6 Real Low-Sugar Swaps for Drinks, Cereals and Sauces
A “low-sugar swap” only means something if it’s a genuine like-for-like, the same kind of drink, cereal or sauce, not just whatever happens to have the lowest sugar figure in our whole database. Here are six real ones, each a direct substitute for something people actually reach for, with the real per-100g sugar figures from our own database, not an estimate.
Six real swaps, same food, real sugar drop
- Apple Juice (fresh), 9.5g per 100g → Coconut Water, 2.6g per 100g
- Lemonade (fizzy), 10.7g per 100g → Diet Cola, 0g per 100g
- Malt Loaf, 25g per 100g → Shredded Wheat, 0.7g per 100g
- Granola (plain), 21g per 100g → Weetabix, 4.4g per 100g
- Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce), 48g per 100g → Soy Sauce (shoyu), 0.4g per 100g
- BBQ Sauce, 32g per 100g → Hot Sauce (Tabasco), 1.3g per 100g
Total sugar, not just added sugar
Every figure here is total sugar per 100g, the same “of which sugars” line on a UK nutrition label, and it includes sugar that’s naturally there, not only sugar added during processing. That matters for one swap on this list specifically, Apple Juice to Coconut Water isn’t “added sugar removed,” it’s a genuinely lower-sugar fruit-derived drink, the sugar in both is naturally occurring. The other five are closer to a straightforward added-sugar cut, kecap manis is literally soy sauce with sugar added, and Diet Cola swaps a sugar-sweetened drink for an artificially sweetened one.
Where you will see it used on this site
Every food shown here has its own real, live page. Our Drinks, Bread & Cereals and Condiments & Sauces category pages can all be sorted lowest sugar first, so you can find your own next swap rather than relying on this exact list. For real, similarly like-for-like calorie swaps within one specific real meal, see 3 Real Lowest-Calorie Christmas Dinner Swaps.
*This article is general information, not medical or dietary advice. If you’re making dietary changes for a specific health reason, speak to a doctor or registered dietitian.