For the past week, I have avoided consuming any products with added sugar, though based on how much food has some form of added sugar in some form, I doubt I was 100% successful. This has definitely been a challenge, but an interesting one at that.
Sugar’s Many Names
It can be easy to spot “sugar” in an ingredients list, but I wanted to go all in and avoid any forms of sugar that are added. I started looking for all kinds of added syrups, i.e. corn syrup, rice syrup, etc, and molasses to name a few. I was shocked to see just how many items have added some sort of sweetener added.
After the initial shock wore off, it did make sense though. I mean, sugar does taste really good, and adding even just a little bit to anything is a simple way to increase it’s flavor.
Eating Whole Foods
No, not the store, but in order to avoid sugar, nearly all processed foods are off the table, literally. One of the only ways to make sure I don’t have any is to make sure I know everything that goes in a meal. The easiest way to do that is to simply make everything from the raw ingredients.
I’ve long enjoyed cooking, but this has really forced me to step my game up. A lot of sauces and condiments have added sugar, so I need to make sure the food itself is flavorful enough to not require them.
Even with some well cooked meals, I wish I can say this was easy. Normally cutting out a particular habit has been the easiest trial for me to do, but this one has been rough. I found myself in a candy aisle looking at dozens of candies to find something sweet without sugar. You can probably imagine the futility in that effort. In the end, having a strict policy has made compliance easier to follow. A solid no means there is no room for exceptions or thinking about if something passes or not.
Is It Any Healthier?
In order to add some objective matters to this trial, I have been weighing myself and taking measurements daily to see if I can see any positive effects. After a week in, I haven’t seen much improvements yet, so the jury is still out.
This past weekend has a role to play in that. I was quite the glutton with a friend visiting town and a Superbowl party to indulge at, even without sugar. This definitely bumped the scale up a bit, but now that this week is moving along, things are stabilizing out.
We’ll see how this week shakes out as I press on in my campaign against added sugar.
Trying Out Before Buying In 