When I tell people that they can remove sugar from their lives, I get a blank stare. As in, what? Shut up! We've been so used to having sugar with almost everything we eat that we can't imagine what we are going to eat - if it doesn't have sugar!
The love of sugar is an addiction due to the dopamine released in the brain upon consumption. Remember the term Sugar Fix? But like any substance dependence, if you find a substitute, you can get away from it. The problem is, sugar is sometimes hidden between the lines. If you want to really get rid of it, you need to educate yourself. You need to know the many names of sugar and you need to read the labels.
Why do you need to go to all the trouble? What's the big deal?
Sugar has empty calories and added sugar is by far the most devious evil in the world. It's so delicious!... and it hides. You don't see "Plenty of Sugar" in boxes, do you? That's why we eat so much of it. We don't even know it's there.
Diabetes prompted me to remove table sugar totally from our kitchen. But it's so hard to remove it from our diet completely. We eat foods with "no sugar" labels, choose those with low carbohydrates (since that becomes sugar in the body too) and avoid foods that are sweet. However, not all foods with sugar are sweet. That cracker you love to eat, it has sugar. What we do to compensate is try to eat more foods with Fiber - such as those with "whole wheat" in the labels.
Syrup, molasses, any word that ends in -ose, anything that's named "cane", high fructose corn syrup (HFCS is the worst), sweetener, any word that begins with "gluco", caramel. fruit concentrates, isomalt, inulin, honey, maltodextrine, sorbitol... these are sugar's may disguises.
If you find any of these on the first line of the ingredients list of a food package, it means that what you're buying is a sugary food. You can read more about the many names of sugar on these sites:
The World Health Organization has submitted a draft proposal for public review recommending that our daily sugar intake should be reduced from 10% of our daily calorie intake to 5%. This is due to the increased cases of Obesity (which causes many other diseases), Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease. The sugar industry is naturally preparing to go to war with this recommendation.
5% of our daily calorie intake amounts to 6 teaspoons of sugar a day. 1 can of soda has 10 teaspoons. You've already exceeded your daily limit just by drinking a can of regular soda. What about the sugar in all the other food in your diet? We are eating way too much sugar and killing ourselves in the process. The FDA should ban it from the face of the earth totally. But, it's big business. You know how that goes.
So, it's up to us to take care of ourselves. It's not easy, removing sugar totally. But, just by not drinking sodas and powdered juices and avoiding sweet things altogether - you're already reducing your sugar intake by half and reducing your risk of acquiring metabolic diseases. Obesity is a big problem because it paves the way for bad news for our health. It's like a bridge allowing diabetes and heart problems to cross over!
Can you really remove sugar totally? We can sure try our best!
1) Read the labels and compare.
2) Choose Sugar Free and Low Carbohydrates
3) Drink Water and Tea instead of Sodas and Juice
4) If you must drink Juice or Shakes, make it yourself. Get a juicer or blender.
5) Use STEVIA to sweeten your food and drinks
6) Avoid artificial sweeteners, but if there's no other choice, it's still better than refined sugar
7) Remember that carbohydrates becomes sugar too
8) Remember the names mentioned above
9) Look for the healthier versions of your favorite food. They are out there!
10) You will crave for sweets. Find healthy sweet alternatives such as fruit.
Here are some examples of healthy options:
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| Healthy Alternatives |
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| Healthy DOES NOT MEAN Bland |
People die from diabetes even though it is totally manageable because diabetes is a self managed disease. It's progression depends on you and what you eat and the lifestyle you choose - and what a difficult decision that is. You cannot just rely on your medication. Eating healthy and regular exercise can make a whole lot of difference. It's hard to change a lifetime of acquired habits, but when you consciously do something often, it will be a habit too.
Our mind's may be willing, but how willing is what makes the big difference. It takes some discipline and knowledge, cause if you don't know what to do to remove sugar from your life - it's going to be very difficult just winging it. It also takes a little money. Healthy foods can be pricey as compared to what's readily available. That's the sad reality of it. But hey, it's not THAT pricey. Just go check it out.
Read a little and make the small changes to your diet. Throw out the white sugar in your kitchen and stop drinking regular sodas. You'll feel better and live longer.
What healthy changes have you made in your life lately?
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