Say No for One Week and Feel Great
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, per capita consumption of added sugars has risen by 28% since 1983. The average American consumes at least 64 pounds of sugar per year, and the average teenage boy at least 109 pounds.
Consuming the typical amount of white sugar makes most people moody or hyper or cranky or nasty or just plain sick.
Scientific studies funded by the sugar industry "prove" that white sugar won't hurt us one lick and is supposedly good for us.
Baloney.
Be your own scientific study and try this simple experiment...
Remove all white sugar from your diet for seven days and amaze yourself at how much better you'll feel at the end of that period. Be sure to check with your doctor before trying this if you are diabetic or have any kind of health problems related to sugar intake.More disturbing sugar facts from the CSPI:
- The typical American gets 16% of his or her calories from added sugars.
- Children aged 6 to 11 get 18% of their calories from added sugars.
- Teenagers (12 to 19) get 20% of their calories from added sugars.
- USDA projects that if consumption trends continue, added-sugars intake will increase almost 20% between 1996 and 2005.
- People who consume diets high in added sugars consume lower levels of fiber; vitamins A, C, E, and folate; magnesium; calcium; and other nutrients. By displacing protective nutrients and foods in the diet, added sugars may increase the risk of osteoporosis, cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and other health problems.
- Calorie-dense foods, which are typically high in sugar and/or fat, contribute to obesity. Between 1976-80 and 1988-94, overweight rates in teenage boys rose from 5% to 12%, in teenage girls from 7% to 11%, and in adults from 25% to 35%. If you think the obesity trend hasn't continued, stop and look at the people around you when you're outside today.
Remove all refined sugar (read the labels on everything you eat and purchase) out of your diet for one week and see how much better you feel and act without the stuff in your body.Interestingly enough, some doctors were onto the dangers of refined sugar almost a hundred years ago. Click here to read what these old boys said many, many years ago about sugar addiction.
If you try the No Sugar for a Week challenge, come back when you finish and post your results below by clicking on the comment link.
Chet Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com
Be more specific and tell people what the alternatives are. like stevia.
ReplyDeleteAnd point out articles that are containing sugar. like some black chocolate have sugar as the first ingredient (usually low quality and cheap) whereas choosing a slightly more expensive black chocolat for the Easter bunnies will provide cocoa as the firs ingredient.
I'm going to try the 7-day no sugar challenge and I'll let you know what happens. It'll be tough - I think I'm addicted to the stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the informative article.
My husband is a sugar junkie! He brings the donuts, cakes, cookies and ice cream home, not me.
ReplyDeleteMade a sweet potato casserole (a healthier sweet) which was perfect for me but my husband didn't care for it much.
Any ideas for me to try out?
Texmex, I don't think Chet was particularly advocating alternatives to sugar...there are enough "natural" sugars present in healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables for us to be going on with. I am going to try this challenge myself and see how my family and I get on.
ReplyDeleteI have found that my cravings for sugar and other refined sweets go down when I eat lots of avocados, eggs, and other foods with healthy fats in them.
ReplyDeleteI feel much better when I don't have any sugar in my diet.
Thank you for the good post.
- Miguel
Research in Australia has shown sugar to be effective as a weed control agent. So use what is left in your cupboard in the garden.
ReplyDeleteHi Chet,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this info...Very useful.
Regards,
CMc
I was brought up to sprinkle sugar on cereal in the morning, and keep going all day long. Some years ago I rcvd one of my favorites, maple surop, did not like pancakes, and so tried it on cereal instead of sugar, and now only use 1 spoonfull on cereal. Just drop the amount you use daily, till you get your total volume of sugar intake down.
ReplyDeleteYou do feel much more wonderfull, you don't get the halfway through the morning sag of energy, you feel fine right through the whole day. It's wonderful . I do break the code and do occasionaly have a sugar fix, and within a short time - 2-4 hrs feel that same dragging as my body now craves more sugar, and I come off my sugar "high".
