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5 tricks to quit sugar

It’s one of the best things you can do for your health – but ditching sugar doesn’t have to be a trial.

Sarah Wilson, author of ebook I Quit Sugar (available now at www.sarahwilson.com.au), shares these five easy tricks.

Trick #1 Fall in love with coconuts

While low in sugar, coconuts have a lovely sweet taste that helps satisfy your sweet tooth. Sarah advocates coconut ‘flakes, shavings, oil, cream and milk – and, of course, eat it fresh.'

Trick #2 Lose the juice

A glass of apple juice has the same sugar content as a glass of soft drink.

To make matters worse, adds Sarah: ‘When sugar is in liquid form, the fructose and glucose hit the liver faster, which means the liver will convert much of the sugar to fat.’

RELATED: Sweet poison - Sarah Wilson on her sugar free diet

Sarah Wilson at the 2011 Logie Awards. Source: Getty

Trick #3 Replace sugar with fat

Opting for more ‘wholesome, unprocessed fats’ when you have a craving works on two levels, explains Sarah: ‘It takes care of the craving for a “treat” – which is part of the sugar addiction... [and] fat and protein fill us up.’

Both sugars and fats are relatively concentrated sources of energy, but sugars give fast energy while fats release energy more slowly.

Trick #4 Say cheerio to cereals

Most breakfast cereals are laden with sugar, explains Sarah, particularly muesli, some brands of which have more sugar than Coco Pops!

Sarah recommends opting for healthy fats and protein for breakfast – try avocado and Vegemite on toast, spinach and eggs or toasted haloumi cheese for a healthy, hearty and satisfying start to your day.

Trick #5 Choose full-fat dairy

‘When fat is removed from dairy, it is often replaced with sugar,’ Sarah says. A small tub of ‘diet’ yoghurt has about six teaspoons!