Saturday, April 12, 2014

Do Something Great For Yourself And Your Family: The Day of No Sugar Challenge … by gimleteye

There is a new book out about one family's commitment to go sugar-free, for an entire year. It's not easy, I know, to make the change but never mind wonder-drugs: just take sugar out of your diet and you will feel much, much better.

I've been mostly sugar-free out of a commitment to fixing our Everglades. Call it: the political is personal. Sugar poisons people, poisons the Everglades, and poisons Democracy. That's the short form (read other EOM posts on Big Sugar, for the longer form!)

If you haven't already, check out Dr. Robert Lustig's "Sugar: The Bitter Truth". More than 4.5 million people have viewed the lecture that describes the impacts to health from sugar.



Sugar is addictive. But once one makes the commitment to weed out sugar from your diet, the positive effects are immediately evident. The first thing I noticed is that cutting out sugar really lessens the inflammatory response across a range of health issues. That goes for aching knees from years of too much impact.

Once you start eliminating sugar, the way you view your grocery store changes entirely. One could make the argument that the failure of the big chain grocers to understand the consequences of sugar addiction helped open the door to billion dollar competitors who succeeded by marketing healthier foods. The big grocers and industrial food suppliers have all succumbed to the addictions of sugar, too.

In terms of our daily diets, we often use sugar to lift us from low points in the day when we feel sluggish and tired. The point, of course, is that the sugar high/low cycle feeds an addiction.

"Take the day of no sugar Challenge" and you will see what that means. You may be tempted along the way to reach for a soda or candy, but recognize your power to change. Keep a piece of fresh fruit nearby to help you; really, it doesn't take much to get you through a sugar low.


And if you are really bold, cut out sugary carbohydrates. You will feel better, I promise. And reducing sugar's influence on the Everglades might make you feel better too (even if you are a lobbyist for Big Sugar).

PS. If you want to learn more, check out The Institute for Responsible Nutrition. This is a brand new effort to fix what's wrong with public health at the building block level. Who says Eye On Miami can't deliver positive news!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sugar is truly addictive. More people probably die from sugar and the ills it causes than any other drug.

Anonymous said...

cool factoid, there are no sweet poisons in nature

Cro-Magnon plausible mnemonic: If it tastes sweet, it's ok to eat.

So humans have an evolved love of sugar.

Anonymous said...

cool factoid, there are no sweet poisons in nature

Cro-Magnon plausible mnemonic: If it tastes sweet, it's ok to eat.

So humans have an evolved love of sugar.

Anonymous said...

wow that's a touchy send button..sorry for the double post.
siri

Anonymous said...

I have been considering trying to cut out sugar, and you just talked me into it. No sugar, at least for today, I promise. If it goes well, I'll try for a week.

Anonymous said...

I'll second Gimleteye's assertion that sugar is poison and that you'll feel better once you quit. I had a fairly sharp pain in the lower right quandrant of my abdomen for the last 5 years. My appendix was removed years ago, so that wasn't it. My family doctor said nothing was wrong and so did the doctor who did the colonoscopy. But the pain and discomfort persisted - until I quit drinking sodas and eating candy. The pain hasn't gone away completely yet (it's been almost a year since I quit), but it is orders of magnitude less. Sugar is poison. It will kill you.

Anonymous said...

Big News. A state legislator up north just returned a campaign check from Big Sugar.

Help declare the Florida legislature a 'sugar-free zone'! Contact your state representative and senator today!