Look at the ingriedients - it pays to check
Thanks for the info... this is just a little part of your 21 days...which I did a couple of months ago...and then went right back to my old habits... so I am starting again on Monday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all you do!
Mike
Hi Chet,
ReplyDeleteIt's a circus alright. I have been a sugar addict for as long as I remember. I got off all sugar in 1996, when my daughter was two and I definitely felt great. Of course, that one teensy-weensy scoop of ice cream did me in two years later and I gradually fell back into sugar addiction. I find mornings are easy to stay away from that stuff. Evenings are the hardest. However, now I am day four off the stuff. One thing that helped me in the past and is helping me now is tomato juice and V8 juice. It's tough, but the consequences are tougher. Health reasons aside, I don't want to be a enslaved to anything. So, forge ahead, on to a new day and a "unsugarless" high.
I'm doing the 21 day detox diet program, and it has been incredible easy to stay away from sugar. You see I'm an real addict, I eat well on my meals but it is the things I eat between meal, all sugar...ie. donuts, chocolate, cookies, ice cream that "allowed" me to put on 60 pounds, now overweight, with high cholesterol at only 31 years young, the only way I can save myself is to quit sugar.
ReplyDeleteNow I eat a lot of fruits and a bit of raw honey and my sugar cravings are curved, and now I know I will not go back to hurt myself eating things that taste good but I know they would eventually end up in a heart attack.
But now it has been only 12 days I've been away from sugar and I feel so much better, I do not have the energy sinks (even nodding off in front of my computer) I had before, it has also a lot to do with the fact I'm eating really good, but I am convinced it is because of the lack of white flour and SUGAR.
Try it you'll feel so much better.
I've also heard and experienced great results when stopping flour, potatoes, white rice (white, starchy things) I'm going to do the sugar challenge and also leave out the other white, starchy things and also sugar alternatives too. Pray for my success in this challenge.
ReplyDeleteBoy- are you right! Sugar is one of the most addicting substances there is, and people don't even realize it! I am addicted to it, and I have various reactions to the substance, rangeing from high blood pressure to skin problems (sores that won't heal..)I have abstained from sugar in the past and feel much better after a few days. Clear headed and more energy! Thanks for the much needed post.
ReplyDeleteHi Chet...love your website! Here's a thought: I remember back when sugar was touted as bad for you (70's?). I asked my grandmother what did she do when she homesteaded in Wyoming about white sugar and flour. She said they bought it in 50lb bags!! She lived to be 96 with hardly a sick day in her life. My point is, I know that sugar is bad for you but when so much propaganda starts about a certain food being bad for you, if you wait, somewhere down the line that food isn't so bad any more. Ideas change and then people stop listening after awhile. It hard even today to say to someone that that food is unhealthy for them. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI recently simply reduced my sugar intake in my coffee alone (ran out and it was between paydays,so I did without)using honey occassionally to sweeten my coffee but nothing else. I did notice a change in how much better I felt during that week or so. I hadn't really thought about it much until reading this article. I think I will go full force with it now and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the whole deal with sugar -- like so many things in the natural health circus -- has two sides. If a person like the 96 year old grandmother who was mentioned uses sugar rationally and in moderation in preparing meals that were most likely mainly composed of whole, unprocessed foods, then sugar's not a big deal.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, one of the great Natural Hygienists -- Dr. John Tilden -- uses sugar as an ingredient in a number of his healthy recipes.
The fly in the ointment arrives when sugar becomes a mainstay in the diet. And most Americans would be stunned if they ever totalled up just how much white sugar they were eating every day.
Like most things in life, balance is the key. But to reach a point of balance, I think it's important to first get off all sugar to get an idea of just how it impacts your health.
Then, you can rationally add some back into your diet, IF you feel like that's the right thing for you to do.
Anyway, that's my rap on sugar for today. :)
I had a pretty serious sugar addiction in the VERY recent past. Two sundays ago, I decided to clean my diet up. I started eating only from "the first two tiers of michi's ladder". This includes no sweeteners whatsoever. I had no withdrawals, and I'm feeling fantastic. No cravings at all. It helps that I keep buying fantastic fruit! If I kicked the sugar habit, anyone can! I literally used to eat brown sugar with a spoon daily!
