Hello Sugar Free Challengers!
Today’s Reason to be Sugar-Free:
The single largest source of calories for Americans comes from sugar—specifically high fructose corn syrup. Just take a look at the sugar consumption trends of the past 300 years:
-In 1700, the average person consumed about 4 pounds of sugar per year.
-In 1800, the average person consumed about 18 pounds of sugar per year.
-In 1900, individual consumption had risen to 90 pounds of sugar per year.
-In 2009, more than 50 percent of all Americans consume one-half pound of sugar PER DAY—translating to a whopping 180 pounds of sugar per year! It comes to no surprise that America is the leading weight loss pill resource.
Today, 32 percent of Americans are obese and an additional one-third are overweight. Compare that to 1890, when a survey of white males in their fifties revealed an obesity rate of just 3.4 percent. In 1975, the obesity rate in America had reached 15 percent, and since then it has doubled. —Dr. Johnson via Dr. Mercola
A lot of you have been asking for it, so here is a sample meal plan for a day of sugar free eats.
Breakfast: Roasted Sweet Potato and Rosemary Frittata
Lunch: Chopped BLT Cobb Salad
Snack: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with carrots, celery, olives, or gluten-free crackers
Dinner: Oven Baked Boneless BBQ Chicken Breast with homemade sauce, side salad, and side of starch of choice (rice, potato, sweet potato)
Dessert: Peach Crisp with Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream
Meal-prepping is a great way to stay on track. Choose a day to prepare all foods in advance and stock up for the week to stay on track! There are so many fun, new meal prep containers to use, too, click here for a great review. Glass containers are my personal favorite.
There is a lot of meat/dairy in this meal plan–do you have any suggestions for vegans?
Thanks!
Hi Courtney,
There is no dairy in the items listed above. I have some vegan baked goods that are great for breakfast (check out my recipe page), or oatmeal is always great. For the salad, replace the bacon with chickpeas. Instead of chicken for dinner, you may try black bean enchiladas or a vegetable-based soup!
You do realise that all carbs are simply sugar-in-waiting, and once you eat carbs your body turns them straight into sugar? Bread, rice, pasta, flour, any cereals, in fact any carbs, are just sugar. If you avoid “added sugar” or corn syrup in food but still eat carbs (I don’t call carbs “carbs”, I call carbs “sugar”) you are not sugar free. Swallow any of them and the body turns them right into sugar.
Hi Bernard,
If you mean the process of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, etc. that turns the organic compounds into glucose, then yes you are correct that all carbs are eventually turned into glucose for the body to use. In fact, did you know that even protein and fat turn into glucose in the body for energy? These are called gluconeogenic compounds and 58% of amino acids (protein) and 10% of fat are turned into glucose (or as you say “sugar’) in the body. If this is your definition of being “sugar free” then it would be impossible to survive or live because glucose is essential for hundreds of reactions and metabolic processes in the body. As I have said in my articles and bio, my website promotes avoiding added sugars in the diet, not all carbohydrates.