Fructose = Evil Devil Food

Well.....sugar free has started, I am two days in and I think I am doing OK!  I did have a few moments today of wondering if my sugar withdrawals were kicking in and making me more irritable, until a wonderful work colleague informed me that was my usual level of irritability so no sugar withdrawals yet:)

So far I'm really enjoying the food on the "I Quit Sugar" Plan.  Had to make some Paleo Veggie Bread on Sunday which I'm having for breakfasts this week with smashed avocado and feta.  To be honest I was making this bread and thinking, bloody hell toasted sawdust for breakfast for the week I mean really....the word "Paleo" and "Veggie Bread" just scream out sawdust don't they!  Well definitely a case of never judging a book by it's cover, it was so tasty I know wonder how I have survived without it in my life for nearly 32 years.  I will definitely post a photo once I figure out how, and share the recipe.  So ya 2 days in I'm going great!

So, while I still feel positive, and am at my usual level of irritability I am going to try answer a few questions that people have asked since my big announcement I was quitting sugar.  Apologies it's a bit dry but you may learn something you never knew before)

Firstly, I have had a few people ask if I am going Paleo.  Simple answer is no.  I am a firm believer that if Cave Man met a cow and said cow said "Hey man, I'm full of this yummy milky goodness and if you take it out you can drink it, and make it into butter and cheese and stuff" cave man would have been down there in a flash milking that cow.  What he wouldn't have done is strip the fat out of the milk and add sugar, which is where the quitting sugar business comes in, it's about eating real food without all the processing.

Second question which I have been asked a few times is "Why is Sugar so bad?",  I am going to attempt to answer this question but I am open to correction if I say anything incorrect (please don't blame me Physios are amazing at pretty much everything, but this one thing I can't claim to be an expert on!).

So here goes.  There are heaps of different types of sugars including, lactose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, etc., and then there is "fructose"(aka devil evil sugar). Whilst some sugars, for example glucose, are easily broken down by our bodies and use for energy, fructose is almost exclusively broken down by our liver, which in turn means your liver can't do the job it was designed to do.  If the liver cannot break down this fructose, it stores it as fat.  Fructose also makes us eat more, as it raises a hormone that makes you eat more, and it's been found to be highly addictive.  So that's just a brief bit of info which I hope makes sense.  To summarise it all though if you don't want to read all those words:

Frustose = Devil Sugar

Finally, the question everyone keeps asking (I can't quite figure out if this is a reflection on me, or the friends I have gathered around me), "Can you drink wine if you quit sugar?"  Apparently those friends who ask me don;t know me too well, because there is no way I could survive 8 week without my best friend wine!  The reason you can still drink wine (I am willing to accept this explanation with no questions asked as well), is that wine actually contains minimal fructose.  Apparently (and I am willing to accept this explanation with no questions asked), the fructose in grapes is what ferments to become alcohol, and after it is fermented it actually contains less than 1g of sugar per litre of wine.  Another reason wine is so amazing, it's cleverness never ceases to amaze me!!!

Well, enough of that boring stuff, before I sign off I am going to attempt to put a link to a YouTube Clip, which was something I saw a few years ago, and started to open my eyes to why low fat isn't necessarily better.  Hope it works, otherwise you are now just reading this wondering if my sugar withdrawals have finally kicked in and I am going slowly crazy!  Thanks for reading, hopefully next time will be feeling as positive:)