Sweet Education

So now you know - if you've been following along - that sugar is hidden everywhere. But do you know how to find it?  Do you know all the different names it goes by?  

Let's play a game - how many times can you find sugar listed on this label? Go on, I'll give you a minute. 

 

 So, how many could you find? 

High fructose corn syrup; Corn syrup; Brown sugar; Sugar; Honey; Molasses

So what gooey goodness is this, you ask?  Brownies? Cookies? 

Nope. Plain bread crumbs. The sugar content on the label was 4g. If you were just to look at the sugar content, you wouldn't have noticed all the different (overkill) ingredients. 

So here's a list of what to look for, with the rule of thumb being anything ending in "-ose" is sugar. The exception here is lactose, which doesn't affect your blood sugars the way the others do and is okay to consume during a sugar detox.

list found at About.com

• Agave Nectar
• Barley Malt Syrup
• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup, or corn syrup solids
• Dehydrated Cane Juice
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Maltodextrin
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Rice Syrup
• Saccharose
• Sorghum or sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Syrup
• Treacle
• Turbinado Sugar
• Xylose

Also - evaporated cane juice, which Wikipedia describes like this: "Nutritional benefits are minimal; evaporated cane juice contains trace minerals and vitamins but has the same amount of calories as table sugar."

The other thing to watch out for are "sugar alcohols." These are the things they add to "sugar free" products.  (Read more about them here). While there technically isn't sugar proper in these foods, the "fake" sugars are still fooling your body into thinking that sugar craving is being satisfied.  During a detox from the addiction to sugar, it's best to avoid this as well. 

I'm 20 days into this journey, only 1 1/2 hours from being a solid three weeks in. I must say, it's not as wholly-consuming as it was in the beginning. I've armed myself with "safe" snacks. I'm learning there are certain things I will need to make from scratch instead of purchase in order to avoid unnecessary sugars. I do still have cravings, mostly in the afternoon when lunch is over and I'm hurting for something sweet to "finish" my meal. But I'm staying strong, staying true to this journey. 

And that's what it is. A journey. People keep asking "are you ever going to eat sugar EVER AGAIN?" Why of course I will! But when I do, I'm praying I'm able to stop at one piece of candy, a reasonable amount of ice cream, a few bites of cake. I will evolve and get to that place. Right now? I don't think I could stop yet, as I still crave it. Every day I'm feeling stronger and more in control of my situation!