If you want to follow a low-carb or keto diet, the most important thing to do is keep your carbohydrate intake low. And if you’re not ready to cut way back on all carbs right away, then a great first step is to eliminate sugar. So, how do you do that? How do you cut sugar out of your diet?
Simple: stop eating it!
That’s really all you have to do! Stop eating it and … you’ve stopped eating it. It’s that simple.
But simple doesn’t mean easy. Those words aren’t synonyms! So let’s come back to reality and talk about how to actually do this.
What does it mean to cut sugar?
First you have to determine what you mean by cutting sugar out of your diet. And only you can decide what your goal is. Do you want to cut out all forms of sugar? Do you plan to avoid not just sweets, candy, pastries and other obvious sources of sugar, but also honey and maple syrup from local farms? Before you can figure out how to cut sugar out of your diet, you need to decide what that means for you.
Another question to ask yourself is whether you’d like to eliminate only sugar from your diet, or all sweetened things—things made with artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols.
Your answer may depend on your individual situation. If you feel like you’re genuinely addicted to sugar, and that eating sugar or things that taste sweet causes you to crave more and more and eat them uncontrollably, it might be best for you to say goodbye to all sweet tasting things, whether they have real sugar or not.
(If you tend to binge on regular cookies and ice cream, there’s a good chance you’re going to binge on the keto versions. If this describes you, it’s best to avoid these altogether. You’ll likely find it’s easier to have none at all than it is to try to eat these “in moderation”—whatever that even means!)
Cold turkey method
Once you decide what cutting sugar means for you, the next step is to choose how you want to do it: all at once, or gradually over time. There’s no right or wrong way—only what feels right and sustainable to you.
Going cold turkey (cutting all sugar at once) works well because the sooner you get it all out of your diet, the sooner the cravings go away. (Dr. Eric Westman, keto expert and my co-author on the book, End Your Carb Confusion, says, “You crave what you eat. Stop eating sugar and you stop craving sugar!”)
And the longer you go without sweets, not only do the cravings get quieter and eventually go away, but believe it or not, your palate will change and you might not even enjoy sugar anymore.
This might sound like fantasy land to you if you haven’t experienced it yet, but it really is true that some of your current or former favorite foods simply won’t taste as good as you remember and their hold on you won’t be as strong anymore.
Gradual reduction method
If cutting sugar out of your diet all at once feels too daunting, do it gradually. It’s up to you how to navigate this, but here are some suggestions:
Choose specific things to cut first
For example, eliminate candy and ice cream, but maybe you still eat cereal, pastries, and other sweet things. Or start with liquid sugar (like sodas, fruit juice, and sweetened smoothies). Once you’ve got that down, choose another item or two to eliminate. Do this every few weeks, and eventually you’ll reach the point where you’re completely sugar-free.
Keep it situational
Don’t keep sugar and sweet foods in your home but grant yourself permission to enjoy them guilt-free at special events, like weddings, sporting events, and other special occasions. If these are common occurrences in your life, though, consider whether they happen too frequently for the “special occasions” rule to be wise for you.
These exceptions to your no-sugar rule shouldn’t be happening multiple times a week or month. Know yourself and what makes the most sense for you.
Keep it special
Keep your standards high. If you choose to have sugar once in a while, consider allowing only things that are homemade and genuinely delicious rather than something mass-produced and nearly flavorless. Or if you have a favorite bakery or restaurant that makes an item that’s nearly irresistible, let this be your rare splurge. Don’t waste those carbs on cheap junk with a shelf life of infinity.
Your health situation
What is your current level of health? Do you have type 2 diabetes, PCOS, obesity, metabolic syndrome, or another issue related to high blood sugar or insulin? If so, then cutting carbs, especially sugar, from your diet is the most powerful thing you can do to get on a better path.
But if you’re not prepared to go cold turkey and jump into a keto diet overnight, then switching from sugar and other caloric sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.) to artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols is a good first step.
Sugar-free sweeteners
Sugar-free sweeteners (e.g., sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium) will have far less impact on your blood sugar and insulin. There’s a lot of debate about the safety of these ingredients, but many thousands of people have lost weight and reversed chronic health problems while including diet soda, sugar-free gum and mints, and sweetener in their coffee.
Sugar alcohols
Sugar alcohols (e.g. mannitol, xylitol, erythritol, maltitol) may be more problematic. Some of these have a higher glycemic impact than others and they can interfere with the results you’re looking to get from keto.
Owing to the way they’re metabolized, erythritol and allulose (a non-sugar sweetener but not a sugar alcohol) appear to be the most benign compared to maltitol and xylitol. Still, as a transition step, or what Dr. Rob Cywes (“The Carb Addiction Doc”) would call “harm reduction,” using items sweetened with sugar alcohols is a move in the right direction toward cutting your sugar and carb intake over the long term.
Don’t kid yourself, though. Don’t trade a sugar addiction for an erythritol addiction. If you know you have a problem with sweets, consider going the cold turkey route, even if it seems daunting. Get support—you don’t have to do it alone. Chances are there’s someone in your life who would benefit from ditching sugar, too, and you can be accountability partners.
Bottom line
There are different ways to cut sugar out of your diet. First, decide exactly what cutting sugar means to you, and then decide if you want to do it all at once or if a more gradual reduction would work better. There’s no right or wrong way, and it’s not a race. Every step you take toward less sugar in your diet is a win.
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