Life is sweet

There’s been a whole lot of talk in recent years about how sugar’s not great for you. It’s such a big field of discussion that we’ve included a special report about sugar and its impact on health in our recent issue, #146. I won’t go into detail on the bitter truth about the sweet stuff. Let’s just say current thinking suggests it’s best to bid refined sweet fixes farewell and be done with them (or, if you must, indulge in high-quality small quantities).

Only, it’s not always that easy…

I’ve been on the warpath against sugar for a good number of years now. I’ve also had a not-so-minor attraction to it. It’s a comforting addition to food and drink that reminds me of childhood treats and good times at friend-packed tables. I mean, how many festive foods don’t include added sugar? At the risk of sounding like someone without any more pressing problems, it’s been a bit of a struggle between sugar and willpower. And often The White-Caped One has come out victorious.

Everyone has their own reasons for eating sweets and processed foods with added sugar. It might be a result of habits, emotions, compulsions or a deeper physiological reason, for example. I don’t pretend to be a health expert and I can only speak about my own personal experiences with sugar.

With respect to my own journey, however, I’ve put my difficulty with giving up sugar down to three things: I was accustomed to sweet tastes due to my eating habits; I craved sweet things emotionally, in a sense to make up for a lack of “sweetness” in my life; I also had an overgrowth of the yeast known as candida. I’ve broken up with sugar, I’ve fallen for it again, I’ve broken up with it … and so the saga continues.

Why am I sharing such personal information? Because sometimes it’s reassuring to realise that no one is perfect; no one has a willpower of steel all the time. That’s certainly been the case with me and sugar. If we don’t share, we just struggle alone.

So in September, in the interest of group support, I’ll be giving up sugar and writing about my experience. I’ll also be breaking in the new WellBeing Instagram account by taking a daily photo of those sweet moments in life for which sugar can become a replacement — if we don’t seek them out and savour them.

If you’re ready to do the same, why not try it with me? Do your research on the health impacts of refined sugar, read the experts’ tips on how best to break its grip, follow WellBeing_Mag on Instagram and share your own photos, if you like, using #LifeIsSweet.

As they say in NZ, sweet as. Let’s do this together.

Danielle x