reduce intake of

Meaning

To eat, drink, or consume less of a specific substance, usually for health reasons. It is a formal, clinical, or professional way of saying 'cut down on'.

Examples

• Patients with high blood pressure should reduce their intake of salt.

  Patients with high blood pressure should reduce their intake of salt.

• The doctor advised me to reduce my intake of processed sugars.

  The doctor advised me to reduce my intake of processed sugars.

• To improve your sleep quality, try to reduce your intake of caffeine after 3 PM.

  To improve your sleep quality, try to reduce your intake of caffeine after 3 PM.

• She decided to reduce her intake of red meat for environmental reasons.

  She decided to reduce her intake of red meat for environmental reasons.

• The government is launching a campaign to help citizens reduce their intake of sodium.

  The government is launching a campaign to help citizens reduce their intake of sodium.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ You need to reduce intake sugar.

  ✓ You need to reduce your intake of sugar.

  You must use the preposition 'of' after 'intake' to connect it to the substance, and usually a possessive adjective (my, your, their) before 'intake'.

• ✗ The doctor told me to reduce my outtake of salt.

  ✓ The doctor told me to reduce my intake of salt.

  'Intake' refers to what you consume (take in). 'Outtake' is a film or audio editing term for unused footage.

Related Expressions

Practice

• If you want to lower your cholesterol, you should ___ saturated fats.

  💡 Eat or consume less of something (formal).

  Show answer

  reduce your intake of

• I need to ___ coffee because it's making me anxious.

  💡 Formally describe consuming less caffeine.

  Show answer

  reduce my intake of