Sugar experiment

Off the menu

Eating too much sugar has been a weakness of mine throughout my life. I've known from the beginning that sugar is not very healthy and I have been able to cut down a lot, but I still find myself craving for sweets very often. I've had the tendency to have something sweet everyday, even though I know I shouldn't. I must say sugar is addictive, it tastes too good!

The reason that I'm writing about sugar again, is that lately I have been exposed to a lot of discussion about sugar. Increasingly I have been hearing that it is in fact very unhealthy. That it puts a lot of stress on the body and causes premature aging, moodiness and has toxic effects. That it is also know as "the white death". (1) Sounds pretty bad!

Since sugar has such a bad reputation, I decided to conduct an experiment on myself: I try to eliminate sugar from my diet as much as possible and see if I start feeling any different. If sugar is added to the food, I will avoid it, but fruits,vegetables and milk are allowed (milk contains lactose that is a type of sugar). Also, other carbohydrates are not off the list.

Observations

• Dr. Robert Lustig mentions that almost all processed food has added sugar and I make the same observation. Even mayonnaise and salad dressing might have added sugar! (2) This makes it more difficult to choose what to eat.
• I find that I don't crave sugar as much as before. However, if I slip, the next day the craving is back!
• I have felt that my energy level is more balanced: my hunger is not as strong or when I've eaten, I don't feel as hyper.
• My skin seems brighter if I managed to keep sugar consumption to the minimum the previous day - I did not expect this one.
• The thought of not having sugar anymore makes me feel like I'm depriving myself of something that in a way belongs to life. Tasting something really good makes us feel good and it seems that when that is gone (which it is not really, since sugar is not the only thing that tastes good!) it feels odd. I'm starting to understand how psychological food and eating really is! 
•  Eating is also strongly habitual: I tend to walk straight to the cupboard that houses the chocolate storage of the house every time I go to the kitchen to have a snack. It is harder to walk away empty handed than not go near the chocolate at all!

Overall, the effects of this experiment so far have been positive - I have been feeling slightly more balanced energetically than I have been. Still, I think a change of rules is appropriate to accommodate social situations or simply wishing to have a little bit of something good every now and then. Being too strict about any diet is risky, because a slip from the rules might end up wrecking the whole diet (happened to me many times) whereas following a more flexible diet allows for some deviation from the rules making the probability of success a bit better. Most importantly, it is good to have a set of standards to follow, but one should not worry too much about eating, especially if your eating habits are more healthy than not: if you decided to have that piece of chocolate cake today, enjoy it to the fullest and don't ruin the experience by feeling bad about it. Easier said than done isn't it.


I encourage you to try cutting down on sugar to find out if you can feel the difference. If you try it, please let me know how it goes! I also encourage you to read the nutrient labels on the foods you eat to see if they contain added sugar. You'll be amazed!

Take care,

Anna-Kaisa

References
1. O'Brien, Justin. The Wellness Tree: the six-step program for creating optimal wellness. St. Paul MN: Yes International Publishers,1990. Print (page 83)
2. Lustig, Robert. "Still believe a 'Calorie is a Calorie'?" The Huffington Post. 2/27/2013. Web. 4/14/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lustig-md/sugar-toxic_b_2759564.html