Avoiding Sugar In Food: Just How Hard Does It Have To Be?

So,  I have just passed the 5 week mark of avoiding sugar in food. And yep,  if you've read any of my previous posts, I am happy to say that most of the changes and benefits previously described are still evident: improved skin,  brighter eyes, feeling less tired, a clearer mind. In fact, I could probably say that feeling consistently great has become my new 'normal'.  Yay me.

But I am starting to realise these benefits come at a price: I'm either going to have to find a lot more time to prepare food each day which I then have to transport to work, or I'll have to resign myself to eating a very limited diet during the week. Truth be told, there may be a good reason why the No Added Sugar way of eating is mainly promoted by celebrities.

Let me explain.  I started this blog when I was a couple of weeks into a self-devised No Added Sugar regime, brimming with energy and keen to share information about this and other diet related issues that have become part of our family's daily life. At the time I was having a short break between jobs, so had lots of time to read up on sugar and to experiment with recipes and ways of preparing meals without sugar. Cooking being the operative word - lots of egg based breakfasts and lunches - everything delicious.

Two weeks ago I started my new job. It is in London, which is a few hours' commute away. It's a great job but I now have an early start 3 days a week. I will sometimes have to work late and am not now at home for as many meals as before. Monday to Friday I now have breakfast and lunch away from home most days, sometimes also my evening meal. And I have discovered that it is hard to eat a variety of low sugar food when you're out and about.

Breakfast - I mainly have to take this myself so I can eat it on the train. There is absolutely no point in trying to pick something up at the station. The baguettes are made with refined flour, as are the pastries which contain added sugar as well. Chances are that the yoghurt-based breakfast contained sweetened yoghurt and/or granola, as does the porridge. This is true, even in 'healthy eating chains' such as Pret a Manager and Eat. So breakfast these days is either a no sugar peanut butter sandwich on Vogel's bread or a homemade yoghurt, frozen berry and chia seed mix left in the fridge overnight. The latter is tasty, but becomes plastic container #1 in my work bag.

Lunch - easier, because of the popularity of salads in sandwich shops. But I am amazed by how high in sugar some of these are. I thought at first that I was just not spotting the right things so spent some of my commuting time looking at the Eat and Pret websites. I discovered almost no veggie soups with less than 8g of sugar in a small serving. The same goes for salads, although M&S salads seem a bit better. Quite often, the lowest sugar option for a takeaway lunch will be a wrap.

So why is 8g of sugar my benchmark? Yet again I am limited by a lack of authoritative scientific advice on how much of which sugars we should be aiming for. But, if 4g = 1 teaspoon of sugar, and if we are meant to be consuming no more than 25g or 6 teaspoons a day - see this BBC news article -  then I don't really want 2 teaspoons to be used up on one part of lunch. Because, let's be honest, a small soup or salad is not really going to keep me happy by itself for that long...

Increasingly, therefore, I am taking a homemade salad or sandwich for my lunch. Plastic container #2. Oh, and a bottle of water for the train/tube. Plastic container #3. And a couple of pieces of fruit in a small bag. Plastic container #4. I honestly think I carried fewer plastic containers of food around with me when I had a couple of toddlers in tow. But this isn't the only drawback. I love food. I want to be able to eat a variety of things. There is real possibility that my weekday diet will become boring and limited, simply because I don't have the time and space in my commuting bag to mix things up more and because the supermarkets and sandwich chains are way behind the curve on the issue of sugar in food.

Most of us mere mortals don't have the time or resources of Davina McCall or Gwyneth Paltrow. Working parents have to work, give time to our kids, shop, cook and do chores without the assistance of a PA, au pair or nanny. Do we really have to factor in preparing all our own food from scratch in order to avoid poisoning ourselves with sugar? The supermarkets and and sandwich chains are really missing a trick here.

Post Script on the Spiritual Home of Spelt

Interestingly, having written yesterday about supermarkets and their free from ranges, today I walked over to Waitrose to buy some self raising wholemeal flour for a muffin recipe I am about to post.

The range of flour on offer spoke volumes about the Waitrose target customer. In this particular store the flour is stocked next to the 'free from' range. It took up almost as much shelf space and included more varieties of 'strong' or 'bread making' flour than all the other types of flour put together. There was a single alternative for each of plain and self raising white and then a few non-white flours including, naturally, a choice of spelt flour. One (Duchy organic) was £1.99 for 1.5 kilos and the other (Waitrose own brand) was   £1.99 for 1 kilo!

Really? I mean, I know it's a middle class shop an' all, but...seriously?

No self raising wholemeal, sadly.

Which are the best supermarkets for people with food intolerances?

So, let me say at the outset that this review  is based solely on my personal experience as a shopper. It reflects my visits to supermarkets in the South West of England. It is both possible and probable that other branches of these supermarket chains will/may stock a different/wider range of goods. Also, as I rarely do internet grocery shopping (since that leads to short expiry dates), the comments below do not take on-line supermarket ranges into account.

Right, disclaimer over...

