Importance of Controlling Your Sweet Intake for Rapid Weight Loss

Eating sugary foods like desserts and having sugary sodas can lead to fast weight gain. According to statistics an average person consumes 2 to 3 pounds of sugar in a week in the United States. This is because sugar is present in the form of fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose corn syrup and sucrose in many processed food items like breads, cakes, mayonnaise, butter and ketchup. It also constitutes a significant part of microwave ready meals. Controlling your sweet intake will help you in losing weight rapidly. It also helps in maintaining the same weight in future.

When sugar intake is increased, the insulin levels in your body also go up. This restricts release of growth hormones, which has adverse effects on the immune system. Insulin also encourages storage of fat in the body. Therefore as you increase your sugar intake you are promoting weight gain.

Besides weight gain sugar has also been found to have a host of adverse effects. Increased sugar levels contribute to diabetes, kidney damage, cardiovascular diseases, increasing bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and decreasing good cholesterol (HDL) levels. They can also trigger hormonal imbalance and depression which may lead to unhealthy eating habits and subsequent weight gain.

There are simple tips you can keep in mind to cut down your sugar intake. Read the labels on the food items carefully. Look for words like fructose, corn sugar and maltose because they are synonymous with sugar. Avoid eating a lot of processed food. Replace sodas with lemonades and sugary flavors by honey. Although honey has more calories per tablespoon compared to table sugar, it is less harmful since it is more sweetening than sugar. Satisfy your sweet tooth by eating dry fruits like dates and fig.

Set a limit as to how much sugar you can eat in a day. Bring down the level gradually. Make sure that the transition from sugar rich food to a more balanced diet is slow since the body takes time to adjust accordingly. Maintaining a food journal will help so that you can monitor your sugar intake.