How to reduce added sugar in your diet

To reduce the added sugars in your diet, try these tips:

• Drink water or other calorie-free drinks instead of sugary sodas or sports drinks. That goes for coffee drinks, too.
• When you drink fruit juice, make sure it's 100 percent fruit juice — not juice drinks that have added sugars. Better yet, eat the fruit rather than drink the juice to get the fiber, as well.
• Choose breakfast cereals with less sugar. Skip sugary and frosted cereals.
• Opt for reduced-sugar varieties of syrups, jams, jellies and preserves.
• Choose fresh fruit for dessert instead of cakes, cookies, pies, ice cream and other sweets.
• Buy canned fruit packed in water or juice, not syrup. Drain and rinse with water to remove excess syrup.
• Snack on vegetables, fruits, low-fat cheese, whole-grain crackers and low-fat, low-calorie yogurt instead of candy, pastries and cookies.