So, You Like Donuts Eh? Part II

at 4:38 pm on February 3, 2009 under Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Be the First to Comment

One aspect of my resolution last month was harder than almost any other: avoiding refined sugar. While high fructose corn syrup is almost ubiquitous in highly refined foods, it can be avoided with some vigilance. And animal products take only a peripheral attention to avoid. But refined sugar is in almost everything. From Cheerios, to jam, to sauces and dressings, to fruit juice.

My experience last month taught me that avoiding refined sugar can have some really good impacts on your tastebuds and waistline. I lost about 5 pounds last month, and gained an appreciation for new flavors. I also had a lot more lasting energy.

In spite of that, as soon as February hit, I fell off the wagon hard. I ate an entire box of raspberry paczki in twelve hours, and went to town on the Cheerios. I realized it was harder to kick refined sugar in the real world.

But why specifically is refined sugar bad for you? Yes, it is nutritionless – but that doesn’t make it inherently bad.

It IS nutrient zapping, however. Sugar just gobbles up the nutrients. Where the complex sugars in an apple or a beet are naturally complemented by some vitamins and minerals, refined sugar has no nutritional companions and leaches onto the body’s other stores of nutrients to process it into what it eventually becomes – fat. It was this deficiency that led one doctor in the 1950s to classify refined sugar as a poison.

My SO suggested that when we have kids that we should not let them eat refined sugar until they are ten so their palettes won’t get used to the sweetness. I’m all for it. But that also means a lifestyle change for us now so that we are not keeping all that crap around the house.

Goodbye sweet paczkis.

[del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [MySpace] [Reddit] [StumbleUpon] [Technorati] [Twitter] [Email] More »

Add A Comment

home top