Train Your Taste Buds

Clean Eating

Sugar is everywhere in the Standard American Diet (SAD), which is loaded with sugar, salt, and fat. Over time, this excess dulls our taste buds to the natural sweetness of fruits and the fresh flavors of vegetables.

I gave up sugar completely in my 20s, and it transformed my palate. Suddenly, I could fully enjoy the natural sweetness of strawberries, appreciate the texture of vegetables, and delight in the crunchiness of nuts and whole grains.

Sugar is a major contributor to obesity and diabetes—it acts like a poison in the body. Many people try to swap sugar for artificial sweeteners, but these can actually worsen sugar cravings by amplifying your sweet tooth.

Here are two simple steps to reduce your daily sugar intake:

• Gradually dilute fruit juices with water, increasing the amount of water every few days until you replace juice entirely with water. Then, enjoy the pure, refreshing taste of water.

• Replace fruit juice with whole fruit. The fiber and pectin in whole fruits help stabilize blood sugar, and chewing whole fruit brings satisfaction that liquids simply cannot.

As a retired personal trainer with years of experience in nutrition and health, I can attest that retraining your taste buds takes time—but the benefits to your health are well worth it.