Cut the sugar you stir in first

You have been told to just give up sugar, and it is in the bread, the sauce and the yogurt, so the advice sounds like it is about willpower you do not have. Some people who got through it describe a smaller job than that.

This page is for an adult who does not take diabetes medicine and does not have an eating disorder; the safety line above says why, and the last section repeats it.

Cut sugar in small steps, starting with the sugar you add yourself to drinks and cereal, and give your taste time to catch up.

Start with what you stir in

The NHS gives the same starting point: if you take sugar in hot drinks or add it to breakfast cereal, gradually reduce the amount until you can cut it out altogether. Some people suggest cutting back slowly, a little less in the coffee or one snack swapped at a time, on the grounds that it is easier to keep up than quitting at once. One person warns that overhauling every meal in one go can end in crashing and bingeing, and one person that going cold turkey may only last until stress arrives. Some people warn that a setback can become a full relapse, and say to have a fallback for the bad week; there is a page here on keeping a plan going through one.

One person says sugar in coffee often covers for weak coffee, and that a better brew and better beans made it unnecessary. Some people say bitterness is what stops them, and suggest a pinch of salt to smooth it. And if the sugar is in a fizzy drink, a craving that does not fade can be the caffeine rather than the sugar. Some people say the two need handling separately, and a page here covers that.

Then the sugar you did not add

Many people point out that sugar turns up in food that is not sweets: bread, sauces, yogurt, cereal and low-fat versions. The only way past that is the label. On a US label, the Added Sugars line is the one to read. One person pointed out that many bottled iced teas can carry as much sugar as a soda, so the unsweetened one is the one to look for. A page here is about reading the label past the front of the packet.

Some people turn grams into teaspoons, about 4 grams to a teaspoon, and say it makes the amount real. Others call that unnecessary, since the label already gives a daily percentage. Use whichever one you will actually look at. One person says cooking from raw ingredients, starting with simple recipes, is the way to control sugar; another that choosing packaged food with little added sugar still helps when cooking is not possible.

What to reach for

Some people suggest keeping sugary food out of reach, by not buying it, throwing it out or hiding it, rather than relying on willpower when a craving hits. The one thing not to throw out is fast-acting sugar that a doctor told someone in your home to keep for low blood sugar.

Some people suggest whole fruit when you want something sweet, because it comes with fibre and other nutrients; the FAQ below has what the NHS and FDA say about fruit and about juice. Some people also name two ways to lower sweetness without removing a food: watering down juice, and roasting vegetables.

Give your taste time

Some people say that after cutting back, things that used to taste normal started to taste too sweet, or even unpleasant, after weeks or months. One person says coffee without sugar tasted normal or better within days to weeks; another that surface changes in taste came within a week, with deeper benefits slower; another that cravings faded in about two weeks.

A published trial gives part of this back. In 2016 the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported a randomised trial in which adults ate a low-sugar diet for three months. By the second month they rated puddings with a small amount of sugar as more intense than a comparison group did, and by the third month they rated puddings about 40% sweeter. They did not rate them as more or less pleasant. Its authors wrote that more work is needed to see whether the amount of sugar you eat changes which sweet foods you prefer. So the claim that things taste sweeter held up, and took two to three months to show; whether sweet food comes to taste unpleasant is not something the trial shows. Give it time, and judge it by your own mouth.

Who this page is not for

If you take insulin or a diabetes medicine that can lower blood sugar, cutting sugar and carbohydrate is a medical question first, and the safety line above says who to ask and when to call for help. If you have an eating disorder, or counting sugar has made eating frightening, this page is the wrong tool; the helplines are above. It is not a weight-loss plan, and it does not tell a child or a pregnant person what to eat.

Social occasions where sweet food is pushed on you, keeping it up over years, and whether sweeteners are a good swap are not covered here. Keep the fizz, drop the sugar is the page for the last of those.