How to Cut Sugar from Your Sri Lankan Diet Without Feeling Deprived

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Sugar is omnipresent in the Sri Lankan diet. It’s in your morning tea, evening biscuit, short eats, sauces and curries you make at home. People often eat more sugar than they think, all day long! The sad part is that too much sugar is one of the leading causes of hard belly fat to burn, which is why we feel low in the afternoon and why we can’t seem to control our cravings. The positive thing about reducing sugar is that you don’t have to sacrifice all your beloved foods. A few creative substitutions can help cut back on a lot of self-inflicted sugar consumption without sacrificing the enjoyment of a great meal and the eating culture you’ve enjoyed since your youth.

The reason has to do with the sugar. The answer lies in the sugar

Sugar causes a fast increase in blood sugar. Your body secretes insulin to regulate those levels and get them back down. Insulin is also a fat storage hormone. If it remains elevated all the time, your body will store more fat, particularly around your tummy. Eating excessive amounts of sugar over time causes your body and cells to become less sensitive to insulin, and after every meal, you’ll need more of it. This cycle can make maintaining a healthy weight very challenging. Sugar elimination breaks this cycle, decreases insulin levels, decreases fat storage, and affords your body the opportunity to burn the fat already stored around your waist and abdomen.

How to Cut Back on the Hidden Sugar in Your Daily Diet

All Sri Lankan women are aware of the existence of sugar in biscuits, cakes and soft drinks. However, sugar is also present in some foods that you may consider to be healthy. Fruit juice (packed) is as sugary as fizzy drinks. Supermarket flavoured yoghurt has a high sugar content. Most store-bought “pol sambol” and curry sauces are made with sugar. Some brands of plain bread even have sugar in the list of ingredients. Label reading is the first step to cutting sugar. Opt for a fresher, more natural option if sugar, or any of its variations (glucose, fructose, corn syrup, or maltose) is included in the top 4 ingredients. For most of the women in Sri Lanka, tea is the major source of added sugar. You might be taking up to 8 teaspoons of pure sugar a day if you have three or four cups of tea, each of which contains 2 teaspoons of sugar. Reduce sugary items by ½ in each cup, each week. You may find yourself adjusting your taste buds faster than you realise. After a month, most women will prefer 1-2 cups of tea without the sugar. Experiment with some fresh ginger or a pinch of cinnamon for natural flavours, without sweetness.

Invite children to use Smart Snacks as opposed to Sweet Snacks (Step 2)

People tend to get caught up in the sugar trap for their mid-morning snack and mid-afternoon snack. If you find yourself craving a snack between meals, keep Condo treats at your desk and at home that won’t lead to guilt of added sugar and calories. You’d find a few boiled eggs, roasted chickpeas or chunks of fresh pineapple or papaya as a snack to be satisfying and won’t cause a spike in blood sugar. Fresh fruit is indeed a high-sugar food, but it also has a lot of fibre to curb! The highs and lows in sugar consumption during the day lead to cravings and fat storage.

Prepare more at home – Step 3

Strategies to reduce consumption of hidden sugar in the Sri Lankan diet should focus on mitigating food ordering for restaurant foods and short eats. Food ordering for restaurant foods and short eats are some of the largest sources of hidden sugar in the Sri Lankan diet. If you’re cooking at home, it’s up to you what goes into the pot. Use store-bought sauces instead of coconut sambol, lime-based dressing and dhal. Note that preferably fresh tomatoes must be used, or not canned tomato paste. Grate some fresh coconut on the rough side rather than packaged coconut. The amount of sugar you eat each day is dramatically reduced and you won’t even notice the flavour of your food has changed.

Address cravings (no willpower required) Step 4

Resisting the urge to eat sugar just by using willpower is an inevitable losing battle. If you are hungry, it means that your blood sugar is dropping too low, which is usually the result of not consuming a meal or leaving a meal for a long time without eating. Eat a well-balanced meal at regular times during the day and breakfast daily. Do have protein made up at all meals, such as egg, fish, dhal or chicken, these have a low glycaemic index and stabilise blood sugar levels for a number of hours during the day. It’s important to drink a full glass of water first, before indulging in a snack, which may be mistaken for a sugar fall. These behaviours address cravings at their very source, instead of trying to outwit them when they manifest.

You will have to wait until the taste buds get used to it as well

The initial two weeks of sugar detox are the toughest. Your taste buds have been conditioned for years to think about sweetness, and will grumble initially. This is normal and will pass. Most women find their cravings have abated a lot by week 3 and sweet foods taste too sweet. Your taste buds adjust quicker than you’d think. Every cup of tea without the sugar, every biscuit replaced by a boiled egg, every home-cooked meal without a short eat, each day is a step towards a slimmer and healthier you and making you more energetic.

The Long Game

Cutting out sugar isn’t a diet. It’s a life change that lasts and will benefit you every day you keep it. Women who are able to cut back on sugar regularly experience not only weight reduction but also glowing skin, better night’s rest, minimised temper swings and more stable energy levels all day. Make one change at a time, per week, with your daily tea. Don’t be a perfectionist from the start. Just do the best you can, be better than yesterday, then the best you can be better than the year before, and so on and so forth, and the results will come.