Reducing sugar

Georgia101 you beat me to it! Was going to suggest stevia(?) leaf sweetener, which contains erythrytol, I think. M...s sell it. Be careful of sugar free sweets, I had two small gummy beers and my blood sugar went up 4 points.

Have reduced sugar in recipes and turned out ok. Other ways to reduce sugar is to be very aware of what goes into drinks - I don't mean alcoholic ones. e.g. 13 tsp in a high street burger bar's milkshakes........... syrup flavoured coffees.........etc. etc.

I always third the sugar in cake recipes, no one has ever noticed!! Add a bit of mixed spice and sorted, GS loves them.

I've reduced sugar to 4 ozs and has worked well. Not brave enough to go to 3 ozs , would be worried about not having enough to beat air in with the fat. That's my limited approach to science!

I find adding ripe wild blackberries to stewed apples adds enough sweetness for me (picked & frozen) but not for my DH who lashes sugar onto and into everything. If we go away I have to take a container of sugar because the provided bedroom satchets (for two people) are virtually gone after his 1st cup.

In the past I've used American low sugar recipes only to find them sweeter than English recipes. So I think the take away from that would be if following American recipes only out a fraction of the sugar in. Those cupcakes too, they look beautiful but eating one with all the buttercream on, reàlly not good, they make me feel sick. Butterfly buns with a dab of buttercream, so very different

After cutting out sugar from tea/coffee/cereals I find many restaurant deserts too sweet now. I cannot stand sugar substitutes. After my mother was diagnosed with diabetes (she was a biccy/cake/chocoholic) and back then sugar free wasn't so easy to find & expensive. We put together a lovely hamper of sugar free items for her, it looked great & I was so pleased to have sourced such a selection. She gorged herself silly even though she knew not to, the more dad said don't the more she ate (I realised later it was the start of her dementia) she was dreadfully 'indisposed' with the adverse effects of so much sugar substitute. Claimed I'd tried to poison her on a regular basis to the end of her days!

Yes. I just don't make things that contain lots of sugar. If you don't make it you can't eat it. I'd rather not subject my body to it.

Like others here I often try reducing the sugar in recipes and most of the time there's no discernable difference in the tastefulness of the product. I always had a sweet tooth and now I'm in my 70s (better late than never) I'm trying to wean myself off sugary things. Fortunately I don't eat many sweets, biscuits or cakes, but do like sugary drinks so I'm cutting down on those.

I have used xylitol and no-one has noticed any difference at all in baking.

If I remember correctly xylitol needs half the quantity but i have followed baking recipes with no problems.

Otherwise I have used date syrup in the past but that doesn't work with as many recipes.

as a diabetic, i notice sugar is absurd too much of it in anything from orange juice to healthy flap jack. the worst thing for me is hidden sugar, i used to buy the no sugar, healthy option, low in fat and find they are as bad, so i just make my own whatever it is, then i know no sugar or salt means no sugar or salt.

I have a sweet tooth so do not buy any cakes, biscuits or pastries. If I want cake or scones I bake. I find not having the temptation in the house, for me is best. I treat myself once a week with coffee and either a scone or really naughty cheesecake, for a special occasion.

I agree that many of the bought goodies are quite over fatty and over sweet. I’m going to reduce the sugar in my favourite fruit cake recipe further than I did last time.

Georgia101 Thank you That sounds promising. I must look at the keto diet.

Just made a batch of Paul Hollywood’s mince pies for the freezer, completely forgot to put the sugar in the pastry! They taste lovely with just a bit of sugar on top.

I have used artificial sweetner in coffee all my life but am now mostly using stevia as I understand it is a naturaly sweet alternative rather than a chemical substitute. I stopped sweetening fruits such as strawberries and raspberries but need to add a little stevia when using sharper berries. I'm diabetic so need to be stricter about bought products. Maybe when I retire I'll have time to bake my own lower sugar alternatives. I tend to modify recipes anyway but reluctant to change cake recipes too much in case it changes the consistency. Perhaps I should be more brave.

Yes, I too regularly reduce the sugar stated in cake and tart recipes and they have all turned out well.

Many years ago, I stopped using sugar entirely in bread doughs and my bread rises just as well without sugar as it did with sugar.

I find that reducing sugar in biscuits and shortbread isn't a good idea though, but custard, custard puddings and cocoa can be made with less sugar than we were taught.

I never put sugar in savoury dishes, except for a very little when making tomato sauce or soup.

I'm lucky enough to dislike sugar and most sweet things (chocolate is another matter but I do my best to avoid it). I remember having to stop eating most cereals because of all the added sugar and as for tomato ketchup, yuck. Sugar substitutes are not only sweet (ugh!) but taste disgusting too ... really sickly. My answer is not to bake and not to eat cake. Simple!

Hi Bradfordlass, thank you for your posts. I have sensitivities to wheat, lactose and I’m trying to go sugar-free, so I’m following this thread with interest. I, too, used to love gingernut type biscuits, like your DGS. Since ginger is a popular ingredient in West Indian cooking, I’m thinking of Jamaican ginger cake, and coconuts are too, I wonder if grated coconut would work well in home-made ginger biscuits? I use Lactofree spread in place of butter and find it works well. I’ve never tried making brandy snaps without wheat, lactose, or sugar, have you? I’m sure your DGS would love those too.

Does anyone remember a programme from a few years ago (Channel 4?) where two nutritionists re-jigged favourite recipes to make them healthier? It was on for one or two series then died a death.
I think they used fruit sugar as it is sweeter than the usual and so less was needed - therefore fewer calories. It might be worth a try.

I have a Lidls bread machine which is excellent and one day I took the plunge and left the sugar out. Result a well risen loaf with a light lacy texture that tastes delicious. As a diabetic it meant I could enjoy toast with perhaps a slight scraping of marmalade.

Georgia101 I should have said well done you on your diet success!?

ClareKen how come sugarfree sweets raise your sugar level. This is very bad news ?.

The only way to really reduce sugar in your diet is to give up chocolate, sweets, cakes, biscuits and pastries entirely. I've done it for the last six months, no cheating, and have lost a stone in weight and an inch off my waist. If you're determined, it's effortless. There's no need to be hungry and miserable. Just eat other things. I didn't give up bread, by the way, but I only buy proper sour dough, not the steamed, sliced stuff. I haven't given up red wine or the occasional beer. I eat plenty of fruit.

I'm devoted to 5:2 fasting for the anti-inflammatory effect but my weight loss had stalled and I had worrying blood sugar and cholesterol results. Both these have come down since giving up eating rubbish and having porridge five days a week. I'm confident that my next blood tests will show a further drop. That's well worth the sacrifice.

It sounds as if I gave up having porridge! I meant I have porridge five days a week!

Again, well done Lizzypopbottle. On the 5:2 diet,are the fasting days very difficult?