Five Outstanding Reasons To Think Sugar Free

Just five outstanding reasons to think sugar free…it will transform your mind, your health, your body, your pocketbook and even quite possibly your relationships.

I am referring to eating sugar, or more specifically, sugar from sugarcane and corn sugar, not all sweeteners. Cane and corn sugar are part of the Edible Grasses family. Yes, they are grasses, as are grains, whether gluten free or not.

There is so much research and scientific information that support cutting down, or out, sugar, but most often this is not the information that helps us to make positive diet changes. The most important factor in making permanent, effective change in our lives is that when the ‘pain’ (problems, negative side-effects, or even corresponding health problems) become so much greater than the perceived ‘benefits’ of anything, we tend to head toward the path of least resistance. In other words … ‘Pain Produces Change’.

Eating sugar cane and corn sugar causes more problems for me than benefits, so I chose to quit eating it. Quite simply it wasn’t worth it.

 

My five reasons (pain points) are as follows;

 

(1) The sugar ‘high’ is followed by a blood sugar drop that takes my energy and has me wanting a big nap at all the wrong times. My brain gets fuzzy which then makes clear, concise thinking so much harder. This leads to it taking far longer to accomplish the work I have to do, which then reduces the amount of ‘free time’ I have, and I don’t like that. I like my down time.

(2) My internal ‘thermometer’ goes whacky and then I am either too hot or too cold. I can tolerate a very wide degree of temperature, especially warm temperatures, except when I consume sugar cane and corn sugar. My face gets hot and sweaty, yuck, and I feel so uncomfortable. It is similar to when you have a respiratory allergy reaction and your face is having a fever while the rest of your body seems fine. Not fun. Again, not worth it. I only got to enjoy eating the sugary treat for a few minutes, but the face fever lasts far longer. No thank you!

(3) In the middle of the night, around 3:00 am, I wake up super hot and wide, wide awake. Ugh! I kick off the covers, then get too chilly. Pull them back over me, then get too warm again. It’s like I am trying to have a little work out in the bed when I should be sleeping peacefully. I am so awake that I think of every potential problem and then have a ‘what if’ debate on literally everything that hasn’t happened! Not only is my body unhappy, it has now infected my brain waves too! When I choose not to eat cane and corn sugar I do not have these annoying 3:00 am episodes.

(4) The next morning I wake up with an inflammation ‘food baby’ in my gut that can take days to go away. Having a food baby comes with none of the exciting feelings of being pregnant. I look like the starving kids persona that my parents used to try to convince me I should eat the food I didn’t want to when I was young. Hmmmm…they were malnourished. Maybe we LOOK malnourished because the cane and corn sugars aren’t nourishing for our bodies? The protruding stomach, which is usually accompanied by feeling totally uncomfortable in my own skin, is ‘not worth it’ to me.

(5) For the next several days I crave sugary, grain-based bakery items which, if indulged in keep repeating the above cycle over and over again. Not only is this really hard on my pocketbook, but these cravings are so annoying! It is like I have a drug addiction, because even though I know in my right mind I do not want to eat them, for the duration of the cravings (which could last several days) I want them. Even though I know they will make me sick. This is not healthy thinking! I do not like feeling like the food is in control rather than me being in control of my own body. So again, not worth it.

 

Thinking of cutting these sugars down, or out? Let me give you a little more information on the names of sugar so you can know where it is in the food products you choose to eat. There are many, many names (cleaver packaging and ingredient naming to hide sugar in so many products).

 

Cane Sugar Names:

Unrefined Sugar Cane, Refined Sugar Cane, Whole Cane Sugar, Muscovado (light or dark), Raw Jaggery Crystals, Jaggery Powder, Brown Sugar (light or dark), Piloncillo, Brown Sugar Cane, Panela, Sucanat, Cane Syrup, Molasses, Okinawa Kokomo, Raw Cane Sugar, Washed Raw Sugar, Turbinado Sugar, Evaporated Sugar, Cane Juice (dehydrated), Natural Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Rough Cut Sugar Cubes, Liquid Cane Sugar, Cane Sugar Syrup, Blackstrap Molasses, Granulated Sugar, Pure Cane Sugar, Baker’s Special Sugar, Baker’s Sugar, Caster Sugar, Confectioners Sugar, Fondant Sugar, Icing Sugar, Sparkling Sugar, Sanding Sugar, Decorating Sugar, Pearl Sugar (Swedish or Belgian), Brownulated Sugar, White Sugar Cubes, Crystal Sugar Tablets, White Sugar, Brown Sugar, Rock Sugar, Simple Syrup, Liquid Invert Sugar, Saccharin, Saccarin, Sucrose, Rapadura, Dextrose, Viche, Sacharum Officiarum

Corn Sugar Names:

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Glucose Syrup, Glucose/Fructose Syrup,
Maize Syrup, Isoglucose, Dahlia Syrup, Fruit Fructose, Crystalline Fructose, Corn Sweetener, Malt Syrup, Maltose, Maltodextrin, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel

 

Processed foods contain many hidden sugars as they are cheap fillers and when mixed just the right way with grains and salt have a very effective addictive affect on the human body.

Hungry for more information?  Check out our Sustainable Clean Eating Made Simple online course. When you are knowledgeable changes become much easier to make and sustain.

Last word? Take back control of your body and your food choices. Assess your own body and see if the side effects of eating these sugars is worth it to you. Let’s be more proactive with our health.