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Nutrition & Dietetics vocabulary · Diets and Meal Planning

Cut down on

Meaning in nutrition & dietetics, with examples

phrasal verbCore term

In nutrition & dietetics, cut down on means: To eat, drink or use less of something, without stopping completely. It describes a softer, more realistic goal than cutting something out of the diet.

In Turkish: azaltmak, kısmak

How it is used

Very common in counseling, health campaigns and everyday speech: cut down on salt, sugar, alcohol or fried food. The related phrasal verb 'cut out' means to stop eating something completely, and 'cut back on' has almost the same meaning as 'cut down on'.

Example sentences

  1. He has already cut down on sugary drinks, from five cans a day to one.

  2. Cutting down on salt can be hard at first because food tastes bland.

Common collocations

  • cut down on salt
  • cut down on sugar
  • cut down on alcohol
  • cut back on
  • cut out
  • added sugarSugars and syrups put into foods and drinks during processing or preparation, such as table sugar, honey and corn syrup, as opposed to the sugars naturally found in whole fruit and milk.
  • sodiumA mineral and electrolyte that controls fluid balance, nerve signals and muscle function. Most dietary sodium comes from salt (sodium chloride) in processed foods, bread and cooking.
  • behavior changeThe process of changing habits and actions, such as how a person shops, cooks or eats, in a way that lasts over time. In nutrition it is often the main goal of counseling.
  • eating habitsThe usual ways a person eats: what, when, where, how much and how fast they eat, together with the routines and feelings connected with food.

More terms: Diets and Meal Planning

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