A week ago I said goodbye to refined sugar. For a month anyways. It was a goal that bloomed out of a random conversation about nutrition that I was having with my girlfriend. I had heard about the joys of taking refined sugar out of the diet- superman energy, good skin, weight loss. But I also knew that such a diet wouldn’t be easy because SUGAR IS IN EVERYTHING!! I’m not talking about the healthy, nutrient-filled sugars that come in natural foods like oranges and apples. I’m talking about the stripped-of-anything-good-it-might-have-once-possessed kind of sugar. We call this refined sugar.
Refined sounds sweet, but it’s not. This kind of sugar is a simple sugar that basically has to steal nutrients from your body in order for it to be processed. Ever wonder why you might get a little buzz after eating something sweet but then fall into a sugar coma?
Refined sugars hide under many names: high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose and corn syrup are merely a few of the biggies but there are hundreds more. And I’m not joking, THEY’RE IN EVERYTHING: soda, ketchup, chips, pasta, mustard, hot sauces, soy milk, salad dressings, bacon, flavored coffees, alcohol, juices…
The list goes on.
I knew the “diet” wasn’t going to be easy but I also knew it would really force me to examine what I’m putting into my body. As of late I’ve become somewhat of a ninja in the kitchen, concocting things like homemade sriracha and thai peanut sauce. No refined sugars, of course 🙂
More on those delicious recipes later, but for now, if you really want to know about the evils of sugar read Sugar Blues or watch the documentary Big Sugar.
Not only is a non-refined-sugar diet good for my body, but it’s also a fun, politically loaded decision that lets me give the finger to big sugar companies that are invested in keeping my glycemic index up and my health down. For a month, anways.
One week down.
Catch me if you can…
MoJo Consultant 