Dreaming of Marmalade - 3 Weeks of No Added Sugar

So, at the end of today it will be 3 weeks since I switched to a 'no added sugar' way of eating. Actually, it's probably more like 19 days since my initial decision was to try only eating savoury things for a few days, taken after an annoying lunchtime trying to find something appealing in a supermarket 'free from' range which wasn't sweet, i.e. not a cake, biscuit, muesli bar.

I was at the time yet again avoiding wheat in order to eliminate bloating. (By bloating I mean starting the day wearing a trouser suit which is comfortably loose at the waist and ending it looking 4 months pregnant and wishing I could undo my trouser button when I sit down). Unfortunately sugar in any quantity has always left me feeling 'off' and itchy skinned and I had rapidly become fed up with reaching for something sweet - even for fruit - when my concentration started to drop mid afternoon. Enough was enough. Time to step away from the sugar.

That weekend, after watching Dr Robert Lustig's lecture Sugar; the Bitter Truth then reading the labels of various foods in our cupboard, I realised that obviously sweetened food was only part of my issue. I had stumbled across the growing groundswell of opinion that life without sugar is better all round. However, if I wanted to enjoy all of the possible benefits, I would have to go further.

Unfortunately the currently best selling books and popular websites devoted to giving up sugar are not entirely consistent. Some seem to be advocating a diet containing almost no complex carbohydrates, relying instead on fresh vegetables, full fat protein, a bit of fruit and the odd super-grain. One website waxed lyrical about how much healthier and happier the author felt without sugar - but also said that she now rarely went out out to dinner with friends, in order to avoid complications. Meh. For me, a vaguely  foodie vegetarian and mother of growing kids, that does not sound like the recipe for a happy life.

So, having read quite a bit and mulled it over for a while, by the end of that weekend I have devised the following rules for my personal no added sugar way of eating:

1. No processed, refined carbohydrates - i.e. no white flour, white pasta, etc.
2. Lots of wholegrains, provided they aren't in a product to which sugar has been added. (I have discovered that this is particularly an issue with bread)
3. No sweets or chocolate unless I have made them myself. (As if; I haven't had time yet!).
4. Lots of vegetables, fish, cheese, dairy, eggs, quorn, oils, nuts, seeds, legumes, etc.
5. No food to which a sugar has been added. This covers a lot of store cupboard foods, including savoury foods such as some crisps, stock cubes, etc. And marmalade...
6. No fruit juice (which is very high in fructose but without fruit's natural fibre).
7. OK in moderation - fruit, coconut products and other foods which naturally contain sugar, provided they don't come with (1). I am eating 2-3 portions of fruit a day.
8. No cakes, muffins, etc. unless it has only been sweetened with fruit or coconut oil.

It sounds quite complicated written it out but, actually, it is quite straight forward. If a food isn't in it's natural state, I ask myself whether sugar has been added to it. If it has, I don't eat it.

I'm not sure how sustainable this is. I have never been one for diets and, at the moment, I do feel slightly deprived. Mainly of something sweet on toast in the morning. Much as I enjoy eggs, Marmite, no added sugar nut butters and cheese, I actually dreamt about marmalade a few days ago, Not good.

But the last 3 weeks have also brought benefits. My experience to date:

1. Everything the no sugar advocates say about having more energy is true. I have lots more energy. I am waking up before the alarm some mornings.
2. My head seems a little clearer (although that could be down to being on a short break between jobs!).
3. My skin has improved. Drew says it looks healthier. I think my skin tone is better and it feels softer.
4. The white of my eyes are much brighter. (I have no idea why).
5. My cheekbones have come back. I wasn't exactly moon faced previously but my face has better contours.
6. My teeth feel stronger. It's weird. I find myself snapping them in the manner of a dog or something after brushing.
7. No bloating. At all. I wake up and go to bed with a stomach which may not have a 6 pack above it but is certainly not sticking out.
8. I have lost about 3-4 lbs in weight. A word of caution on this one: I have been monitoring this and it has been fluctuating quite a bit but the general trend down.
9. I look and feel trimmer. My clothes are fitting me better. (Without wishing to tempt fate, I think my repeat caesarean  'flap' may finally, after all these years, be diminishing...)
10. My palate has changed. I am much more sensitive to sweet things. I had a tiny lick of a not particularly sweet cake mixture the other day and the sweet taste felt so intense it was almost a burning sensation.

I still don't know if living a no added sugar life is something I will be able to do long term. I don't want to become a person who doesn't go out for meals with friends. I don't want to feel deprived. I want to be able to eat some of the cakes and puddings I make for the family. I certainly don't want to dream about marmalade. I love food and I love cooking. But, for now, I am keeping an open mind.