ReplyDeleteI have been off of refined sugars for 14 years. In the first year I lost 100 pounds that I had struggled with all of my life and I have kept those pounds off still to this day. We need to tell people the names of sugars in their foods so they can avoid it. Several names are: sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, maltose, honey, concentrated fruit juices, evaporated cane sugar, and evaporated cane juice just to name a few. If anyone is interested there is a great book by Nancy Appleton called "Lick the Sugar Habit" that is a great resource for anyone looking to get off sugar and understand its detrimental effects on the body.
ReplyDeleteChet: It is so true.... my family and I gave up refined sugar and flour for Lent. We have been following (more or less) the Sonoma Diet since early March. We all feel great! My arthritis symptoms are almost gone, and all of us are happier.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my children are 13 and 11. Both of them thought they would DIE sticking to our new healthier lifestyle. After two weeks, they were offered sweets made with white sugar at a birthday party. I let them choose to accept or decline. They accepted, but pushed the cake away after two bites!
Long live whole wheat bread!
Dear chet
ReplyDeleteI've been on and off sugar meny times. When I am into the sugar I get headaches and feel sick. The sugar free times I feel wonderful and healthy. I know what is best but I still can't give it up.
I have gone off sugar several times in the last few years and have felt much better.I have had almost no support from family, though. Our family has had alcoholism in the past and I think some had substituted sugar for that down through the years. One thing that works for me is to eat more veggies, like salads and raw veggies and it seems to take away some of the cravings.
ReplyDeleteChet, it's been so long since I really craved sugar, I can't remember what it was like. But, I grew up eating sugar foods from morning to night. I am currently teaching Sugar Blues classes in my community, and one of the 'facts' I've shared is that average Americans today eat 150 pounds of sugar per year! I understand that the figure comes from the USDA. You note only 63 pounds. Can you cite your source? I'd like to be as accurate as possible. I think the higher figure might be more so, because a single can of soda, or even Snapple lemondade contains over 1-2 ounces of sugar. If the average American drank only 2 of these a day, and NO other sugar, they'd be approaching 52 pounds a year. This was a difficult figure for me to pin down, so I'd welcome your insights about how to explain this to people. Wow, I just did some mental math, and your figure puts people's intake at just over a pound (or 2 in the case of teenage boys) per week! My figure puts it at closer to 3 pounds per week. Awful any way you look at it, because those of us here are probably not average, so some people are getting far, far more!
ReplyDeleteI have tried Atkins, Body for Life and the South Beach diet. When doing the last one I noticed sugar cravings leave. When someone offered me a dessert I realized i really didn't want it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would like to bring up in this discussion is the danger of replacing refined sugar with sugar substitutes, such as nutrasweet (aspartame) and Splenda (sucralose). These are very harmful chemicals. It is insidious how these additives show up in all kinds of things like Listerine breath strips, cold medicine (Airborne) and Propel water drinks.
I've been off sugar for 3 years now, I can't say I got them blues but I don't crave it anymore. I read food labels carefully and stay away from all sugars and subsititutes which are more deadlier. My main challenge is my husband, he sure is a sugar addict drinking at least 4 cokes a day and adding huge amounts of sugar to everything he eats or cooks. I know what you are thinking.... I have tried it all and he will have to make the decision himself. Needless to say, he is obese, weighing over 330 pounds. I weigh about 145 down from 200 before I gave up the sugars and changed my lifestyle. Giving up sugar or at least using it in moderation is a healthy choice our bodies will thank us for making.
ReplyDeleteHi Chet,
ReplyDeleteHow about Stevia as alternative to sugar?
Can we say no to those tasty ice cream cones always and what about tasty sweet meats very popular in India.
