It has been a whole year since I “quit” sugar!!
I’ll clarify again what I mean by quitting sugar:
- any product that has sugar as a listed ingredient (there are 50+ names for sugar)
- honeys and syrups – also sugars
- fruit juices – but smoothies are ok in moderation if the whole fruit is used
- dried fruits like raisins – a small portion is ok, but the sugars are more concentrated
Foods that are never off the menu:
- fruit, except dried fruit as above
- bread (unless it has sugar as a listed ingredient)
- pasta – wholegrain varieties preferred
- beer and wine (steer clear of the fruity beers and sweet wines though)
- spirits (though the mixers are probably out – coconut water is a decent substitute for tonic)
- vegetables – you can never have too many vegetables
- nuts – cashew nuts became my go-to snack when I craved a chocolate bar
Background:
Before quitting sugar, I had a definite sweet-tooth. I spent two weeks in Vietnam in December 2016, where the only sweetness I really had was from the sugar I put in my tea (1.5 tsps) or coffee (2 tsps) or the sweetened milk in the Vietnamese coffee and all the desserts were usually pieces of fruit, but when I returned to the UK, just felt overloaded with sugary snacks and drinks (Xmas treats).
I did a bit of research, and found a lot of conflicting pieces about the benefits of giving up sugar and the addictiveness of sugar. So, as an experiment, I thought I would try it for 2 weeks, while not really expecting anything to happen.
I actually thought I was only going to be giving up the sugar in my tea/coffee and a chocolate bar in the afternoon, but hadn’t considered the amount of fruit juice I drank, or the honey in my porridge, or the tomato and mascarpone sauce on my pasta. Finding the hidden sugars was the most eye-opening aspect. It is in things like bread, pasta sauces, cereals (the non-frosted kind, too, like Shreddies), even salads!!
Two weeks in:
After two weeks I had already seen changes!
- The weirdest one was the skin on my feet suddenly becoming baby-soft; all that horrible winter-dry skin had gone, as well as the couple of tiny verrucas I’d been trying to get rid of over Xmas.
- I had a lot of excess energy that meant I was going to bed later and waking up more alert; no more brain fog in the morning.
- The spots on my face were disappearing.
- The skin on my arms (and the rest of me) was super soft.
- My weight was dropping noticeably (I had put on 5kgs after I stopped rowing and moved to London).
Then I saw the campaign called “Sugar-Free February”, and thought I would sign up to that and continue my experiment in aid of Skin Cancer research to keep me from caving in (thank you to everyone that sponsored me).
One year on:
It is now 12 months since the first day I said, “no thanks” to sugar. The skin on my face is spotless, though I still get spots on my neck (this is going to be investigated soon). My hair is super long and much thicker. I still have soft feet and skin. No toothaches or sensitivities, except when I get nuts stuck in my back teeth (I recommend getting a water-flosser for this predicament). Less painful stomach cramps and headaches. I’m now the same weight I was when I was at university, before getting an office job. I haven’t had a cold/cough in a year (there was an afternoon in October where I was a bit sneezy), though this could be a plant-based diet-related benefit. Tea and coffee taste so good without sugar now, and I have even complained to several cafes (Starbucks and Pret) about their lack of unsweetened non-dairy milks recently.
Tips:
- Set yourself a goal – start with 2 weeks, or a month so you don’t feel overwhelmed. See the benefits for yourself first.
- If you are a tea or coffee drinker, do not try giving up caffeine at the same time. I did at first because I couldn’t face it without sugar, but ended up with a massive headache on day one, which went away after a cup of non-sugary tea.
- For sugary tea people, try Sainsbury’s own brand Chai Tea (only one I’ve found without added sugar) – the spices make it taste a little sweeter than normal tea and it got me through the worst of my cravings, just make it like you normally would with milk (but no sugar!).
- Learn how to read labels – any ingredient ending in -ose is probably sugar. If in doubt, try to choose products with <5% sugar in the nutritional table (<5g per 100g).
- Make your own – I learned how to make flatbreads, pasta sauces, sandwiches etc. because I got sick of reading the labels and finding sugar in them. Smoothies are also great to make yourself if you have a blender.
- Keep snacks nearby at all times! Nuts are the best. Hunger will strike quickly and severely in the first couple of months, and you will want a chocolate bar. Just keep eating those nuts. I carried packets of cashew nuts in my coat pocket for about 3 months. Bananas are also a good replacement, but limit fruit to 2-3 portions a day because it’s still sugar (the fibre in the whole fruit helps your body digest the sugar better, which is why fruit juice is out).
- Learn to love coconut water, but make sure it’s 100% coconut water, not 99% coconut water plus flavouring, or sweetened with fruit juices or sugars. It goes quite well with gin, or just by itself instead of water or juice.
- Don’t give up if your skin gets worse. Mine did at around week 4. My face and neck erupted in massive, painful spots, but then, almost as quickly, they disappeared completely and haven’t returned (except for my neck as mentioned earlier – no idea why).
- Watch Fed Up and That Sugar Film – I don’t agree with everything in these documentaries; some of it’s a bit sensationalist, but they are still fascinating and helped motivate me to keep going. In fact, I might watch them again now.
Until next year, then!
Clea Went Sugar-Free 