Wednesday 14 November 2012

D DAY: Banishing the Hidden Sugars

I've always tried to lead a fairly healthy lifestyle -  I haven't eaten beef, pork, or chicken in well over 20 years and have even done a couple stints as a vegan. Ultimately, however, it was my love of yogurt and cream in my coffee that undid me.

I also try to exercise at least three times a week, in addition to cycling to work every day rain or shine. Commuting to work by bike is not to be taken lightly - especially since I live in Glasgow, Scotland; a notoriously wet and chilly city and have to navigate the city's plethora of potholes on a daily basis.

Despite my otherwise healthy appearing lifestyle, my downfall has always been one thing: sugar. Brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup, glucose, fructose, muscovado sugar, raw sugar, sucrose, demerara sugar, treacle: I WILL HAVE IT ALL, THANKS. Although I have almost always been careful with the amount and type of salt/ carbohydrates/ protein I eat, I have so rarely restricted the amount and type of sugar I eat. Except, of course, high-fructose corn syrup (otherwise known as Glucose-Fructose Syrup in both the UK and Canada). I mean, high-fructose corn syrup has long been vilified in the media - rightfully so - and as such, I've tried to avoid it as much as possible.

But, to be quite frank, I'm kidding myself. And although a calorie isn't a calorie, sugar is sugar. And, sadly, as it turns out, sugar is bad for you.

Recently I watched an hour and a half long presentation of Dr. Robert Lustig, a paediatric endocrinologist, in which he breaks down how sugar is bad for us. (video below) I would urge everyone to watch it because not only is it fascinating but informative too. Sure, it seems like common sense but it made me realise how endemic child obesity is - particularly in America. And despite all the years of being told to reduce our fat intake, it's not working as we just keep getting fatter, so something is amiss.


After watching the presentation, I was inspired to try and go sugar free - at least until Christmas. After hearing my decision, my boyfriend decided that he too would join me in my sugar-free quest. Determined, he looked into my cupboard and pulled out anything that had added sugar to it. Now, when grocery shopping, I - like most people - carefully read the labels to ensure that there are no "bad" ingredients inside. For me, those bad ingredients tend to be glucose-fructose, strange animal products, and anything I can't really pronounce the name of. But sugar? Hey, that's just all natural, right?

As it turns out, wrong.

I was horrified when my boyfriend ended up having to pull out half my cupboard's contents because they had added sugar. I mean, chopped tomatoes?! Kidney beans in chilli sauce?! Dark chocolate (obvious, I know, but it still broke my heart). Sugar, it seems, is EVERYWHERE. It got me realising that actually, I have no IDEA as to the amount of sugar I am ingesting on a day-to-day basis because it's being added to everything like bread, mayonnaise, chopped tomatoes, soups, and most sauces. It is not natural for sugar to be added to something as basic as chopped tomatoes, is it?

Also, let me come right out and say that I have, quite recently, been diagnosed with an adrenal adenoma (it's not as sexy as it sounds). And so, upon reading that sugar/ glucose, can feed tumours well, I was somewhat put off from eating more sugar (for the time being anyway).

So, I've decided to go sugar-free - until Christmas, anyway, and then we can take it from there.

Today was my first day and surprisingly, it wasn't that hard. I'm fortunate, however, in that I don't drink pop/ soda/ fizzy juice anyway so cutting that out of my diet is easy. I know, however, that straight up candy/ junk food/ chocolate will be a struggle; I love unadulterated garbage - the sweeter and richer, the better. I love maple syrup, especially drizzled over my morning porridge.

This morning, however, instead of my usual maple syrup drizzle atop my oatmeal, I used a wee bit extra dollop of this bad boy:

Coconut oil. I am in love with this stuff. I use it in cooking and for my hair and skin as well. Whatever. Don't be grossed out because unlike sugar, this stuff is all natural (and pure fat, by the way). I can't recommend this stuff enough.

Now, by going sugar-free does that mean I can't eat sweet stuff? No, of course I can eat sweet stuff. It just can't be sweetened by sugar or any sugar byproduct masquerading as something else (see: rice syrup, evaporated cane juice etc). Nor am I going to be switching from one sugary crutch to the other and so likewise, I will be forgoing anything containing sugar-substitutes like aspartame/ sweeteners/ agave syrup and so on.

So, because I am such a sugar junkie, where does this leave me when I need a sweet fix? Well, products do exist. Take, for example, Nakd bars:


They're (naturally) sweet and made mostly with dates, nuts and raisins. That's it. Surprisingly, they taste good. As good as a chocolate bar? HELL NO. But, it'll do.

Day 1

B
Coffee (of course) with evaporated milk

 L
Cream of broccoli soup (from work canteen)

D
Steamed broccoli w/ fried red onion
Two pieces of Biona Rye Bread w/ butter 
Coffee (of course) with evaporated milk
**I was also meant to make an omelette for dinner but I forgot to buy eggs and couldn't be bothered to go back out into the pouring rain for some. Don't judge**

2 comments:

  1. Good luck! The amount of sugary crap they get through in Scotland is horrifying.

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  2. Indeed, there is so much sugary crap in Scotland and worse, I LOVE IT ALL!

    Also, welcome back! I didn't realise you're back in the UK now. I recently had some yummy treats from Japan - sakura matcha kit kats and they were DELICIOUS. Had one the night before going sugar-free!

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