With all the reading I’ve been doing lately about sugars — natural included — a nagging feeling settled over me that no matter what “natural” sugar I choose to eat myself and/or feed my family, we’re eating too much. I read at Food Renegade that before the turn of the century (before sugar was readily available) people consumed 5 pounds of sugar a year. In my natural kitchen, I am sure we more than exceed that!
About six years ago, we drastically changed our diet – out went anything processed at all and out went all sugar (of any kind, fruit being the exception). But after awhile, we began to consume more natural sugars. Over time, more and more of these have crept back in to our diet (as if they did it all by themselves, ha!). So here we are, not feeling as good as we think we should, and we’re packing around some extra weight, too. I know that I’m deficient in certain minerals.
So it is time for a change for us. And I’d like to invite you to join us. Several friends of mine on the internet are doing similar things in their diet – and I love it! I’m grateful for the inspiration and ideas that are floating around.
What’s Wrong With Sugar?
What’s wrong with sugar? Of the 146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Heatlh from Nancy Appleton, I will share the ones that alarm me most.
- Suppresses immune system
- Upsets mineral relationships in the body
- Produces an acidic digestive tract
- Causes tooth decay
- Contributes to obesity
- Causes food allergies
- Lowers the enzymes’ ability to function
- Causes headaches, including migraine
- Causes depression, fatigue, moodiness, and nervousness
- Can cause hormonal imbalances
- Is an addictive substance
- Can exacerbate PMS
- Decrease in sugar can cause emotional instablility (that’s me right now)
- Can increase the amount of food a person eats
- Induces salt and water retention
- Causes constipation – enemy #1 of the bowel movement
The Beyond Sugar Challenge
For the next 30 days, my family is completely eliminating all natural sweeteners (honey, agave, evaporated cane juice, maple syrup, etc.). We already don’t eat refined sweeteners.
As for sugar-like foods, I guess we’ll take it as it comes. I’m thinking of dried fruit here. I plan on making some date- and apple-sweetened snacks, and also continuing to add raisins to our breakfast porridge.
Fresh fruits are allowed, but not excessively.
Obstacles I see:
- Tea – we love honey-sweet tea! I will explore stevia as an option here.
- Snack foods – we are used to having sweetened muffins, cookies, etc. I foresee making more crackers and biscuits and having more nuts, veggies and whole fruit available for snacks.
Goals
- Weight loss
- Energy boost
- Overall health improvement
- Improvement in seasonal allergies
- Bumps on arms go away
- Depression/mood swings improvement
- No headaches
- Improved PMS symptoms
- Break addiction to sweets (I think I am the only one who is truly addicted)
- Appreciate the true flavors of foods
- Learn to be sastisfied — no, more than satisfied — with the rest of God’s foods
See I’m laying it all out here. I love my sweet tea. And I love a dark chocolate snack each afternoon. Yesterday, without those, I was downright cranky and also depressed and hungry.
The Invitation
- Will you join in? At whatever level you prefer-
- Will you share recipes, ideas, inspiration for snacks that are not sweet?
- Will you share your goals?
- Will you share your stumbling blocks?
To Join In
- If you have a blog, write a post containing the “Beyond Sugar” button (see code below). Answer any of the above questions, or anything else that you want to share. You don’t have to go cold-turkey like we are. You can decide to cut back or to work on adapting recipes to rely on less sweeteners or better sweeteners. Then come back here and leave a comment with a link to your post – so everyone can benefit!
- If you don’t have a blog, please share your thoughts in the comments. We want to hear from you, too!
- If you’re on twitter, spread the word by sharing this link (and be sure to follow me — @WardehHarmon):
http://bit.ly/1kRXqorhttp://gnowfglins.com/2009/05/04/beyond-sugar/— use the tag #beyondsugar
- If you’re on FaceBook, spread the word by sharing this link (and be sure to befriend me — Wardeh Bisharat Harmon):
http://gnowfglins.com/2009/05/04/beyond-sugar/
During the next 30 days, I will focus my writings on research, recipes, hints and tips concerning eating sugar-free. Just so you know, we’re not going to be using artificial sweeteners, either.
The Code
Insert this code into your sidebar and/or post (use the HTML editor in Wordpress). This is full size (200 pixels by 200 pixels).
<a href="http://gnowfglins.com/2009/05/04/beyond-sugar/"><img src="http://gnowfglins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/beyond-sugar.jpg" alt="beyond-sugar" /></a>
Here’s the code for a smaller version (150 pixels by 150 pixels).
<a href="http://gnowfglins.com/2009/05/04/beyond-sugar/"><img src="http://gnowfglins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/beyond-sugar.jpg" alt="beyond-sugar" width="150" height="150" /></a>
And I forgot to add that we’ll still be having Kombucha, but very sour…
Are you having stevia? (I know, I know, I keep asking about stevia!)
Taking on a challenge, I love it! I don’t think that I am ready to give up raw honey just yet. Although I do see some extra weight that I have gained this winter. Bleck! I attribute it more to lack of sufficient exercise. I really hurt my ankle back in November and haven’t gotten back into a good routine since then.
I can’t wait to hear of your progress, and the insights that you will learn along the way. Maybe that will inspire me!
