​White Sugar and Its Detriments

Is there anyone out there who at least used to enjoy baked goods? You know those delectable brownies, cakes and cookies?

After all there are so many who love to make them so beautiful and tantalizing!

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Who doesn’t want a beautiful birthday cake to give to their child on their special day? Or provide those incredible looking cupcakes with creamy frosting layered on top for a party?

​While I too used to eat this “food”, I cut it out years ago. Sugar has absolutely no nutrients whatsoever and I wanted a healthy life for myself and my family, so I’m here to share with you how I went about achieving that goal.

First let me give you a little information on sugar and how it’s bad for your health:

Sugar can cause:

Obesity
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
Dementia
Macular degeneration
Tooth decay
Candida
Wrinkling and aging skin
Addiction
Loss of energy
Cancer
Weakening of the immune system
 
This is really a very short list, but does it sound an alarm that it’s a food you should avoid? I hope so!

These are good enough reasons for me not to want it, no matter how beautiful it may look dressed up as a “food”! I’ve even read that one doctor defined sugar as “poison”. However, millions of Americans continue consuming sugar regularly, if not daily.

I cut out sugar

How did I begin cutting out sugar from my diet? As much as I’d like to say that I cut it out completely in one day, it didn’t work that way for me as I was addicted to sugar. I knew that the only way I was going to stay away from it for good was to cut it out gradually.

I used to eat a cookie or some other dessert after lunch and then again after supper. That is very embarrassing to admit, but that was the lifestyle I’d known growing up and that’s what I was used to doing.

So when I made the decision to cut back I stopped eating the dessert after lunch. I would have to tell myself that I could do this and I could still eat a cookie after supper. This worked and I did this for several days.

About a week later I determined to eat a dessert every other day.  I committed to the challenge and kept at it until finally I only ate desserts on the weekends.

I kept up this commitment to gradually cut out sugar and desserts over several years.

Moving forward

Move forward many years later and I hardly ever eat a typical dessert. When I say hardly, I mean maybe once a year. I finally came to a point in my life where I just don’t desire to have it, I don’t crave it, and eating a dessert really never even comes to my mind anymore.

I have found many healthy alternatives that taste great (and I am looking forward to sharing those dessert recipes with you in the near future)!

Until then, while you’re scanning those ingredient labels for sugar, keep in mind that these are sugar labels you’ll also want to avoid:

Cane sugar
Organic sugar (Just because it says organic, doesn’t mean it’s good.)
Brown sugar
Cane crystals
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Evaporated cane juice
Fructose
Fructose sweetener
High fructose corn syrup
Malt syrup
 
There are actually many other names for sugar, and many are uncommon, but labels that you want to look for and avoid.

Natural, fun alternatives

I have found that when we want a fun treat we can make it healthy with carob powder, 100% organic pure maple syrup, raw honey, organic coconut oil, and other natural, healthy ingredients!

So don’t put on a sad face and think you have to live life without treats! Just do a little research as I have and make up some healthy alternatives that you and your family will enjoy without the toxins and guilt!

All the best!
~ Julie