I was off sugar for 2 - 3 months, but I thought that I'd have only one, yup, just one mocha! (That's my downfall), now I'm back to 2 - 4 a day, the pounds are back, and I start crashing (via blood sugar levels) around 4 pm until bedtime, irregardless if I have a mocha (all decaf) at 4 pm or later. I have decided I must treat sugar like cigarettes when I quit them (after restarting dozens of times), I cannot even have ONE! I'm going back on the mocha/sugar less plan asap, and your website will be a support for me. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI've been off sugar for 17 days. I have always been skeptical that it was physically addictive, but quit because it is a trigger food for me. However, I'm now convinced it's addictive, because I definitely experienced withdrawal. I felt horrible for about four days - tired, crabby - then on the fifth day felt better than I've felt in years. Every day since then I've been amazed at how much energy and focus I have. And suddenly I can taste things! I used to think sweet potatoes were gross, but now I find them yummy and, well, sweet. And I like fruit so much better now. This may be the best change I've ever made in my life.
ReplyDeleteHi Chet! I'm a Holistic Health Counselor in NYC and (ironically) a recovering sugar addict. I've been on a cleanse/detox for 8 weeks (colon/candida/liver). I'm off coffee and have drastically reduced refined sugar but am still guilty of frequent relapses.
ReplyDeleteI've been chronicling my experience with an online magazine in a 3-part series called Diary of a Sugar Addict. I tried to bring some humor into a very serious addiction.
I'd love to post here and share with your readers but I'm not sure if it's appropriate...
I love your articles and Dr. Kim's articles, too. Thank you!
I've gone off sugar for the most part for the last 30 years, however, I will be the first to admit that sometimes I go on a sugar binge, and I really pay for it. After a binge I wake up with stiff joints, achy muscles, and a foggy brain. it usually takes a few days to "wash it out again" by upping my water intake. Best of luck to all of you out there who are giving it up. It does make a HUGE difference in many areas.
ReplyDeleteHi Chet, sugar is just one side of the coin. The flip side, the worst of all, in most everything containing sugar, but not limited to, you find chemical flavor enhancers that are actually designed to enhance the craving for more of the industrially produced junk. That are the real creators of food addictions.
ReplyDeleteImagine there are more than 4000 food additives nowadays already. Tendency: Increasing!
Check the lables and leave all that junk on the shelfs!
Chet, the tremdous sugar consumption is just one side of the coin and for sure unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteThe flip side and worst are the flavor enhancers designed to increase the taste (desire) for more. These additives are not limited to cookies and sweets but are to be found in most everything the food industry produces. There are already more than 4000 of these food additives, tendency increasinsg.
That's what creates the real addiction. Without these chemicals sugar consumption would be much lower.
Proposal: Check labels and leave all that junk on the shelfs.
Be forewarded: You might find your shopping cart quite empty!
I had to get off sugar, ALL kinds including all fruits and fruit juices as I suffer from candida albicans and it is shocking how many 'savoury' products have sugar, soda bread, all cereals but shredded wheat and oats, ketchup, all crisps with flavouring and generally anything with flavouring. I only got off because the pain was too intense. My energy levels are much better but I still find it hard at social events and celebrations.
ReplyDeleteI did the 21-day detox a month ago, and although I was not addicted to sugar, now that I completely cut it off, I'm not craving for anything sweet. My son was (hopefully the past tense remains forever) a sugar addict, and I had him read the introduction only of William Dufty's Sugar Blues. He understood how serious this problem was, and now he is off sugar as much as he can control it (he's only 17). However, some of our friends that I tried to warn about sugar think I'm nuts.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteIm currently at day 12 of the 21 day challenge and so have not had any refined sugars of any other stimulants for that matter.
Yes I feel great, have more energy, am losing weight and looking great (especially my skin)What I have found most interesting is that I used to have alot of refined sugar and caffine in my diet - now if I have too much fruit the natural sugar will keep me up at night...
Will not go back, Im loving this lifestyle.
I gave up sugar for 7 days and then someone offered me some ice-cream at a party, which i ate, thinking that I could regulate my sugar in-take. After that I went back onto sugar far more vigorously than before and am now feeling like there's no way I can give it up again as I get all panicky. What do I do? I don't seem to have any will-power and yet I'm not enjoying the taste of chocolate and sweets anymore either.
