Sugar may be a worthwhile option as an alternative fuel source for vehicles, but it's a very poor choice for fueling our bodies. In addition to having no nutritional value, sugar is fast-digesting and will drive up blood glucose levels, leaving you feeling tired, hungry, and, paradoxically, craving more sugar.

Aside from the more obvious steps you can take to rid your diet of sugar (such as not adding sugar to your coffee or tea and avoiding candy and other sweets altogether), check the labels of foods you typically eat. If they contain more than 10 grams of sugar, say most nutritionists, you dump them and you dump them fast (with the only exception being dairy, because its milk sugar is naturally-occurring).

Also avoid refined carbs, such as those found in white rice, white bread, and bagels, for they too cause your blood sugar levels to go on an veritable roller-coaster ride. And if you have an unbearable desire for sweets, sate your sugar craving with complex carbohydrate-rich fruits (one caveat: try to avoid eating too much watermelon. Though it is good for you, it ranks very high on the glycemic index and therefore can produce a similar effect on blood sugar). You can also try stevia, an all-natural sweetener that has been used for centuries by the Guaraní tribes of Paraguay and Brazil.