Since Monday, I’ve tried very hard to decrease my intake of sugar from all sources. I am doing this for many reasons. First, both of my parents are now diabetic which means the chances of me of developing diabetes is higher. High sugar consumption can also lead to obesity. I don’t want to be tubby. Researchers are now saying that sugar can cause wrinkles in your skin. These are all very good reasons why I should try to limit my sugar consumption.
It is of course difficult to completely cut sugar out of my diet and nor should that be my goal. As long as I limit my intake, I’ll be happy. Sugar is in almost everything that we eat. Will I stop eating steak because it contains a little bit of sugar? No, that would be kinda dumb. I will however, think twice about consuming refined sugars.
On Monday, I was really good. I didn’t have any chocolates or candies or soft drinks. The only thing that stood out was that I ate two kiwi fruits in the evening. I’m sure that was my biggest hit of sugar of the day but it came from eating fruit, which I think outweighs any disadvantages.
On Tuesday, I was a bit off the wagon. I had one chocolate glazed doughnut from Tim Hortons which had 20g of sugar. Then I had a cup of french vanilla coffee where I added four packets of sugar which probably totalled 16g. I also had a can of Coke but it was Coke Zero which contains no sugar. I know I’m probably trading sugar for carcinogens there but hey, I gotta concentrate on one thing at a time. In the evening, I also had two kiwi fruits.
Today, I again had a single chocolate glazed doughnut from Tim Hortons for 20g. We also had a studio wide meeting at Canada Place today. They served refreshments and I was feeling thirsty (I have a cold right now), so I took a small cup of Sprite. It was about can-sized so figure about 30g to 40g sugar right there.
Some people have stated you should limit your added sugars to 40g or less per day. If that is right, I think I’m doing ok. It might be even possible to have a doughnut a day and still be under 40g if I’m smart about what else I eat.
Let’s see how long I can keep this up.
Whenever my intake of sugar is less than 40g per day, I celebrate. I celebrate by eating enough sugar cubes to bring me right up to that mark.
I recently read a study that showed evidence that consumption of sugar substitutes (aspartame etc) are just as likely to lead to diabetes as sugar itself. Bugger. Do you have any idea how much aspartame/nutrasweet/splenda I consume in an effort to avoid sugar? I’m screwed.