Healthy Living: Ways to kick your sugar habit and re-calibrate your palate

Sugar: It’s that sneaky sweet stuff that seems to make everything taste better. It’s also something that could be making us sicker.

But there are ways to kick that sweet addiction.

Is sugar making us overweight and prematurely old? According to some experts, it is.

Sugar not only helps pack on the pounds, it’s a leading cause of heart disease.

At least part of the reason is because people cannot consuming it. Health experts said 10 percent of the U.S. population is addicted to sugar.

Their brains react to sugar the way an addict’s brain reacts to drugs. While sugar in moderation is not bad for you, it can be hard to have self-control when it comes to sweets.

One way to rein in your sugar intake is by going cold turkey for three days, eliminating all sugar, including the natural kind in fruits and starchy vegetables. 

Experts also say you should avoid dairy, grains and alcohol.

During this time, you should basically be eating lean protein, vegetables and healthy fats only.

This will re-calibrate your palate, allowing you to taste the natural sweetness in foods.

After that, you can have small amounts of fruit and dairy.

Then, slowly add back in starches like pasta and treats, like red win or dark chocolate over the next four weeks.

Nutritionists said this could help give you control over how much sugar you consume.

So how much sugar is too much? The American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day for women and nine for men.

While that may sound like a lot, consider this: A bottle of soda has 11 teaspoons of sugar. And a venti strawberry and cream frappuccino from Starbucks contains 70 grams of sugar or more than 14 teaspoons.