The beginning

I was having morning tea with friends, and I'd brought some home-made biscuits to share. Kelly declined the treat as she had decided to eliminate sugar from her diet after reading Sweet Poison.

Ditching Sugar
I was interested in Kelly's choice.  She wasn't the first friend to tell me they had given up sugar - or more specifically - fructose. So Kelly lent me two Sweet Poison books - thank you Kelly!

And if you look up "sugar free recipes" and other such search terms, you'll find out LOTS of people are eliminating sugar from their diet, deeming it addictive and responsible for many of the health issues that plague us (obesity for starters).

Sweet Poison
One of the Sweet Poison books talks about the "reasons" why we should give it up, the other summarises that and gives you a plan to "quit that sugar addiction".

Why quit sugar - or more specifically fructose - according to Sweet Poison? Sugar makes us fat.

1. It is addictive and if you try to quit expect symptoms of chemical withdrawal
2. 10gms of fructose is the most our body can process naturally. This is equivalent to two pieces of whole fruit a day (the fibre helps the body digest the fructose).
3. Too much of it (fructose) in our diet stops the body's "I feel full" mechanism from working properly, and thus we overeat. 
4. It is only since the end of WWII that we have started consuming huge amounts of sugar every day. Convenience foods like breakfast cereals were popularised from that time, while prepared or partially prepared meals are becoming more and more sophisticated each year - adding sugar to make edible the "low-fat" products meant to help us be healthy

My take on sugar
Since I was already pretty sure that my consumption of sugar (through chocolate, cakes, biscuits, custards and ice-creams) was extremely bad for me, I only read one of the books - the summary and the quit plan.  My husband read the "why" book and is really grumpy because he doesn't want to give up his favourite treats.

The Quit Plan
The Sweet Poison quit plan has five steps. Here they are.

1. The right attitude (you are not denying yourself sugar - you are freeing yourself from addiction)
2. Identify the habits you have around consuming sugar
1. For me, one of my habits is I love a sweet treat with my strong coffee.
2. Another is I love baking cakes and cookies.
3. Establish a strategy to ensure you aren't tempted to consume sugar 
1. When I have coffee, I have a handful of nuts or some vege sticks to eat
2. I have looked up recipes online for sugar free alternatives to the sweets I make - and there are HEAPS!!!
4. Clean out the fridge and pantry so that when you cook you know all the ingredients are sugar free. For example, most brands of Oyster Sauce are over 20% sugar.  I was appalled to see that the first three ingredients of my vegan stock powder were - salt, refined cane sugar and corn dextrose (another fructose-full sugar!). Beware, even some soy sauces have added sugar!!!
5. I can't remember number five!
   

Is it a fad?
While some will see this as the next fad - don't eat eggs, don't eat carbohydrates, drink only juice - I am convinced that a period without sugar will not harm me in the slightest.

Withdrawal symptoms
So, I quit sugar on Tuesday 18 January, 2011.  And yes, I had withdrawal symptoms. I had a headache that night and for most of Wednesday. I woke up on Wednesday morning feeling like I had a headcold.

After that day though, I felt fine. And yes, I ate less, although my habit of grazing through the day meant that I grazed a lot on nuts - cutting up vege sticks (carrot and celery) helped me through.

Will I eliminate sugar forever?
Maybe. I have too many other challenges in my life - trying to go from obese to healthy - that I have to defer that decision to another time.