Low Sugar Diet
About three years ago, after the birth of my second baby, my body was all out of whack. I was seeing a naturopath and my family physician every eight weeks, but none of their ideas were working. I finally narrowed down the culprit: refined sugar. For some crazy reason, sugar and my body were no longer playing nicely with each other. Something had to give, and significantly cutting back on refined sugar was the only thing that made a noticeable difference in my health.
On sugar, I feel sick, tired, uncomfortable, and all kinds of other things that are TMI for blog-land. Off sugar, I feel balanced. I feel good and strong and healthy. And loads of research backs this up.
- The average American consumes approximately 160 lbs. of sugar a year.
- The chemicals released by eating sugar travel the same brain pathways as heroin. It’s highly addictive.
- There is no nutritional value in sugar. It provides extra calories (average of 500/day), without the feeling of being full.
- Sugar can suppress the immune system.
- Sugar is a major contributor to cancer, obesity, heart disease, tooth decay, yeast infections, and a host of other problems.
So, you might be thinking, “What’s the big deal? Just cut out sugar!” Well, that’s like telling a chain smoker to go cold turkey or a sports nut to cancel cable. It wasn’t that simple.
It might be easy for those of you who crave dill pickles and potato chips. You can’t eat just one? Well, I can. I don’t crave salt. I crave sugar. All the time. While cleaning up breakfast dishes, I’d grab a handful of chocolate chips. And it would just continue through the day: a steady stream of empty sugar until I crashed at night. And that doesn’t even count all the places added sugar pops up in everyday ingredients, from yogurt to ketchup to crackers. Sheesh.
When I first seriously started cutting back on sugar consumption, I felt terrible. My head was pounding, and I was tired all the time. I kept telling my friends, “I think I have an undiagnosed medical condition.” Sugar detox is no joke. I bounced back and forth. Having a husband with a serious sweet tooth, who considers “Christmas Cookies” a romantic love song, wasn’t making it any easier. But I was on a mission, and if I was giving up my beloved Oreos and hot fudge sundaes, I was going to make my loved ones do it with me.
After 2-3 months, things were looking up. The less sugar we ate, the less we craved. We have been at it for five months now, and sugar is squarely in the “occasional treat” category, instead of something we mindlessly eat multiple times a day. I still bake desserts and keep sugar in the house, but we save it for the weekend or special events. If we’re craving something sweet, we reach for fruit or make a fresh juice instead. The kids are doing better, and I notice that they are not asking for sweet stuff constantly. My husband and I are like two octogenarians now, eating dried prunes while we watch our favorite murder-mystery on the television. But they don’t make me sick! So I’m cool with that.
I started out by cutting sugar by 50% in recipes that could handle it and skipping recipes that couldn’t. I also started using natural sweeteners as a sugar substitute whenever possible. I looked for easy ways to cut back: I stopped adding sugar when making pancakes and started using honey for baking bread or making salad dressing. I stopped giving the kids suckers every single time we went to the bank and started feeding the family homemade plain yogurt instead of sweetened. Little things. I also stopped baking treats during the week, which was actually a benefit to both our health and our grocery budget. As a side benefit, we are also going through way less butter and flour these days.
We still indulge when friends come over or we go on vacation or we are celebrating a special event. I can eat sugar in moderation without experiencing awful side effects, but if I go overboard I feel miserable almost immediately. Again, we are trying to train our bodies to see sugar as a rare treat, instead of a daily part of our diet. It’s a work in progress, but I feel like we are heading in the right direction.
I’d love to hear your tips and stories! Share in the comments section.
7 simple ways to reduce sugar in your diet
Different types of sugars and sweeteners: A basic guide
No-bake energy bites (gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free)
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The 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo (Amazon) was one of the very first books I checked out as I started the challenge of cutting our sugar cravings. It is a great guide, with three different levels and lots of modifications. Even if you don’t follow her plan, it provides a good starting place for cutting back on refined sugar. I personally liked it better than I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson (Amazon).
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I feel the same way about sugar….getting into my 40’s My body has just become more and more intolerant to what I now call the toxin of refined sugar. Took me a while to figure it out….I went on Ideal Protein diet and once the sugar withdrawal DIDNT kill me, haha, I suddenly felt alive again and not poisoned…it was really making me sick is why I call it poison. Lost 90 pounds on Ideal Protein and now on maintenance, I have Noooo desire to add sugar back in. I have literally hundreds of recipes that I existed on for 1.5 years and did NOT miss sugar once I got it out of my system…..the cravings do go away after a while. Not to mention cancers and other diseases that THRIVE on sugar…don’t get me started!
