Reducing the amount of sugar in hot drinks such as tea, coffee or chocolate
The Basics
Sucrose is the most common sugar used in the home and is often referred to as table sugar – it is extracted from sugar cane or sugar beet.
“Try reducing the amount you have in your drinks by half over a couple of weeks and again after that. You will quickly get used to the taste – just make it a habit to add less”, suggested nutritionist Pinal Patel.
Alternatively try adding a sweetener. There are 5 intense artificial sweeteners permitted for use in the UK: aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium (acesulfame K), cyclamate and sucralose. Only very small amounts are needed because they are so intensely sweet.
They are virtually free of calories, do not affect blood glucose levels and do not contribute to dental caries.
Myths and Misconceptions
- “Sweeteners cause cancer”. Aspartame has been banned in the US following tests carried out on rats. They were given enormous doses over a short period of time. We add miniscule amounts to our drinks and, the health and weight benefits gained by cutting out / down sugar intake should heavily outweigh avoiding sweeteners on this basis.
Tips and Tricks
Keep a diary of the number of cups of tea/coffee/chocolate you drink each day and note the number of teaspoons of sugar you add each time. And work out how many teaspoons this amounts to in a week. Place the same number of teaspoons of sugar into a bowl for you to see how much this is – set yourself a goal to reduce it by half by the end of the week or month.
If you add 2 or more teaspoons of sugar to each drink, try adding 1 teaspoon less over the next week and see if you notice much difference – try to use even less sugar over time.
You may want to use sweetener (try different types if you dislike the first brand you buy), but if possible try to adjust your taste buds to enjoying less sweetness – this should help wean you off other sweet foods that you are trying to cut down on.
Using herbal or fruit tea may help you to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks – it’s usually easier to drink these refreshing teas without adding sugar.
If you are using a powdered chocolate drink you may find it has sugar already added to it. Check the nutrition information label, and be sure to taste it first before adding more sugar – Options or Cadbury’s Highlights are low calorie chocolate drinks that use artificial sweetener instead of sugar.