Health News Share Email Print 4 ways to cut back on added sugar Part of eating well is limiting foods and drinks with sugar added to them. Adding sugar to food and drinks gives you extra calories with no nutritional benefit. Over time, those sweet-but-empty calories can lead to weight gain and affect your health. To help cut back on added sugars, try these tips. Sweet ways to eat less sugar Trade regular soda for water flavored with citrus, cucumber or melon slices. Sweeten cereal with fruit, such as strawberries or blueberries. Swap sugar for unsweetened applesauce when you bake. Flavor coffee or tea with cinnamon, mint, nutmeg or other spices. A lot of added sugars come from sweet drinks. So when it comes to reducing sugar in your diet, your drink choices may be a good place to start. Find out how much sugar is in a 12-ounce drink.You may be surprised. Reviewed 1/4/2023 Sources American Heart Association."Added Sugars." https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars. American Heart Association. "Life is Sweet with These Easy Sugar Swaps Infographic." https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/life-is-sweet-with-these-easy-sugar-swaps-infographic. American Heart Association. "Tips for Cutting Down on Sugar." https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/tips-for-cutting-down-on-sugar. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Be Sugar Smart: Limiting Added Sugars Can Improve Health." https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/be-sugar-smart.html. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Get the Facts: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Consumption." https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/sugar-sweetened-beverages-intake.html. U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Cut Back on Added Sugars." https://www.myplate.gov/tip-sheet/cut-back-added-sugars. Related stories Health information main Health tools go Select a health topic ADHD Aging Alcohol use disorder Allergies Alternative medicine Alzheimer's disease Arthritis Asthma Babies Backs Bladder Bones Brain Breast cancer Cancer Cancer prevention Caregiving Cervical cancer Children and parenting Cholesterol Colds Colorectal cancer Coronavirus Dental care Depression Diabetes Disaster preparedness Down syndrome Ears Eating disorders Emergencies End of life/Palliative care Environmental health Epilepsy Eyes Fall prevention Family and relationships Feet Fitness and exercise Flu Food safety Hair Headache Health assessments Health calculators Healthcare Heart attack Heart health Hepatitis Hernia High blood pressure Hips HIV/AIDS Holiday health Hormones Imaging Incontinence Joints Kidneys Knees Leukemia Liver Lung cancer Lungs Medications Men's health Menopause Mental health Multiple sclerosis Nails Nose Nutrition Obesity Oral cancer Ovaries Pain Parkinson's disease Pets Pneumonia Pregnancy Prostate cancer Rehabilitation Reproductive health Safety School health Sexuality Sexually transmitted infections Skin Skin cancer Sleep Smoking Sports injuries Stomach pain Stress and anxiety Stroke Substance use disorder Summer safety Surgery Teen health Throat Thyroid Travel Vaccines Vascular health Violence Vitamins and supplements Weight management Winter health Women's health Workplace health Wound care i Providers Family Medicine Internal Medicine i Services Home Health Services RSS If you have questions or comments, please contact Randolph Health. Problems reading or opening a page? Legal restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site.