Sugar, Sugar, Sugar

As the Mayor of New York makes a call to reign in consumption of soft drink and Alec Baldwin becomes a health advocate (who knew? …check out the link here) it is pretty clear that cutting sugar is going to be the next huge trend and cause heated debate all over the globe.

I’m curious now. I was convinced the white stuff was bad but there are alternatives to sugar…and fruit is good for you. Did I really want to read a book that was going to go against my beliefs?

I caved in, I bought the I Quit Sugar book to read.

I’d been following Sarah Wilson’s blogs…her facebook posts and had downloaded the sample of her e-book.

I get obsessed with people, usually because they are interesting and cool (as well as into health).

I like Sarah Wilson’s style, her attitude to simplifying life and the notion of not having many possessions (how much less would you have to tidy and put away everyday!). Motivation for a serious clear out.

Her philosophies in life align with mine – Life is about experiences, relationships and being present in your daily life.

So Saturday I downloaded the whole book, I Quit Sugar, on Ibooks.

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The book was actually more informative and persuasive than I thought it would be. I was actually buying it for nuggets of information about her and the journey she is on but ended up surprised at the wisdom within it. I didn’t want to quit sugar. I barely have any of the stuff or so I thought.

It was disappointedly short. I am a really fast reader and read it in just over an hour. I’m sure this is a positive for a lot of people who just want to get started on the program and get their information as quickly as possible.

What’s the problem with sugar then?

According to Sarah, our bodies aren’t set up to notice fructose in our system so we can eat and not feel full (large soft drink anyone?). It is also converted directly to fat.

I think every mother needs to be aware of the dangers of sugar and this book is an excellent reference source.

I consider myself really healthy. I might wake up and have a piece of toast with butter (wholemeal) and a thin layer of honey, a coffee, then later on make a juice (thermomix allows you to juice the whole fruit so the fibre is still there), I might have a salad with protein (Chicken, fish, meat) and a bit of mayonnaise or sushi (brown rice) for lunch then a roast chicken and vegetables for dinner. A couple of pieces of dark chocolate (organic, 85% cocoa) after dinner at some point.

It is recommended that a women has 6 teaspoons of sugar a day, a man 9.5. If I juiced an apple, an orange and some spinach, according to sugar stacks.com I’ve just consumed 12 teaspoons! I haven’t even counted the honey, sushi (shop bought rice vinegar has a ton of sugar as can mayo) or dark chocolate yet…imagine if I drank a juice made from a juicer that uses say 4 apples and 3 oranges to extract a glass of juice. It’s crazy.

I’m not (and neither was Sarah) saying that fruit is bad, it’s just that if this is how much sugar is in our healthy stuff – imagine what’s in the junk. People just don’t know what they are eating. This leads to a lot of bewildered dieters. There is sugar added to nearly everything these days, including savoury products.

Check out sugarstacks.com to see how much sugar stuff you eat has in it!

This is also a really interesting article that a sceptical turned horrified journo wrote about sugar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/9160114/The-bitter-truth-about-sugar.html

(Sweet) Food for thought.