Sugars and carbohydrates are not the enemy. Your body needs carbohydrates for energy, especially for your brain and muscles. Carbohydrate-rich foods can also provide fibre, vitamins and minerals that support digestion, heart health and overall wellbeing.
Higher-fibre carbohydrates are the healthier choice. They are found in vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, chickpeas, oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice, wholewheat pasta and other wholegrain foods. They are digested more slowly, helping you feel fuller for longer and supporting steadier energy and blood sugar levels.
Free sugars are added to foods and drinks, or released when fruit is juiced, blended or processed. They are found in sugary drinks, sweets, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, pastries, desserts, sweetened cereals, syrups, honey and fruit juice. Eating or drinking too much can contribute to tooth decay, weight gain, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Sugary foods and drinks can also cause rapid rises and falls in blood sugar, leaving you feeling tired, hungry or craving more. Even foods that seem healthy can contain significant amounts of sugar, so checking labels and portion sizes helps.
Healthy eating is not about banning carbohydrates. Do not simply remove them — choose them wisely.
Simple ways to eat less sugar
Start with one small swap and repeat it until it becomes a habit.
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Choose drinks without added sugar
Swap sugary drinks, energy drinks, sweetened coffees and fruit juice for water, sparkling water, or unsweetened tea and coffee. Keep juice to a small serving with a meal.
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Cut back on sweets
Enjoy sweets, chocolate, biscuits, cakes and pastries less often and in smaller portions. Keep them as occasional treats.
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Choose higher-fibre carbohydrates
Wholegrain bread, brown rice, wholewheat pasta, oats, barley, potatoes with their skins, beans, lentils and chickpeas.
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Make breakfast less sugary
Plain porridge, unsweetened yoghurt, wholegrain toast or eggs. Add fruit, cinnamon, nuts or seeds instead of sugar or syrup.
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Choose whole fruit more often
Fruit contains natural sugars but also fibre, vitamins and minerals. Whole fruit rather than juice, smoothies or dried fruit, which are easier to consume in large amounts.
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Check breakfast cereals
Compare labels and choose cereals lower in sugar and higher in fibre. Avoid relying on chocolate, honey or sugar-coated cereals every day.
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Make better snack swaps
Swap sweets, biscuits and sugary cereal bars for fruit, plain yoghurt, vegetables with hummus, unsalted nuts or seeds.
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Watch sauces and hidden sugars
Sugar hides in ketchup, barbecue sauce, salad dressings, ready meals, soups, flavoured yoghurts and takeaways. Compare products and choose lower-sugar options.
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Build balanced meals
Include protein, vegetables or salad, and a high-fibre carbohydrate. This helps you feel fuller and avoid energy dips.
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Keep portions sensible
Even healthier carbohydrates provide a lot of energy in large portions. Use your hand or your plate as a guide.
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Read the label
More than 22.5 g of total sugars per 100 g is high; 5 g or less is low. Also compare fibre, ingredients and portion sizes.
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Focus on progress
Choose one regular sugary food or refined carbohydrate, make one healthier swap, and keep going.
The ISH four-week free-sugar challenge
This is not a zero-carbohydrate diet, and you do not need to stop eating fruit or other nutritious foods. The challenge is to reduce free sugars: those added to foods and drinks, and those in honey, syrups, fruit juice and smoothies. You can still enjoy whole fruit, plain milk, vegetables, beans, lentils and wholegrains.
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Week 1
Discover the hidden sugar
Check the labels of foods you regularly buy and compare similar products per 100 g. Look for sugar, syrup, honey, glucose, fructose and concentrated fruit juice in the ingredients. Notice the sugar in cereals, yoghurts, sauces, cereal bars, ready meals and takeaways. Find the most surprising source of sugar in your kitchen.
- Where does most of my free sugar come from?
- My three biggest sources
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Week 2
Rethink your drinks
Replace sugary fizzy drinks with water or sparkling water. Choose unsweetened tea or coffee, and reduce sugar in hot drinks gradually. Avoid energy drinks and sweetened coffees. Choose whole fruit instead of juice. Flavour water with mint, cucumber, lemon or fruit if you like. Aim for at least three sugary-drink-free days.
- My own ISH heart water
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Week 3
Build a better breakfast and snack
Sugary cereal becomes porridge or a lower-sugar wholegrain. Sweetened yoghurt becomes plain yoghurt with fruit. Jam or chocolate spread becomes nut butter or sliced fruit. A biscuit becomes whole fruit or wholegrain toast. Add cinnamon, fruit, nuts or seeds for flavour instead of sugar.
- Which breakfast or snack keeps me satisfied for longer?
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Week 4
Take control of sweet habits
Keep sweets, cakes, biscuits and desserts for planned occasions. Buy smaller portions rather than large multipacks, and keep sugary foods out of immediate sight. When an unplanned craving appears: drink some water, wait ten minutes, move or do something enjoyable, then decide whether you still want it. The goal is not to forbid sweet food. It is to choose consciously.
- The treat I planned, and enjoyed
My everyday drink will be… My sugar-smart breakfast or snack will be… The sweet food I will enjoy less often will be…
The ISH golden rules
- Reduce free sugar, not healthy whole foods.
- Choose whole fruit instead of juice.
- Choose higher-fibre carbohydrates.
- Do not replace sugar with large amounts of saturated fat.
- Check labels, but look at the whole food.
- Enjoy occasional treats without guilt.
- Restart at the next meal if your day does not go as planned.
For adults, the UK recommended maximum is approximately 30 g of free sugar a day — about seven sugar cubes. This is a maximum, not a target. Recommended amounts are lower for children.
You have been shown what is happening inside you. This is where you can go back to it — as often as you like, at your own pace, and read about the things that shape it.
Go inside