Cutting down on sugar plays an important role in healthy living.

Dietitian Alison Hornby said, "Identify the sources of sugar in your diet, and decide what to cut out completely and what to cut down on. You don't need to cut down on sugars found in fruit or dairy products because these foods contain lots of nutrients that are good for us. It's the food high in added sugar, such as fizzy drinks, which contain lots of calories but few other nutrients that we should be trying to consume less of."

Men should consume 70 grammes and women 50 grammes of added sugars a day which is about 10 per cent of the calorie intake one gets from food and drink everyday. Reading nutrition labels helps gather information on how much sugar the food item contains. Any food item that contains total sugar of under 5 grammes for every 100 grammes is considered low in sugar.

Alison suggests that one must get used to reading food labels and comparing products to choose the healthier options. She asks the people to watch out for other words used to describe added sugar in the ingredients list.

Sugar can be added in different ways and the label on the food items reflect the same. Added sugar can be listed on the ingredients column as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, molasses, hydrolysed starch, invert sugar, corn syrup and honey and one must be careful while reading nutrition labels so as to calculate the amount of sugar properly.

Small tips can help create a big difference in one's life.

Eating Breakfast

Eating breakfast is considered healthy and it is also the most important meal of the day. Food items like porridge, whole wheat ceral biscuits, eggs, yoghurt, salmon and low-fat cheese can be had for breakfast as they are also low on sugars.

Eating Five Times a Day

Eating small meals is better than having three filling meals. Dieticians suggest that eating five small meals a day cuts out craving for food items high in sugar content.

Think Flavour

Flavourful food like herbs, cinnamon, lemon juice, orange zest and balsamic vinegar, rather than foods like chocolate, cakes, icecreams, can help cut down on sugar intake to a large extent.

Learning To Relax

Relaxation plays a major role in keeping the body calm. Studies show that those who have high levels of stress, turn to fatty and sugary foods.

Sleeping More

Sleeping more results in lesser cravings and less reasons to store fat. One important factor of sleeping is that it helps restore metabolic harmony between the hormones ghrelin, which triggers the appetite and leptin, which signals satiety.

Cutting sugar intake
Men work at a sugar cane plantation during harvest time at the Monteli REUTERS
Herbs
Flavourful foods like cinnamon, lemon juice, orange zest, balsamic vinegar and herbs like basil, coriander, parsley and mint makes one healthy, rather than depending on sugar based food. Not only are these food items flavourful and tasty but they also enhance ones health to a great extent. Reuters
Yoga
De-stressing is an important part of being healthy and cutting down sugar because studies show that those who feel stress turn towards food with high sugar content. One can relax and de-stress by turning to yoga. Reuters
Sleep
Sleeping more results in lesser cravings and less reasons to store fat. One important factor of sleeping is that it helps restore metabolic harmony between the hormones ghrelin, which triggers the appetite and leptin, which signals satiety. Reuters
Salmon
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that breakfast skippers are 4.5 times more likely to be obese than breakfast eaters. A breakfast which includes Greek yoghurt, boiled eggs, salmon or low-fat cheese can certainly help cut down on sugar. Reuters
Exercise
IN PHOTO: According to a study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, the more you sit, the greater your appetite—even if your body doesn’t need food. So exercising helps in cutting down one's appetite hence reducing sugar intake. Reuters