Good luck to you and your family!
gilliebean – We are having some, yes.
I want to order some of the green leaf stevia that isn’t refined.
I read about that at Food Renegade, too. Ever since, I’ve been mulling things over. I’ve been a sugar addict for years. Last fall I took a big step and cut out all refined sugars…we’ve cut back a lot on what our family consumes, also. But I know that although I’ve been substituting with natural sweeteners, I eat too much of that stuff, too.
I’ll blog about what steps I’ve decided to take in the next few days. And I definitely want that button! Thanks, Wardeh.
And…lack of sugar makes me crazy…which means I have an issue!!! actually we have seriously cut down as we have been on antifungals and it is silly to be on antifungals and eat a lot of sugar. You are right..sugar, agave, etc… all not as good…. as not eating it at all. (Said whilst sipping on coffee w/ agave and vanilla rice milk in it!)
amy
[...] family has vowed not to consume any sweeteners, natural or refined. We call the challenge “Beyond Sugar” and would love to have you join us, in whatever way you feel [...]
We have cut sugar way down – can you believe an average American consumes 2 to 3 lbs of sugar A WEEK??? Unreal.
he complains “it’s too sweet”. He will actually reject candy and such for that reason!!
My son and I use Rapadura in tea and such (occasionally honey) – my hubby uses Sucanat. I also bake with Rapadura, agave, maple syrup and sometimes honey.
It’s amazing how much less sugar I buy… we now only use about 1 tsp per cup of tea or coffee. My son gets only home-baked sweets so whenever something else sneaks into the house
I think your challenge is great – a bit much for us at this time but I’ll definitely be watching our sugar intake since all of us have some sort of bug currently.
Wow Wardeh!! I am stunned. Here I was patting myself on the back for taking all refined sugar out of the house a couple of months ago. (Now I am applauding you.) I recently just started this adventure towards slower, healthier eating. (I’m overwhelmed with so much to learn and apply – but loving every minute.) I don’t think I’m ready to give up my raw honey and maple syrup yet though. I do however look forward to following your journey over the next 30 days. I hope it goes well and you and your beautiful family will be an inspiration to all of us not quite ready to jump on THAT band wagon. When you figure out how I can have my espresso with raw milk and maple syrup every morning and it still taste delicious – I’m in.
Lynita – you should be patting yourself on the back! You’re doing fantastic! The reason we wanted to do this (cutting out all sweets) was to break our habit and broaden our palates and reduce the overall load. It doesn’t mean we’ll never have them again or that I think raw honey and maple syrup are bad – they’re actually wonderful, we are just having too much. I’ll try to figure out that espresso for you.
In the meantime, stick with it – you’re doing great! I look ahead and feel overwhelmed at how far I’ve got to go. But we do one day at a time and we always must be open to learning. It can be fun. 
Love, Wardeh
I finally blogged about it!
http://sweetsmallstuff.blogspot.com/2009/05/beyond-sugar-challenge.html
Yay, Mindy! I am excited to see what your family gets out of this. Go, go, go!
I just made a banana bread with fruit only. It came from Debra Lynn Dadd. Here is the e-mail.
Thank you for sharing the recipe – it looks fantastic! I not sure when I will add fruit-sweetened snacks to our menu, if I’ll wait until this month is over or sooner. But I am glad to have this recipe to add the selection and I think it will help others, too. I love that it is for spelt flour and coconut oil.
Thanks, again. How did your family enjoy it?
Love, Wardeh
Wow … way to go! We’ve given up HFCS, but do use honey and maple syrup daily. I would have a hard time giving those sweets up! I’m reading your challenge with great interest!
I am definitely joining this challenge! I was just told by my naturopathic doctor yesterday that because of my eating habits (lots of sugar and grains) I have an out of control fungal infection in my intestines. It is also contributing to bacteria in my thymus, which controls all immune functions in your body. Needless to say, I have not been very healthy lately.
So now I am having to immediately put the brakes on and only have sprouted grains and no sugar! I feel like I might die.
I will be reading with RAPT attention.
Kimbrah – Awesome! I’m glad to have you join the “fun”! Ha, ha. This is NO fun. My family’s doing great. Me, not so much. I want some sweet so badly! Every afternoon is the roughest time for me. I feel unwell and I can barely stop myself from grabbing some chocolate.
I hope you’ll come back and let me know how it is going for you – it helps me to know what others are doing to cut back on sugar. I also hope you can clear up your infection and help you feel better. With me, I *think* I have begun to lose some weight. It is hard to say for sure, with daily fluctuations, but I think the scale numbers are headed down instead of up.
Love, Wardeh
Wow Wardeh! You are hard core! Go Fam Go!
A nutritionist once told me that cravings for chocolate is a symptom of magnesium deficiency. I admit that when I am getting plenty of mag my need for daily chocolate disappears, there is a distinction between like and need! So maybe that helps
Other symptoms are difuculty relaxing, or sleeping, tense muscles, etc.
Blessings!
[...] have neglected to write at the conclusion to the Beyond Sugar Challenge, where we gave up all concentrated sweeteners (refined and natural) for the month of May. So here [...]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
wardeh- this long video is really informative about different sugars and what they do to our bodies…