So what’s the magic bullet for safely reducing the sugar in your diet? Sleep. According to research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adult study subjects who regularly under-slept significantly reduced their sugar cravings simply by getting more sleep. An average of just 55 extra minutes in bed, or 21 minutes of actual sleep, reduced participants’ sugar intake by an average of 9.6 grams. And considering that the average American gets just 6.8 hours of sleep a night, chances are a little extra sleep could benefit your diet, too.
While getting more sleep can significantly reduce food cravings, when it comes to editing your actual food choices, you may have to be stricter than you think. Although fruit can still be part of a healthy diet, most of us should be watching our intake of nature’s candy, too.
“Regular sugar intake is linked to a slew of health issues and those that consume it regularly can expect to deal with a higher incidence of diseases related to inflammation, immune system breakdown, faster aging, digestion issues, brain health deterioration, and degenerative diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease,” says clinical nutritionist Ariane Hundt. “Sugar from fruit—fructose—is not better than sugar from other sources as fructose is converted to body fat much faster than other sugar, such as glucose. Therefore, fruit should be limited to about 20 grams of fructose per day.”