As you will may know from my first post, our family's shopping has to cater for lactose intolerance, FODMAP intolerance (i.e. wheat, lactose, onion, garlic, beans, etc.) and my current attempt at a sugar free/no added sugar diet (just for me, not Drew and the kids!). This can be quite a challenge in a supermarket and generally involves a lot of label reading, not great when you're a busy working parent. Plus our family budget for food is tight.

So, for the benefit of others who are trying to keep a similar number of plates spinning, the following alphabetical list reflects my experience of trying to find what I need in supermarkets over the past 3 years.

Aldi. Not great. Just a handful of items within an already limited range of products. You could probably find a wheat free bread, one or two lactose and wheat free snacks and an alternative to cow's milk (soya milk) at most visits.

• Other positives: Cheap! Including an inexpensive albeit limited choice of fresh fruit and veg.

Asda. Surprisingly good. They stock a wide range of 'free from' goods including their quite extensive own brand range.

• Lactose free and wheat free: very good. Lots of choice for bread, crackers, flour, pasta, sauces, cakes, biscuits and dairy free chocolate. You can even find lactose free chocolate spread on a good day. (Well, I found it once). Not so good on chilled deserts.
• FODMAPs: nothing specific.
• No added sugar: I haven't spotted any specific products but they do sell a few of the staples you may need if following any of the popular 'Quit Sugar' plans, e.g. nuts, different sugars. I can also find bread without added sugar.
• Other positives:  Generally good for fresh fruit and veg. The only place I have found which sells big bags of whole wheat pasta.

Co-op. Pretty good although the 'free from' range tends to be quite small - possibly a reflection of the the size of the stores. They have their own range and have enough stock to provide necessities with a small element of choice.

• Lactose free and wheat free: A good range, including bread, flour, crackers, pasta, cakes, snacks, pesto. Unlikely to be much in the chilled desert range.
• FODMAPs: Nothing specific
• No added sugar: Some whole wheat products and I have managed to find bread without added sugar (Vogel's).  No specific products. 
• Other positives: Lots of fresh food although not necessarily a wide choice. However, I generally find that my Co-op shopping trips are the least expensive.

Lidl. In my experience, free from 'free from'.

• Other positives: Cheap! As with Aldi, an inexpensive albeit limited choice of fresh fruit and veg.

Morrisons. OK. A limited own brand 'free from' range plus some of the bigger brands. Most of their own range seems to be sweet rather than savoury.

• Lactose and wheat free: All of the staples. Bread, pasta, dairy free chocolate, milk, snacks, cakes and biscuits. 
• FODMAPs: Nothing specific.
• No added sugar: Some whole wheat products and some of their own wholemeal bread doesn't contain added sugar.
• Other positives: Morrisons more than hold their own with their fresh fruit and veg selection. They also stock a good range of fish.

Sainsburys. Very good. A similar range of 'free from' products to Asda,  including a very good own brand range. Good for bread, bread products, pasta, flour, sugars, condiments, cakes, biscuits, snacks, savouries, dairy free chocolate and puddings. Not much in the way of chilled deserts.

• Lactose and wheat free: Very good. See the above list. Sainsburys have really thought about this. My shop of choice for economic lactose-free milk.
• FODMAPs: Nothing specific but their Free From Frozen Margherita Pizza doesn't contain onion or garlic. (It does however contain milk in the form of cheese, so low lactose rather than lactose free).
• No added sugar:  Nothing specific but I can always find brands which don't add sugar, such as Marigold Vehetable Buillion, Sainsburys' own brand reduced salt yeast extract and various bread products. larger Sainsburys stock many of the 'Quit Sugar' staples.
• Other positives: A very good range of fresh fruit and veg. More vegetarian choices in their frozen range than many competitors.

Tesco. Very good. A very extensive 'free from' own brand which Tesco has clearly put a great deal of thought into. Good for everything, but I have to give them a shout out on behalf of Robbie for their new dairy free strawberry and vanilla cones.  Also, while they are by no means my favourite supermarket,  Tesco is definitely King of the Lactose-Free Chilled Desert Mountain. Less positively, these days their fruit and veg seems to have quite short dates, even after rummaging.

• Lactose and wheat free: Really good. Everything you might need, provided you go to a large store.
• FODMAPs: Nothing specific. 
• No added sugar: A larger store is likely to stock most of the 'Quit Sugar' staples.
• Other positives: One of only 2 places you can scan while you shop. A huge time saver. And, if your scanned shop is selected for a random check when you pay, Tesco staff only have to rescan a small number of items, unlike Waitrose where the whole shop has to be rescanned.

Waitrose. A limited range, even in larger stores. Possibly they expect their target customers to prepare everything from scratch? They have their own 'free from' range which includes the usual bread, bread products, pasta, cakes, snacks and biscuits, plus they stock selected items from other brands.

• Lactose and wheat free: Good, albeit with few alternatives in some categories. Their own brand bread products taste delicious,
• FODMAPs: Nothing specific.
• No added sugar: Nothing specific but Waitrose is surely the spiritual home of spelt?
• Other positives: One of only 2 stores where you can save valuable time by scanning as you shop. Their food is always of a high standard and there is, of course, the free coffee for My Waitrose customers.

There are very few store cupboard ingredients out there for FODMAP intolerance, so most of our cooking has to be done from scratch. I will share the few FODMAP friendly products I have found in a later post.