The sweetest thing

I've been a foodie for a long time but I must admit, I was a sugar ignoramus. Now that I've seen the error of my sweet, sweet ways and cut back big time, my hawk eye spots it on most ingredient lists. The local shops here at the beach don't have my usual chocolate (Green & Black's Organic Dark), so I thought I'd be safe with a conventional bar. Bah-bowm. You'd expect any dark chocolate bar to have cocoa as the first ingredient but not this baby: sugar first, then cocoa and then a hit of some hideous processed vegetable oil and then... it was back on the shelf.

Once you sharpen your peepers, you'll start seeing sugar (white, raw, brown, caster, honey, maple syrup, malt, glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup) in everything from stocks to sauces, bread to soup. Avoid it, you don't need it. And if you're craving sugar, it's because you're eating it. Believe me, once you've cut most of it out, you won't want it. Food tastes good again, energy is better than ever and even your skin will thank you. Need some scary facts to get going? Ok, here goes...

* puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
* it can clog up your arteries, putting you at risk of heart disease and stroke.
* your body releases insulin to cope with sugar, which promotes the storage of fat. Nuff said.
* the immune system gets horribly sluggish, leading to anything from a cold to disease.
* messes with your mind... can aggravate mood and anxiety disorders.
* reduces good cholesterol and pumps up the bad cholesterol.
* tooth decay anyone?
* it interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium.
* skin sags because sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
* there's also headaches, kidney stones, eczema, gallstones, appendicitis, haemorrhoids, varicose veins, food allergies...

And don't even think about choosing sweeteners. Just because your body doesn't recognize them as sugar doesn't mean they don't cause complete anarchy on the inside.
If the cravings are driving you nuts, up your intake of wholemeal foods and proteins. Or eat a handful of nature's best: berries. You'll be right.