When I was 20, like you, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me. I logged my diet trying to link my headaches and “blah” to something. The culprit? Sugar! I haven’t eaten added sugar in 20 years and I feel GREAT.
Americans now consume 500% more sugar daily than we did 100 years ago. WOW!
I too have been cutting back (& do find it a bit of a challenge at times-as I like cookies !)-and notice that you do get used to lower sugar amounts & then really notice what I used to find fine is way too sweet now! Not too long ago there was the yogurt blog & a lively discussion-I can attest that as I have started eating it daily (it helps me too, in many ways) I have gotten used to plain now (also just read the labels-the amount of carbohydrates is astonishing) & add ground flax seed & fruit & find it plenty sweet. Thanks for the encouragement-for me to continue to cut back 🙂
I have gone Paleo and cannot tell you how much my health has improved. I was seeing my doc every other month and last visit she said “keep doing what you are doing and I will see you in FOUR months” she didn’t up any of my meds and cut a few back! losing the grains, refined sugar, beans and cutting out most dairy has enabled me to walk more than a mile daily, feel better, sleep better and drop 2 sizes in for months!
I found out a few months ago I am highly intolerant to sugar cane. I would love it if you shared recipes using things like coconut sugar, beet sugar, date paste, etc. I’m also highly intolerant to eggs, so it’s hard to bake. And if you figure out a good chocolate not made with sugar cane, let me know!
I’m going to make a batch of seedless blackberry jam tonight with my pomona’s pectin! Going to try coconut sugar instead of all fruit (white grape juice concentrate) or honey. I did that with strawberry and they were ok, not great, so I thought I’d do coconut sugar….
I use maple syrup and coconut sugar almost exclusively. These are some of my favorite recipes
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/gluten-free-peanut-butter-cups-recipe/
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/healthy-snack-almond-cookie-bites/
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/pumpkin-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-no-refined-sugar/
You can make your own chocolate with cocoa powder, coconut oil and maple syrup. I’ve seen a recipe but can’t find it right now. When I do I’ll post it.
Thanks! BTW, don’t use coconut sugar for jam. it was so gross. I made a second batch with agave. we’ll see how it tastes tomorrow.
You might try stevia instead of coconut sugar.
Sarah B, take a look at the blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie for dessert recipes without sugar, dairy & eggs.
I second that. Love it!
Thanks!
Interesting timing for your article! I just declared starting this week that sweet treats (as we call them) were only on Sundays or birthdays. I am sick and tired of fighting over lollipops – they are everywhere – bank, hardware store, soccer practice, liquor store, even my kid’s doctors office. Good for you!
Have you tried using less sugar in zucchini bread? I am afraid to try. Maybe add a banana for sweetness?
Somewhat related…I am a Type 2 diabetic and my daughter is a Type 1 diabetic. Cutting sweets out, especially sugar, is a great way to control blood sugar and promote better overall mental and physical health. My daughter loves jam which typically is LOADED (like 50-60%) with sugar. I recently found a brand of low sugar pectin called Pomona’s Pectin which works great for jam. I don’t work for them or get paid by them BUT I am impressed by them. The nice thing about the instructions that comes with the pectin is that you can choose sugar (but in a much lower quantity) or other sweetner such as honey or stevia. Also, there is no problem with jelling when doubling recipes as there is with name brand low sugar pectin. So far I have made 3 batches…blueberry-rhubarb, cherry-rhubarb and peach. All were made with stevia. Even my full fledged sugar addicted friends rave about how good it is because while sweet, it showcases the flavor of the fruit. Good luck on your quest to reduce the sugar in your household.
Last month, I went and watched FED Up, a movie produced by Katie Couric. It was all about sugar, how bad it is for our bodies, how it is hiding in everything (even things you don’t think have it) and the politics around it. The department in charge of making healthy eating guidelines is also in charge of farming subsidies…. It was VERY interesting. I have continued to lower sugar in my house and when we have it, I try to combine it with foods with more fiber. I would recommend this movie to anyone to watch, but especially those feeding kids 🙂
Yes-I agree-read the labels-it can be quite surprising & I find it motivating to avoid foods I used to find just fine!