The Experiment: Preparing to Break a Sugar Addiction
It is my belief that sugar, in all its various forms, is at the root of every junk food craving.
Every kind of junk food has some form of sugar in it: corn syrup, high fructose syrup, glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, etc.
When most people say they are going to cut sugar out of their diets, they overlook the hidden sugars; so their addiction to sugar remains.
I am going to strategically cut sugar-in every manufactured form-completely out of my daily diet for seven full days.
This experiment will either prove or disprove my belief that sugar is the root of all junk food addictions.
I will also document any physical, mental, and emotional changes that may happen as a result of completely cutting sugar out of my diet.
This will take much planning and research, as many staples in my daily diet contain sugar.
Milk So far, my search for a sugar-free milk has turned up zilch.
Even lactose-free milk still has sugar in it! I may take the advice of those who have an opposition to milk and completely phase it out of my diet during this experiment.
I will have to find foods with similar nutritional value with which to replace milk (protein, calcium, vitamins A and D).
Bread There are many to choose from.
Unfortunately, while the options are plenty, the prices are too expensive for my budget Dairy Most cheeses are usually free of sugar because the sugar has been fermented out of the cheese.
There are other forms of sugar-free dairy products available, but it almost certain that sugar-free dairy will contain some form of artificial sweetener.
Reading labels will be important.
I'm not too fond of artificial sweetners, so I may have to do more research on acceptable kinds of dairy during this experiment.
Condiments and Dressings This is the "Sugar Free" age! There are plenty of alternatives to choose from! The only hiccup? Paying five dollars (or more!) for each bottle of sugar-free ketchup or sugar-free mustard! Again, I may resort to making ketchup and mustard myself if I think it's worth the effort.
Is Sugar in Everything? Checking my cupboards, it seems that my favorite instant oatmeal even has sugar already in it-12g to be exact! I cringe when I think of those unsuspecting people who add a little more sugar for added sweetness! In fact, just about everything in my cupboard contains sugar! The Culprit: Processed Foods Anything that is canned, jarred, bagged, boxed, or stuffed in plastic tubing is processed and contains an insane amount of sugar.
Nothing is sacred anymore! Even a cup of my child's breakfast cereal contains 17g of sugar! One cup! Pour some milk on that cereal and the poor child just ingested about 30g of sugar in one meal! That's assuming that the portion size is correct! Most people double-even triple-portion sizes without knowing it which means the amount of sugar consumption doubles or triples as well.
Preparing for the Experiment It may take a good week or two to completely remove every item that contains unnatural sugars and replace them with sugar-free alternatives.
Most of the time will be spent "window shopping" at my grocery store to get an idea of what is available along with the estimated costs.
Going completely sugar free will actually take much effort and planning seeing as how over 70 percent of popular American foods contain sugar.
But I believe the effort is worth the end result of being, looking, and feeling healthier.
Stay tuned for updates!
Every kind of junk food has some form of sugar in it: corn syrup, high fructose syrup, glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, etc.
When most people say they are going to cut sugar out of their diets, they overlook the hidden sugars; so their addiction to sugar remains.
I am going to strategically cut sugar-in every manufactured form-completely out of my daily diet for seven full days.
This experiment will either prove or disprove my belief that sugar is the root of all junk food addictions.
I will also document any physical, mental, and emotional changes that may happen as a result of completely cutting sugar out of my diet.
This will take much planning and research, as many staples in my daily diet contain sugar.
Milk So far, my search for a sugar-free milk has turned up zilch.
Even lactose-free milk still has sugar in it! I may take the advice of those who have an opposition to milk and completely phase it out of my diet during this experiment.
I will have to find foods with similar nutritional value with which to replace milk (protein, calcium, vitamins A and D).
Bread There are many to choose from.
Unfortunately, while the options are plenty, the prices are too expensive for my budget Dairy Most cheeses are usually free of sugar because the sugar has been fermented out of the cheese.
There are other forms of sugar-free dairy products available, but it almost certain that sugar-free dairy will contain some form of artificial sweetener.
Reading labels will be important.
I'm not too fond of artificial sweetners, so I may have to do more research on acceptable kinds of dairy during this experiment.
Condiments and Dressings This is the "Sugar Free" age! There are plenty of alternatives to choose from! The only hiccup? Paying five dollars (or more!) for each bottle of sugar-free ketchup or sugar-free mustard! Again, I may resort to making ketchup and mustard myself if I think it's worth the effort.
Is Sugar in Everything? Checking my cupboards, it seems that my favorite instant oatmeal even has sugar already in it-12g to be exact! I cringe when I think of those unsuspecting people who add a little more sugar for added sweetness! In fact, just about everything in my cupboard contains sugar! The Culprit: Processed Foods Anything that is canned, jarred, bagged, boxed, or stuffed in plastic tubing is processed and contains an insane amount of sugar.
Nothing is sacred anymore! Even a cup of my child's breakfast cereal contains 17g of sugar! One cup! Pour some milk on that cereal and the poor child just ingested about 30g of sugar in one meal! That's assuming that the portion size is correct! Most people double-even triple-portion sizes without knowing it which means the amount of sugar consumption doubles or triples as well.
Preparing for the Experiment It may take a good week or two to completely remove every item that contains unnatural sugars and replace them with sugar-free alternatives.
Most of the time will be spent "window shopping" at my grocery store to get an idea of what is available along with the estimated costs.
Going completely sugar free will actually take much effort and planning seeing as how over 70 percent of popular American foods contain sugar.
But I believe the effort is worth the end result of being, looking, and feeling healthier.
Stay tuned for updates!
