Do you want to lose weight? This habit could be sabotaging your diet

Sauces, breakfast cereals, cookies, bars, ready-to-eat drinks and even products sold with the appearance of being "healthy" may contain relevant amounts of added sugars.

Excessive consumption of these sugars can contribute to weight gain and obesity, as well as being associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The World Health Organization recommends that free sugars represent less than 10% of daily energy consumption. A reduction to less than 5% may offer additional health benefits.

Learn to identify hidden sugar

One of the strategies to reduce consumption is to pay more attention to labels.

A product does not need to look like a dessert to contain added sugar. Therefore, it is worth observing the list of ingredients and the nutritional table in foods consumed daily.

This doesn't mean that cookies, candy or other products need to be completely eliminated. For most people, controlling frequency and quantity tends to be a more sustainable strategy than imposing extreme restrictions.

Leaving sweets out of sight can help

Another simple measure is to avoid spreading chocolates, cookies and other sweets around the kitchen or different rooms in the house.

Those who share a house with people who do not intend to reduce their consumption can concentrate these foods in a single cupboard or drawer. The idea is to reduce constant exposure and prevent consumption from happening automatically.

Keeping fruits and other low-processed foods in more accessible places can also make different choices easier throughout the day.

What about soft drinks and zero products?

Swapping a sugary drink for a sugar-free version reduces the amount of sugar and, generally, calories consumed at that time. This does not mean, however, that sweeteners should be seen as a definitive solution for weight loss.

The WHO recommends that sugar-free sweeteners should not be used as a long-term strategy for weight control. According to the entity, available studies do not demonstrate a lasting benefit in reducing body fat with this objective.

The recommendation does not mean that sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin necessarily cause weight gain or are "worse than sugar". The WHO review itself found different results depending on the type and duration of studies, including weight reduction in some short-term situations.

The objective, according to the organization, is to gradually reduce the preference for excessively sweet flavors and prioritize foods that are naturally less sugary.

Sugar is not the only factor that affects weight loss

Reducing added sugars can help, especially when they represent an important portion of the calories consumed, but weight loss does not depend on a single food or ingredient.

Total number of calories, quality of food, sleep, physical activity, medications, health conditions and individual characteristics also affect body weight.

Therefore, extremely restrictive diets are not always necessary. A diet based mainly on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins and other low-processed foods, with lower amounts of free sugars, is part of the recommendations for a healthy diet.

4 foods that shouldn't marinate all night

Leaving ingredients in the marinade for many hours does not always improve the result. Fish, some cuts of pork, small pieces of chicken and quick-cooking vegetables can lose texture and quality when left too long in acidic or salty mixtures.