Let’s get the uncomfortable bit out the way. I am a chocolatier – so my world ought to be about delicious sugary creations. It has been, for a long time, and without sounding conceited – I am good at my job. I have basked in the praise of so many customers raving about my creations. It always made me happy. I have always worked with the freshest produce I can find and the most superior quality chocolate available. This combination, along with creativity allowed me to showcase delicious pieces of art – and that made me happy. However, through my years as a chocolatier, there was always one element to my career that nagged uncomfortably in the background, and for the most part I managed to bury it like an ostrich putting her head in the sand. Sugar!
I have always known that refined cane sugar – that is found in all processed foods, and a magical ingredient in the world of sweet treats, is actually a poison to the human body. By pairing the existence of sugar with superior quality chocolate that was as pure as one can find, that does not contain other contaminants like palm oil, and by using fresh fruit and fresh cream that does not contain preservatives, made me feel less guilty – a mis-guided balancing act if you will. However, as time went by my desire to remain a chocolatier without using sugar grew and then amplified with my own life decisions.
Just over a year ago I decided to eliminate refined cane sugar from my diet completely. I was not diagnosed with anything life threatening at the time, but my husband and I decided to up our game in optimising our health, and so we dropped sugar – completely! So, what happened?
Before I share my experience briefly, I would like to say that ‘sugar being bad for you’ is common knowledge nowadays. However, we have all been so cleverly manipulated in the past to thinking that sugar is okay and gives us energy, that a little bit will cause no harm, and most people I know still choose to ignore the truth. This blows my mind and saddens me. Most people cannot get past thinking about their tastebuds. I absolutely believe that our tastebuds are an integral part of ingestion and digestion – hell without them we could eat poison and not know to spit it out rapidly… oh hang on – ha, we do – with sugar. The tastebuds in our mouth have become so accustomed to accepting this poison and worse – craving it. Did you know that sugar is deemed more addictive than cocaine?
So, if we could just get past our tastebuds for a few weeks (because that’s all the adaption period is), and actually think about what we are putting down our throats. We need to ask ourselves if the food we are holding has any nutritional value to our bodies, and what it will do once inside our bodies. Sadly, once we have swallowed, often, we forget about that momentary pleasure – of say the croissant and jam – in seconds and don’t give any thought whatsoever to what our bodies need to do with it. Once swallowed do we think about the process of digestion? Do we sit there imagining the process of adsorption? We know that our bodies need food to survive, but do we give thought to the mechanics of this process? I think not – we have become so brainwashed by the food industry, and we have become so detached from nature. The only time I think we think about this is when we feel discomfort afterwards right? Most of the time we are not at all aware of the battle our bodies are having at first. This may go on for months, or years – but later oh boy! We start getting indigestion, ulcers, pain in our joints, frequent headaches…. And worse – possible cancers, diabetes etc. Our poor bodies, that are incredibly cleverly designed to heal themselves, are so busy trying to mop up the muck, that they are no longer able to efficiently sort out, absorb the good (if any is even being put inside) and heal (and protect)! Why do we live like this??? It is insane. It is ignorant and it is sad.
So how did I feel giving up refined cane sugar? Was it easy?
It took about a week to break the habit, to remember. For instance, whenever I was making a cup of coffee I would go, ‘oh yes – no sugar, only honey.’ Was the taste different? Yes, it was, but this took about 3 days to get used to. Within days I realised that all labels on products needed to be carefully read. Potato crisps contain sugar. Just about all commercial sauces contain sugar – chutney, tomato sauce, salad dressing, breakfast cereals, basting sauces… the list is endless! And so, this led to a magnificent change in lifestyle. We began making our own everything from scratch – and not only was this less expensive but made us feel so much better physically. We had been on the path of preparing food from basic unprocessed ingredients for a while but giving up sugar kicked this up an incredibly significant notch.
