Instead of 3 tbs of sugar in your beverage, try 2.5 tbs. Another time, try 2 tbs and then 1 tbs. By the time you realize, you'd be used to reduced sugar.

Sounds great, right? Let's dive in!

As far as I know, our bodies need sugar to survive.

There was a time last year when I was excessively hungry. I felt shivery and weak. No, I was not fasting.

Luckily, I had my partner. He is a physiotherapist and sports dietitian. He said I had hypoglycemia. Meaning my blood sugar was too low and so my body was in shock.

The solution to this was a simple mixture of normal table sugar and water. I drank it and laid down.

A little later, I gained some strength and devoured a sumptuous bowl of rice with bean sauce. You should have seen me!

My reflection on this situation is that my body, your body, our bodies need sugar even more than we realize.

It is the form, quantity and frequency in which you consume it that leads to health challenges.

Take these two food products, whole grain rice and a normal cake. Each of these foods has sugar.

Here's what happens when you eat them.

Whole grain rice:

the sugar in it is mostly complex carbohydrates. Your body has to work and break all those down into the simplest form (glucose).

It does this in steps since the carb is complex and huge. So, by the time the breakdown is complete, the sugar is released into your blood in bits.

Normal Cake:

some of the sugar in it is in the simplest form, glucose. So, it goes straight into your blood.

It doesn’t require any breakdown. This increases your blood sugar immediately. (That’s why the sugar water helped me).

Typically, a maximum of 9 tbs (for men) and 6 tbs (for women) of added sugar is recommended in a day according to the American Heart Association.

Imagine in a day you took pancakes for breakfast, grabbed a cup of sweet coffee on your way to work, ordered French fries with chicken and a bottle of fizzy drink for lunch. Then for dinner, you took pizza and another bottle of soft drink.

Now, when you combine all the sugars (including carbs) within this food, it’s likely to exceed what your body needs for the day.

As this cycle continues day in day out, it leads to overconsumption. You give your body more sugar than it needs.

Over years, the health challenges start to bring their ugly head.

You don't want this. So then, how do you go about managing the amount of sugar you consume?

I spoke at length about cooking your own food, reading your food labels, blah blah blah on LinkedIn.

Now, I want to focus on something else.

MODERATION

Don’t overdo it, don’t underdo it. Instead of 3 tbsp of sugar in that tea, try 2.5 tbs this time, then try 2 tbs another time, and then 1 tbsp.

I used this same approach to reduce the amount of sugar in my sweetened tea.

My standard sweetened tea preparation now is 1 tbs of sugar in 500ml of water. Then I pour it into a flask.

I sip this tea in bits, making me spread it over a few hours. This makes the sugar level mild and pleasing. It lets me feel some coziness and relaxation.

Super Tip: Don’t jump from 3tbsp to 1tbsp. That’s too great a jump at once! You’d be overwhelmed and give up. Unless of course, your motivation level is over the roof.

Q&A Corner

Q: What are some of your drink recipes that aid in sugar reduction? By Monica Konarski-Fusetti on LinkedIn.

A: My go-to is a hibiscus drink infused with pineapple, ginger, grains of Selim and other spices. Then I add sugar to sweeten it. Moderation comes in here.

Another simple and favorite recipe I have is pineapple-cucumber juice.

The sweetness of pineapple and the blandness of cucumber balances the sugar. Plus, the sugar is purely natural.

You’ll get the full recipe for this juice in the next issue. Stay tuned!