4 Weeks of No Added Sugar: So What's Different?

There have been quite a few changes in our family over the past month. They range from the significant - Meg has now officially left school, only returning for her last few A'level exams; Nora has been taking her GCSEs; Drew and I have both changed jobs  - to the relatively minor - Nora has started running in the mornings; Harry and Robbie are hanging out together a lot more, etc.

In the grand scheme of things, at a time when so many people in our local and global communities are facing so many challenges, a personal decision to stop consuming unnecessary sugar in food should come way down on the 'things of minor importance' scale. But...indulge me. Because the impact of such a small decision has been really surprising.

1. I feel very different. It is very hard to quantify or describe changes of this nature. Clearly it is a subjective change that sceptics would argue is the result of something akin to a placebo effect. But I feel much...better. Brighter. I have masses more energy. It's weird. My new job involves early starts, hours of commuting and a steep learning curve. But I feel great. Even though I felt tired when I woke up on Thursday and Friday, I have had no brain fog at all and absolutely no slumps in energy during the day. I am thinking clearly. My moods have been stable and I feel calmer. All true. The only other experience I can compare this change to is when I gave up smoking, many years ago - but this is much better. Try it. 
2. I look different. As previously mentioned, the tone of my skin has improved. It is warmer and brighter. I have, dare I say it, a glow. I haven't had time to use body lotion in the mornings but the skin on my body is soft, not dry. My eyes are brighter and my teeth/gums feel really...healthy. Overall, as Drew has mentioned, I look really well.
3. My palate has changed. The few sweet things I have tasted - a sip of a relatively low sugar drink for example - taste shockingly sweet. It is not a pleasant sensation at all. And I have absolutely no interest in confectionery - my eye now just skims over chocolate bars, cakes etc. in shops while I look for something I actually want to eat. I noticed last might that the automatic message from my brain at the end of meals ("Something sweet now please") has just...stopped. I don't feel deprived. I'm just not interested. I am eating a couple of portions of fruit a day which taste delicious but is mainly because fruit fits nicely into a packed lunch for the office. Unlike some of the celebrity advocates of no added sugar diets, I am not resorting to tactics such as brushing teeth early in the evening in order to avoid wanting to eat later. I don't need to.
4. My body shape is changing. Just to be clear, I haven't lost significant weight. (I have my personal theories as to why, to be the subject of another post). But my waist is leaner and my stomach remains resolutely without bloating throughout the day. I think (but have no way of knowing in the absence of weight loss) that I may be losing abdominal fat: there is certainly a reduction in 'muffin tops' with certain pairs of jeans. I feel trimmer. 
5. The kids have become much more sugar aware. I felt a little guilty about this at first - teenagers, (especially girls) and body image - but I am over that now. Nora (16) and Harry (nearly 13) were the sweetest toothed family members and they have both started to think and ask me about the sugar content of various processed foods. They are both still eating regular meals and snacks in between but they are making different, healthier food choices. For Harry in particular this is somewhat miraculous. He has started to replace snack foods with healthier options - nuts instead of crisps, for example. The message I am trying to give the kids is not avoid sugar in all forms but to try to make their consumption of it a choice. So choose to have a sweet pudding after dinner if that it what they like. But don't also choose to have sweet snacks and sugary drinks all day. I am also hoping that their overall sugar consumption will be down because of changes to the family shopping. Tesco, again, seems to be coming out on top when it comes to bread that has been made without sugar, no added sugar peanut butter and low sugar choices.

Drew and I have just had a chat about this post. He has just come back from a high energy bike ride and said, in effect, he is glad that No Added Sugar is working so well for me but that "he doesn't need to do it". Drew is indeed super slim and fit at present, with a big bike ride planned for next weekend. But, as I have suggested to him, he may be missing the point. Reducing sugar intake isn't just about weight control. The changes I have noticed are, for me personally, powerful support for the hypothesis that the sugar I was previously consuming may have been a toxin, now removed from my system.