Governments spend a fortune on programs that tell people to eat less fatty food and exercise more in order to lose weight, while consumers fork out ever-increasing amounts on gym memberships, packaged meals, books, magazines and the advice of experts. Despite decades of this kind of activity we are now fatter than at any other time in history. ”
David Gillespie from the Weekend Australian 29-30 November 2008. *
For a long time I have noticed the wrappers from the lollies that fill up the lolly jar in the office are big on advertizing 98% fat free. Yeah, maybe, but how much sugar is there in there? 100% or more if they could put it in there!
But fat free has been the big sell catchcry for a long time.
98% fat free seems to be a well used one, it must hit the ears best.
Less fat, low fat, no fat; but we are still fat!
David Gillespie is not the first person to write about the sugar kill, and he probably won’t be the last; but it is worth looking at and thinking about.
Read the labels next time you are tempted to grab that processed product off the shelf in the supermarket, or better still, read the labels on the ones in the pantry and fridge. And then take a moment to wonder why that product has sugar in it. Then have a look at the other ones beside it; maybe one of them doesn’t have sugar, and it might even taste better too. Yes, it will take a while to change your brain, but your body will definitely thank you for it.
Luckily I had returned to a doctor, whom I had known for a long while, for a diagnosis of what was wrong with me; he was smack in the moosh blunt to me, and put things pretty clearly early enough - fix it now!
You could go cold turkey. Interesting experience. I did it, and it was a shock to me to experience the headaches as the body screamed out for the sugar hit for about five days. I told no-one else about the headaches for a long time. I didn’t want to admit that I was a sugar addict. A warning … if you do it too slowly you are going to have to be really tough with yourself and make sure the sugar intake is really moving down, not down and up.I could list a lot of brands that that I use now that actually taste like the real thing, without the sugar; and there are other books out there that do it too, but you can just read the labels and do a bit of thinking.
You will probably have to do a bit of cooking too. Those fresh vegies and fruit are quite good too if they aren’t too much added to. Peel and slice apples or pears and cook them (without sugar), maybe like grandma used to, and you’ll be amazed that they taste good, you know, really like apples or pears! You don't have to become a hermit, just a thinking person again, rather than a retail controlled robot. Put yourself in charge.
Give it a go; cut the sugar, eat reasonable amounts of good food and your body will thank you.
* David Gillespie is the author of Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes us Fat (Penguin)
Read the whole article here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24717513-23289,00.html
4 comments:
Good post. You're right; we should all be more aware of the amount of sugar in food, but also fat and salt. They are the three to look out for. Salt seems to sneak in everywhere, in particular in stuff that kids eat.
Ah yes ... everything in moderation!
Thoughtful and provoking.........especially true for children. Why o why does one large food chain make their hamburger buns sooooooo sweet? Hardly even tastes like a real bread roll.
Get em in, get em addicted to sugar while kids......hooked for LIFE!!!!
Interestingly, Nestle has recently announced a worldwide reduction in the sugar content of many of its products. Moved before being pushed or just saving $$$ [ sorry Swiss francs]
That's it! Get em young and train em.
There could be coming (or already here) a generation who doesn't know what 'real' food tastes like.
That's progress isn't it?
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