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What Can You Swap, Substitute, Shrink or Sneak-In Today?
Patrice Powers-Barker, OSU Extension, Lucas County
The Truth Contributor
I love the title of a recent article I read: “The Top Foods
to Swap, Substitute, Shrink, or Sneak-In.” The article
highlighted recommendations to the general public to make
changes to reduce added sugars and solid fats in the diet.
Too much added sugar and fats can increase weight as well as
chronic disease associated with excess weight. For many
Americans, nearly a third of food eaten on a regular basis
consists of added sugar and fat.
Added sugars are sweeteners that do not occur naturally in
food. For example, fruits and 100 percent fruit juice are
naturally sweet. Fruit-flavored drinks like punch or sports
drinks (not 100 percent fruit juice) are flavored to taste
like fruit and have added sugars. If you read an ingredient
list for the food or drink, any of the following words
indicate added sugars: sugar, brown sugar, raw or invert
sugar, corn sweetener, syrup or malt syrup, corn syrup or
high-fructose corn syrup, honey, molasses, fruit juice
concentrates, sucrose, glucose, lactose,
dextrose, fructose, and maltose. Remember, food ingredient
lists are listed from highest to least amount. So, if sugar
is listed towards the beginning, it is a main ingredient of
that food or drink.
The following list of food and drinks are the top
contributors of sugar to the American Diet:
·
Sugar-sweetened beverages (49.7 percent)
·
Desserts (25.5 percent)
·
Ready-to-eat cereals (3.8 percent)
What can you swap, substitute, shrink or sneak-in to reduce
added sugars in your diet?
·
Instead of sugar-sweetened beverages, substitute your drink
with water flavored with fruit, 100 percent fruit juice or
low-fat milk. When choosing the other drinks that have
added sugar choose smaller cans or glasses for the drink
instead of the larger options.
·
Instead of sugar-added desserts, sneak-in desserts with
fruit as a main ingredient. Try baked apples or pears with
cinnamon, a fresh fruit salad or a fruit parfait. Look for
frozen treats made with 100 percent fruit or make your own
100 percent fruit juice bars in the freezer. Shrink your
serving size of dessert to shrink added sugars and fat.
·
Instead of ready-to-eat cereals with added sugar as a main
ingredient, reduce your sugar intake by looking for
varieties of cereals that do not have added sugars. If you
really like the cereals with added sugars, swap half the
bowl of cereal with a non-sugar added variety. Mix two
kinds of cereal in your bowl: half of cereal with added
sugar and half without added sugar.
There are good fats and bad fats. The bad fat, or saturated
fat and trans-fat are solid at room temperature. Solid fats
are shortening, margarine, lard, animal fat and skin, butter
and cheese. Healthier fats are liquid at room temperature
such as vegetable oil or olive oil. Healthier fats contains
higher amounts of mono and poly unsaturated fat. All fats
are high in calories so although liquid fats are healthier,
it’s still important to watch serving sizes.
The following foods are the top contributors of solid fats
to the American Diet:
·
Desserts (15.5 percent)
·
Eggs, bacon & sausage (10.8 percent)
·
Pizza (9.1 percent)
What can you swap, substitute, shrink or sneak-in to reduce
added fat in your diet?
·
As mentioned before, desserts have added sugars as well as
fat. Desserts are OK to eat once in a while but they don’t
need to end every meal.
·
Enjoy a hearty breakfast but swap other food group items
such as whole-grains like oat meal, fruits, vegetables and
low-fat milk instead of just eggs, bacon & sausage.
Only the egg yolk contains cholesterol and saturated fat, so
swap two egg whites for the whole egg, especially if you’re
making or ordering an omelet.
·
Be choosy about your pizza. Try a thin crust, a smaller
sized pizza and eat fewer slices. Sneak in some vegetables
and reduce the amount of high-fat meat toppings.
In addition to those items listed, some other foods that
contribute fat to the American diet include: hamburgers and
fried potatoes (8.6 percent); butter, margarine, lard and
shortening in pasta and Mexican food dishes (8.5 percent);
whole and low-fat milk (7.3 percent) and chicken and beef (7
percent). Think small when it comes to meat portions. Make
or order a smaller burger and choose lean meat like ground
beef that is at least 90 percent lean. Remove skin from
poultry to remove extra fat.
The main message is to be aware of added sugars and fats in
the American diet. Enjoy your food and think about what
works best for your healthy diet. Make a goal to Swap,
Substitute, Shrink or Sneak-In some tasty options for
healthy eating.
Source: “The Top Foods to Swap, Substitute, Shrink, or
Sneak-In to Reduce Added Sugars and Solid Fats in Your Diet”
at
http://www.extension.org/pages/55458/the-top-foods-to-swap-substitute-shrink-or-sneak-in-to-reduce-added-sugars-and-solid-fats-in-your-die#.Uqd6lJQo6M_
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