fruit juices. I will very occasionally have a slice of cake or some chocolate.

Processed foods are really bad for hidden sugar eg baked beans are full of sugar. I don’t eat meat either. A lot of the veggie sausages/ burgers etc aren’t that bad. It’s worth comparing different brands. I avoid processed foods where possible but we have veg sausages couple of times a month and find the Richmond ones don’t have too much sugar/ other rubbish added to them. For burgers we often make our own from marinaded tofu, large mushrooms or various beans and pulses. I don’t buy nuggets, kievs etc as these seem to have a lot more sugar/ other stuff added to them.

I adjusted pretty quickly too - within a week
If I do have a slice of cake or something now I find it incredibly sweet and really notice a sugar rush just afterwards.
My advice is to eat plenty of protein, and supplement with drinks/bars if you need to and that helps eliminate those down periods in the day when you might otherwise be tempted to have something sweet.
I eat soft, summer fruits, but that's pretty much all the sugar I have these days, apart from the above mentioned slices of cake on high days and holidays to celebrate a birthday or similar.

Check out forks over knives for healthy food recipes. At less of those processed foods you mention and replace with beans and brown rice w veggies.

I just went cold turkey- it only takes a week or two for the cravings to go. Try to keep natural sugars low to help the process along, but I always want something sweet in the evening so replaced my evening chocolate for a banana.
Your palate changes very quickly and cakes/biscuits etc taste far too sweet after a week or two without it. You can taste the natural sweetness in vegetables, milk etc afterwards so you don’t need sweetener in tea.
Lots of crisps have sugar in them too so I switched to ready salted, and had lots of high fat no sugar food like peanut butter and avocado to feel satisfied and not deprived which could lead to a sugar binge.
It’s honestly astonishing how quickly your palate changes, I was a total slave to sugar for decades but it holds no power over me at all now.

@EssexLioness

It’s fine to have sweetener or sugar in your tea. Cutting down on any of your sugar intake is a good thing - it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. However if you did want to cut it out then I found that cutting down really slowly did the trick. I used to have one teaspoon sugar in my morning coffee, couldn’t drink it without. Cut down to 3/4 spoon and didn’t notice much difference, did that for a few weeks, then down to half, then eventually down to 1/4. I stuck with 1/4 spoon for months before finally able to cut it out completely.

I agree with a lot of what is written by @Willdoitlater. It’s about setting your own limits. I place no limits on fresh fruit or veg but I do draw the line at dried fruit or fruit juices. I will very occasionally have a slice of cake or some chocolate.

Processed foods are really bad for hidden sugar eg baked beans are full of sugar. I don’t eat meat either. A lot of the veggie sausages/ burgers etc aren’t that bad. It’s worth comparing different brands. I avoid processed foods where possible but we have veg sausages couple of times a month and find the Richmond ones don’t have too much sugar/ other rubbish added to them. For burgers we often make our own from marinaded tofu, large mushrooms or various beans and pulses. I don’t buy nuggets, kievs etc as these seem to have a lot more sugar/ other stuff added to them.

Thank you. I had a quick look today and some items I though would have sugar didn't so was quite pleased with that. I agree doing it slowly is the best way, I then will aim to cut out most processed even if they don't have sugar.

Can I ask, why do you mentioned vegetables? Is there hidden sugar?

@Justkeeppedaling

I adjusted pretty quickly too - within a week If I do have a slice of cake or something now I find it incredibly sweet and really notice a sugar rush just afterwards. My advice is to eat plenty of protein, and supplement with drinks/bars if you need to and that helps eliminate those down periods in the day when you might otherwise be tempted to have something sweet. I eat soft, summer fruits, but that's pretty much all the sugar I have these days, apart from the above mentioned slices of cake on high days and holidays to celebrate a birthday or similar.

thanks. when you say supplement with bars, what type of bars are you referring to?

@Mamabear12

Check out forks over knives for healthy food recipes. At less of those processed foods you mention and replace with beans and brown rice w veggies.

thanks for recommendation, i will look that up

@chickensafari

I just went cold turkey- it only takes a week or two for the cravings to go. Try to keep natural sugars low to help the process along, but I always want something sweet in the evening so replaced my evening chocolate for a banana. Your palate changes very quickly and cakes/biscuits etc taste far too sweet after a week or two without it. You can taste the natural sweetness in vegetables, milk etc afterwards so you don’t need sweetener in tea. Lots of crisps have sugar in them too so I switched to ready salted, and had lots of high fat no sugar food like peanut butter and avocado to feel satisfied and not deprived which could lead to a sugar binge. It’s honestly astonishing how quickly your palate changes, I was a total slave to sugar for decades but it holds no power over me at all now.

Thanks. I am looking forward to seeing the changes. I love peanut butter and get the wholeearth one, as its basically just peanuts and sustainable palm oil. Thanks for tip on crisps, I do love them.

@Mackers123 that sounds like a good plan to cut it out gradually. Yes there is hidden sugar in fruit and some vegetables eg carrots, parsnips, peppers, sweetcorn, peas and probably some others too. But the NHS limits for sugars don’t include these because they are actually good for you. Once I started tracking my sugars I was surprised how much I was consuming just in fruit and veg. However this isn’t harmful and I even had a chat to my dentist about sugar and fruit consumption and she thought it was important to still eat fruit regularly and eats 2-3 portions herself each day. So I just ignore those. The main thing is my sugar consumption from other sources is zero most days with just the occasional treat

@EssexLioness, I wont' want to cut out fruit & veg, I agree with you, it's too important.
Can I ask, have you cut out items like bread and alcohol?

@Mackers123 I don’t drink anyway so that hasn’t been an issue. I have cut down on bread but still have a little 1-2 times a week. I try to buy good quality bread though so it has less rubbish in it.

I did this after Christmas, and have found it very quick to adapt to I stopped all the obvious sugary things i.e chocolate , cakes, biscuits . Still eat fruit but some fruits are much lower in sugar , lots of the berries and kiwi. Otherwise have eaten whatever I liked. The biggest benefit for me is how it curbs your appetite and you very soon have no interest in sugary foods

This is interesting and really positive to hear so many posters say it doesn't take long to adjust.