ReplyDeleteI have started the 21 Day program three times now, but keep falling off the wagon. It is so easy to rationalize that we need/deserve these things that hurt our bodies so much. Still, I have been doing so much better than I was before I started trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle, as I don't have any of the bad stuff lying around, however it is too easy to get. I don't feel as bad as I did before. It seems my mood and energy level are in direct proportion to the junk I put in my body. Since slipping back into my old, unhealthy habits I've developed this productive cough I can't seem to shake. My body is mad at me! Thanks for today's blog. It's inspired me to jump back on the wagon!!
ReplyDeleteHIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP--the worst! Yep, heard it on Oprah. When you eat/drink stuff with this yucky stuff (read labels..it's in most processed stuff) it turns OFF a chemical produced in your brain called Leptin. This is the chemical that tells your brain that the tummy feels full. This is HUGE!After not having any of this nasty stuff for awhile, i recently had a drink and noticed afterwards it was one of the first ingredients. I CRAVED sugar and wanted to eat, all day! Try it for yourself!
ReplyDeleteDear Chet,
ReplyDeleteHi! YES it's me, initially must THANK U for all the e-mails which are VERY informative and helpful.
Yes,I have done your Apple Detox.
Yes I am on with Meditaiton 4 times a week.
Yes I will start your 21 days diet after the 17th of October,this year as then I will be more at home.
Your article on SUGAR is great as usual.
I am off sugar, white flour since 4 months and have lost a lot of weight...thanks 2 your e-mails.
Yes I am OFF Sugar, Milk, Flour all types & INDIAN SWEETS [ this is for Mr. Sreenivas ]. It's really not so bad if you keep your mind on the matter of loosing weight.
Although my only weakness is White Tobler, and it broke my Heart to distribute the Giant Slab away.
Just love to receive your e-mails.
THANKS ONCE AGAIN. Regards Z Mumbai India
Years ago I began to get blinding headaches when I tried to fast. Not having had this ill effect before, I blamed it on the 2 quarts of iced tea I'd been drinking daily, and gave up caffeine. Seemed to help a little, but I still got the headache when fasting.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I discovered it was the SUGAR in the tea (about 1/3 cup). Now I drink the tea unsweetened. If I'm making for sugar consumers, I use 2 Tbsp. in 2 quarts and add about 1/8 tsp. pure stevia extract.
What about natural alternatives (not substitutes). I have been trying this product call Sweet Sorghum (sometimes call Sorghum Syrup) and it is pretty good. It is supposed to be better for you than regular sugar because it is not refined. This product comes from the sorghum cane.
ReplyDeletehi Chet and all. I've been praying about my weight and diet for a while now, and found that I am beginning to remember to drink water every time I went grazing.
ReplyDeleteIf you drink a glass of water whenever you start looking for a sweet or fatty treat, you can often derail the craving and avoid eating something that might actually make you feel worse instead of better.
JM2CWorth. Kitty
Regarding the comment about the 96-year-old grandmother who bought 50-lb. bags of sugar at a time - remember, that was in the homesteading days when 50-lb. would last a year for a family of four (if not more) and sugar was used for special occasions. Nowadays, you see little kids drinking litre-sized bottles of Coke. We don't seem to ration anything anymore (which might explain the obesity and health problems a lot of us are enduring). Just my 2 cents worth!
ReplyDeleteOther alternatives to sugar are agave syrup.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Dee McCaffrey, there is no reason to avoid honey. Real honey anyway. It has well known health properties and is a natural alternative to sugar. One of the best ways to stop all sugar cravings is to use coconut oil. Since adding that to my diet years ago I've not craved sugar in 5 years times.