There were so many benefits to giving up sugar, but there was one enormous take away that I HAVE TO share. Many months into this my husband asked me a question. He said, ‘Col, have you noticed a more subtle, but incredibly significant change in our lives since giving up sugar? Have you noticed that we deal with stress and anxiety a lot better?’ I had not thought about this, and then suddenly realised he was right. We have both (and all) been through a hell of a year or two. We are still living in the times of this Covid 19 pandemic (stress for all on this one!!!) and my husband and I both lost our businesses. I had to close my chocolate shop and my husband’s guest house had (and still is) become a ghost house, with no guests due to the pandemic, lock downs etc. However, with all of this devastation, adaption and discomfort, we were handling this way WAY better than we have ever handled high stress periods before – and I promise we have had our fair share of trauma and stress over the years. This time round we seem to be less reactive, we have been able to discuss things rationally and think up possible ways of making the change into a better future, without that awful high that stress induces. Was this all because of sugar elimination? Not entirely, but we suddenly realised that it certainly played a huge role.
We do not live perfect lives, and my husband and I are often criticised by others close to us for being too extreme etc, but we have realised that there are some changes that can be made that are only beneficial – especially in the long run. Leaving sugar in the dust on our sprint forward to a better healthier life has been incredibly positive. Can I tell you something else? If either of us eat something with sugar in it now – even the tiniest nibble leaves us reeling at just how hectically sweet it is -this was a crazy discovery because we both had what’s called a ‘sweet tooth’ before. When you give up cane sugar your body stops craving it and your tastebuds adapt to alternate sweetness that is completely different to refined cane sugar sweet. Yesterday my husband ate a tiny piece of milk chocolate by mistake – he thought it was dark sugar-free – and he said he was shocked at the intensity of the sweetness and that his teeth even hurt.
Why is sugar bad for you (briefly)? Do a google search – it’s all over the medical sites. Here below is a summary of my own from a few. If you disagree with what I am about to share, no problem. I am not a medical professional; however, this information is common knowledge now, and by suggesting one eliminates sugar from their diet, I know I am causing no harm. If I am wrong – let me know.
When you eat sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream affects your arteries all over your body. It causes their walls to get inflamed, grow thicker than normal and stiffer. This stresses the heart and damages it over time.
Sugar gives your brain a surge of the feel-good hormone dopamine, which explains why you always crave it and go back to it. Whole foods like fruits and vegetables do not cause the brain to release much dopamine, so in comes sugar to fulfil this need… and we look at drug addicts sideways for being weak of will! My word – sugar does just as much harm to the body!
Your mood can be altered with sugar. Enjoying a sugary cookie will give you a quick burst of energy (the sugar high) by raising your blood sugar levels fast. Then when your levels drop as your cells absorb the sugar (the sugar crash), you may feel jittery or slightly anxious. Do adults ever nod and say, ‘ah yes, okay, it’s because I dipped my hand a few too many times in the treats jar today’? Hell no – those ‘feelings’ are always directed at another external cause (naughty kids, too much work, not enough work etc). However, we have all seen this with our children. After a party they will often get hyper and then when the crash happens, they become cranky and difficult. Ignorant parents always blame the environment – ‘oh yes, little Jack has been over stimulated today. He is just very tired!’ NO NO NO… little Jack, along with other kids can never get cranky or teary from over stimulation. Kids thrive on the energy they receive from hard play and then they simply fall asleep without fuss. The only ‘over stimulation’ little Jack received, was overindulgence on sugar and his poor little body was crying at the abuse it had received! Back to adults, studies have linked a high sugar intake to a greater risk of depression. Well then! There you have it.
Your teeth? Sugary candy does not cause rotten teeth! But the bacteria that lingers in your mouth (all the time); those that cause cavities, love sugar – it gobbles up all the sugar lingering in your mouth for hours… and then creates cavities. That is why dentists suggest that every time you have eaten or drunk sugar you should give your teeth a brush and your mouth a rinse with water – to remove the sugary food that the bacteria want. Think about our elderly generation – in their day they did not know that drinking sugary sodas and eating sugary refined foods was bad for them. How many no longer have their own teeth? Most wear dentures or the like, because their teeth were too damaged by sugar and the rest, to be saved. My father was an example of this occurrence.
Do you have pain in your joints? Sugar causes inflammation – studies have proven. So, if you are prone to joint pain best you lay off the sugar. So… sugar = inflammation, and inflammation = pain. Studies show that sugar consumption can increase your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.
