Your Guide to Going Low Sugar

We work a lot with hormonal health, fertility, digestion, and adrenal health here in the studio, and this often means reducing and/or increasing certain compounds in a persons’ diet. Following a low sugar way of eating for a period of time can be a very effective tool to help manage glucose and insulin dysregulation, androgen levels, energy and fatigue, sleep, and assist in gut protocols.
If you’ve been asking to follow a low sugar way of eating by myself or one of our practitioners, or are simply looking to make some healthy swaps, read on!

The purpose of this blog isn’t to demonise sugar, but to educate you on how to

make health-promoting choices for yourself.

Firstly, what is ‘low sugar’? When I say low sugar I am talking about low added sugars. Not sugars that exist in whole fruits and vegetables. Added sugars are what you are looking to keep relatively low on a low sugar diet. When you are looking at low sugar foods to eat, I suggest familiarising yourself with how to read:

1. The ingredient list

Packaged foods in Australia list ingredients in order from that of the most quantity to least. This alone will give you a good indication on how much sugar is in the product. Does sugar (or a word that means sugar) exist in the first 3 – 5 ingredients?

Packaged foods in Australia list ingredients in order from that of the most quantity to least. This alone will give you a good indication on how much sugar is in the product. Does sugar (or a word that means sugar) exist in the first 3 – 5 ingredients?

2. The nutrition panel

Firstly, I suggest reading the right hand column of a product, as this is listed at quantities per 100g or 100mL. This means the number you see is a percentage. For sugar content, ideally this number is low, however you will need to take into account the portion size of what you are going to eat.

It is helpful to know that 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Some names for sugar that are not sugar include (but are not limited to):

Credit; https://www.openfit.com/other-names-for-sugar

100% sugar free sweeteners I recommend include monk fruit and stevia. Erythritol is another option, however this can cause digestive upset in some people, so try a small amount first to see if this is well tolerated for you.

Natural (unrefined) sugars that provide nutrients beyond fructose and glucose include raw honey,raw maple syrup, rice malt syrup, date syrup, coconut sugar, and molasses. These are better options in my opinion than white table sugar, but still fall into added sugars due to fact that they have the same effect on your body.

Low sugar recipes from our practitioners:

Cookie Dough Collagen Bars

4 Ingredient Carob-Cacao Hot Chocolate

Jen’s Easy Fudge – 1/2 cup cacao powder, 1 cup tahini, 1/2 cup honey. Simply mix together and it’s ready to eat!

Brooke’s Simple Sweet Treat – Cut up a banana, drizzle with tahini, and top with cacao nibs

My Satisfying Snack – Combine 1/2 cup coconut yoghurt, 2 heaped teaspoon of carob powder OR 1 tablespoon of vanilla protein, and 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Serena’s Easy Choc-Chip Cookies – First make a flax egg by mixing together 4 teaspoons of flaxseed meal with 4 tablespoons of water. In another bowl mix together 1 cup of oat flour, 1/2 cup almond meal, 4 teaspoons of erythritol, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil. Add in the flax egg and 1/4 cup chocolate chips and mix well. Roll into balls, flatten, and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden on top

Low sugar products I suggest include:

Beauty Food Collagen Cookies

Carob Kitchen Bears

Loving Earth Choc-Covered Almonds

Origin 100% Cacao Chocolate

70% – 90% Lindt Chocolate

Looking for more snack ideas? Try my Top 4 Protein Bars blog, as well as Snack Options to Combat Your 3pm Hanger.

If you are looking for individualised dietary support, please get in touch by booking in a Base Chat or Simplify Session here.
Jaclyn Cave, BHSc (Nat) BComm (Soc)

Completing Masters Womens Health
Jaclyn is a qualified Naturopath with a focus on hormonal conditions, preconception and pregnancy care, skin, and adrenal health. Learn more about Jaclyn here. Book a session with Jaclyn here.