Yes, it is me. I was a prior sugarholic! Anyone else want to fess up to this? I have exercised and have been active all my life but like many of you, I LOVE to eat and previously the sweeter the better. A few years ago, when my family and I first moved to Alaska, we noticed the price of things was much higher than back home. So rather than buying birthday cakes and cupcakes, I would make my own. I got really good at making my own butter cream icing and fondant. I didn’t necessarily feel bad and didn’t think there was anything wrong with this.
I was never a big regular soda drinker, but really loved Diet Coke and would drink several a day. We would buy in bulk at Costco and run out before the next shopping trip. So what happened? When and why did things change? Well as you come to know me better, you will find out that I would never ask anyone to do something I was not willing to do myself. So recommending that patients cut out sugar seemed such a simple task. You know it is bad for you, so just cut it out. Not so easy, right? So when I looked at how much sugar/ artificial sweeteners I was taking in, I knew I had to make a change. The other thing that really bothers me is the craze of artificial everything in our food. Is there some connection with the health of the world and the artificial ingredients, flavors and colorings we ingest every day? So I have been on a mission to eliminate what I call “the chemicals” in our food. Why can’t we eat real natural food that is delicious without a bunch of additives?
So now that you know that this is something I’ve personally dealt with….let’s talk sugar and changes to food nutrition labels.