Whether you have a sweet tooth or don’t, or live with family members who do, or don’t -we ALL probably ingest more sugar than we think we do. Sugar has been proven to have a negative effect on our bodies and our moods. Cancer cells love sugar for one thing, and that is a pretty good visual for me, being a cancer survivor! Joint pain, inflammation, obesity…the list goes on and on of the conditions that are directly or indirectly impacted by our sugar intake. National guidelines suggest less than 50 grams as a limit of added sugar per day, with 25 being more ideal and representative of a healthy diet.
Even in seemingly healthy choices, sugar can hide in sauces and toppings or condiments!
I am challenging all my Bffs out there to at least take a moment to be conscious of the added sugar in their diets. If you want to take it a step further, let’s challenge and encourage one another to omit as much added sugar as we can. Not overnight, but over the next few weeks. My mantra is always to start small….slow and steady wins the race. Pick one area, one meal, one habit, such as, chocolate after dinner every night and make a change, like, chocolate after dinner some nights, like Wed/Sat/Sun or 3 times/wk. Or you can actually calculate your sugar intake and strive to take in a gram less every day. Don’t worry about how to figure it out if you are eating something without a label, then it doesn’t count-we are talking about ADDED sugar not natural sugar.
So let’s do this together and see how much better we feel by the end of the month!
Start by reading the following article (link at the end of this post)-and, for fun, take the quiz within the article to test your sugar skills! Then each day we will check in with each other to see how we are doing. Each day we dip under 50 g, we get a point, under 25 g and we get 2 points for that day!!
A couple of thoughts to keep in mind, from an MD and someone who tried this challenge:
~’50 isn’t nothing, you can enjoy a lot of sweetness in 50 g/day!!’
~’There were certainly times when I didn’t enjoy the experience. I missed ice cream, chocolate squares, Chinese restaurants and cocktails. But I also knew that I’d get to enjoy them all again’.
There are often uncomfortable feelings when you make a significant change to your habits, especially our diets, but I predict that your ‘new normal’ added sugar intake level will feel healthier and no less enjoyable than the old once it’s all said and done. The best part-YOU are in control and your sugar intake is not out of control!
Let’s do this!
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/a-month-without-sugar.html?_r=1
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