How does sugar affect your liver? Well, it damages it… and our bodies are complex and amazing and clever – so if you want to learn more about how sugar affects the liver, please do some research. This applies to the Pancreas – the little organ that manufactures insulin – to keep sugar levels correct. Abuse it and you will simply break it. Heard of Diabetes? What happens to the kidneys? And your heart?
The bottom line is that our bodies work as a whole – like a finely tuned machine that needs all components to work together and to work well. If one part breaks all the others will inevitably be affected negatively. Do we realise this? Do we honour our bodies and give thanks for it being such a masterpiece? Not many of us do. In fact, I think we are all guilty of abuse and neglect toward our bodies. And then there are simply those who are just ignorant by circumstances, and others who are ignorant by choice. The latter I have no sympathy for – we all have the control to look after ourselves as adults.
So there above I have given some reasons from others (experts) on why giving up refined cane sugar is a good thing.
I am extremely happy that I have eliminated it from my life and truly I have no craving for it at all. In fact, when someone offers me a bowl of ice-cream or the like, I am repelled by it. Just the thought of putting it in my body makes me feel nauseous. I do still enjoy sweet treats, but they come in the form of fruits, raw honey and a drizzling of organic Maple syrup. Heaven for me.
As far as my life as a chocolatier goes. After closing my chocolate shop, I mourned the loss and then found that I had been given time to think it all through. If I ever open a shop again, I would like it to be with sugar free treats. There are so many beautiful, organic, delicious ingredients available in today’s world to make this possible. We will see. For the minute I will make orders for old customers using sugar – from old recipes I know by heart, but this no longer makes me happy. I need to earn a living from what I know, but I look forward to the day that I can run with all my energy focused on offering sugar-free delicious chocolates only, that look the same as their sugary cousins and taste remarkably similar. This day will make my conscious feel free and happy.
So, to end this anti-sugar tirade I am on today, let me state too that giving up refined sugar is not the be all and end all solution to perfect health. So many other factors come into account when trying to optimise our health. Most people when suffering from inflammatory diseases or discomforts need to eliminate so much more than sugar to get their systems happy and working well again. These may be gluten, dairy, alcohol etc. Sadly, so often people think that taking a handful of pills – natural supplements or allopathic prescriptions – will clear up the problem and fix their bodies… but they take these pills without any adjustment to their intake of food or daily diet. So, what happens? Let’s illustrate with an analogy:
Your house (your entire gut) is on fire. As in an actual fire – the house (or your body) starts to burn and blister and fall apart. The fire brigade is on the scene and is dousing the interior of your house with water (this in your body is in the form of whole foods, fresh fruit and vegetables, eliminating inflammatory foods like sugar, dairy, gluten, alcohol). Soon enough the flames are out, and the team of investigators can go in to see what caused the fire, and the workman can get in to begin the repair. Done! However, most people have their house on fire and think that its okay to continue with their old eating habits, as long as they take the pills. This is like sending the workmen in to the house while the flames are still being fuelled. And the flames are constantly being fuelled in the form of inflammatory foods – sugar, dairy, gluten etc. So, the fire cannot be put out – the firemen get more and more exhausted trying, the workmen (in the form of pills) can never do their repair work (there is actually NO point in even taking the pills before putting out the fire), and the investigators can never pinpoint the actual problem at its root because everything is inflamed and unhappy.
So yes, eliminating sugar is a great thing to do. It may not even be only refined cane sugar that needs to be banished from your ‘house’. Perhaps other sugars are no good too – like honey, maple etc… if your ‘house’ is too damaged. But if you know that you are relatively healthy, I cannot but hope that people will catch on to the enormous benefits of eliminating refined cane sugar from their diets – at least as a first step, because I can promise that it can only make you feel even better! Continuing with other eliminations, such as all processed foods, and practicing a form of exercise that helps you cope better with stress, will put you even higher on the winners’ podium and possibly allow you to lead a longer and more comfortable life. There is no loosing in making better choices. One by one I am trying to do this in my life. I am not all there yet – but I am striving toward it. From what I have done so far, all I can say is that I feel SO much better for it.