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By: Aicacia Young Not On A Diet virtual intern, LSU

With this obesity epidemic gaining more and more attention in the media, have you ever wondered why we make such poor food choices in America? It’s not because we hate our health, or ourselves, but because something prevents us from making healthier choices on a daily basis. I think that “something” is our incredibly high tolerance for added sugars and sweets.

About 4 years ago, I had many problems with fatigue and different chronic illnesses. After exhausting many options, my doctor eventually recommended that I avoid added and processed sugars. So I began to avoid sugars in my diet, except those that naturally occur in fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Like quitting anything “cold turkey,” this was incredibly challenging at first, but my body began adjusting to my new “natural sugar” intake, and my tolerance for added sugars began decreasing significantly.

To be clear, I don’t want any of you to make yourselves miserable by trying to completely cut all sugar out of your diet. I merely want to demonstrate the dangers of too much added sugar. If I could make one recommendation concerning nutrition and health, I would challenge everyone to avoid added sugars for around 1-2 weeks. If a couple weeks aren’t practical for you, try it for a day or two. Do what works best for you. Have fun with it! After that time, take note of your decreased sugar tolerance and begin your journey toward a healthier and balanced lifestyle.

Here are some helpful tips:

• Embrace fresh produce!
• If you crave sweets: Instead of eating candy, try eating dried fruit. Some dried fruit has a gummy consistency, like candy, and others just give you that sweetness that you crave.
• If you love smoothies, consider buying fruit in bulk, either fresh or frozen (whichever one is cheaper) and making your own smoothies at home. Eating fresh produce when possible is one easy way to cut back on added sugars.
• For yogurt-lovers, read the ingredients before you make a purchase. The best options will be products with 2 or 3 ingredients at the most, milk and live cultures for example. My favorite is Oikos Greek yogurt by Stonyfield. This product is very high in protein and very low in sugar. I add fresh fruit and ground flax seed or granola to each cup of yogurt. This yogurt is also a great ingredient to add to homemade smoothies. Yum!
• As far as drinks go, I would first and foremost advocate that you switch to plain water for 1-2 weeks. For those of you with more extreme addictions and attachments to your carbonated and caffeinated beverages, I would suggest setting goals to slowly decrease your intake of soda – one week at a time.
• Cereal is a common place to find added sugar. My favorite cereal is Post Raisin Bran because it has the least amount of sugar and greatest amount of fiber per serving when compared to other raisin bran cereals. Read the nutrition fact label to look for more fiber and less sugar per serving.

Check out LSU’s Student Dietetic Association Page here

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