Two weeks with no sugar at all. Quit Regular Soda and Diet Soda, I am diabetic, sugar level went down by 70%. Feel great, energetic. No more sleeping until noon, not tired anymore. Gums stop bleeding. Lost 8 lbs. already.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Frida and I’m from Sweden. I have a short
ReplyDeletequestion for you that I hope you could answer. I’m
actually writing a book about eating disorders in
different kind of ways and also other forms of anxiety
about food, and I think that it would be interesting
to get in touch with you (if you think that you have
something to talk about). I’d love it if you answered
directly to my e-mail, flfrida@yahoo.se. If someone
else would be interested in sharing their experiences
or information (everything; overeating, anorexia,
sugar addiction, bulimia, ortorexia and so on) please
contact me. Obvouusly it’s anonymous and you will of
course get at copy of the book.
HI
ReplyDeletefirst I have to thank you for all of the wondeful information that you send me every week, it really keeps me in check. I wish I could say that I have completely followed the 21-day, I didn't, but I have followed a lot of your suggestions. I do not eat proecessed foods, and fast food has been out of my diet for 2 years now. I am curious as to how easy it is to completely remove sugar from my diet. I do not believe in anything artificial, so those "fake" sweeteners are out of the question. I do use the unrefined brown sugar (Sugar in the Raw), but the problem is the products with sugar IN them! There are so many!!
If anyone has successfully done this, please post and tell me how you did it :-) Just address it to anonymous...I'll find it!
I have gone off sugar a number of times in my lifetime and each time I am amazed at how good I feel when I quit. My thought process drags me back to eating sugar again and this time I too have aching muscles, stiff joints, foggy brain, no energy and I am sick - catching everything that is going around. I am quitting again..(sigh..) This time I hope it's a life change. I have to say to those who want 'substitutes' that you are missing the point. The point is wanting that one little bit of sweet IS the problem. We crave a kind of taste. A poisonous taste... it is unhealthy and a little is never enough. There are enough natural sugars out there satisfy any body need.
ReplyDeleteI have a question:
ReplyDeleteI have been "off" of refine sugar for quiet some time now(although I am still an addict!).
What I have done is replaced my white sugar with raw sugar aka Turbinado sugar and also honey.
Is the raw sugar/turbindado good or bad for me?
Thanks.
Wow!! sugar addiction. This is one addiction that goes unnoticed as far as addiction goes.
ReplyDeleteGreat article this is a eye opener for me.
I have given up coke and eating oranges, and grapes now my sugar cravings have decreased. It was the fruit sugar my body was requesting.
After I finished the 21 day program I craved chocolate every night for a week, until I realized that I had gotten used to the nutrients from raisins and nuts (specifically almonds) mixed together. Now that I have switched over again to raisins and almonds, my chocolate cravings have disappeared-- its worth a try at least--
ReplyDeleteOver the past year I have been avoiding eating sugar. I also eat for my blood type, which I highly reccommend everyone to look into and try. I also eat all organic foods. With my blood type I do not eat any dairy products, or grains. I prepare my own foods as much as possible. I also have Rhuematoid Arthritis. I came down with disease four years ago. I know for a fact that eating organic foods and not eating sugar has made a huge difference on my health. Yes, I still have the RA, but I have not been ill for several years now. There are many alternatives to being able to consumme sweets. I eat organic brown rice syrup. This along with adding 100% fruit juice, or jellies to my fresh fruit adds that sweetness that I often crave. By doing this I know that I'm not harming my body and satisfying my taste buds.
ReplyDeleteI highly reccommend taking refined sugar, refined white flour out of your diet. Neither of these are good for anyone. They should NOT even be on supermarket shelves.
Also carob powder is a great substitute for chocolate and it is also very good for you. There are also many other natural sweets such as honey that are good for the body. I just wish more people realized how deadly refined products are for the body.
Thanks for caring Chet!
My holistic doctor put me on a no sugar diet for my diagnosed candida. You'd be surprised how much sugar there is in everyday food items, like bread and ketchup, etc. The pounds just fell off. I lost 30lbs in 3mos, without any exercise. Also, I was only about 40lbs overweight for my height when I began the no sugar diet. It was a lot of work at first to find suitable alternatives, but now that I did, it's easy to keep it up.
ReplyDelete