I knew it was coming. The headache. I'm not making it up. It's not the kind of headache you get at night sometimes when your husband wants to hug (or more) and you have just eaten that night-time bowl of cereal because you were busy keeping the baby from throwing food across the room, or focused on making sure the others are eating their veggies, or any food for that matter. Don't get me wrong familydinner time is beautiful and essential, but noone ever said it wouldn't give you indigestion. So back to the headache, it was bad. According to 'sciencedaily.com' (May 4, 2009) — Ever miss your daily cup of coffee and subsequently get a pounding headache? According to reports from consumers of coffee and other caffeinated products, caffeine withdrawal is often characterized by a headache, fatigue, feeling less alert, less energetic and experiencing difficulty concentrating. -

I rarely get headaches (don't tell). I don't drink coffee, never have. I don't even drink caffeine. But could sugar really have the same withdrawal effects as coffee and caffeine?

And also, wisegeek.com (sounds like a reliable source) said "However, even cutting out some of these things (refined sugars) is likely to result in less dependence on sugar sugar sugar, and possibly less “addiction” to sugar sugar sugar."
I'm not sure why they said it three times, maybe they are addicted to sugar like me, maybe they too stutter at the thought of it, drooling aside. Maybe I'm not the only one who is a sugarholic. Not for long.....no more night time sugared cereals for me. You're welcome dear.

Oatmeal Cookies

Is there some unwritten law among neighbors that if you borrow an egg, cup of flour, or even a bit of sugar, you are entitled to a portion of the baked good? If sabatoge had a face it would look like a cute young mom with her little boy who shows up on your doorstep Sunday afternoon with a bag full of cookies, chocolate chip OATmeal cookies. It wasn't their fault, I haven't made the sign for my forehead that says "societal recluse", or "sugar allergy", or simply just "crazy person who started a sugar blog". Any one would do to scare off those darn neighbors who think about sharing their sweets with me. Don't they know they are adding salt to my gaping wound?
No worries, I convinced myself that they couldn't possibly taste as good as they smelled, just before I cried.

Whistler

So on my run this morning I had a car pass by and I could have sworn I heard a whistle. You know the kind to get your attention. I looked behind me to see who they were whistling at. Never mind that it was a self-made truck, the kind of guy that has some friend at the detail shop or better yet, works there himself and drives the car as a way of advertising. The know just how to cut the back half off and leave only the really important parts, engine, front seats, windows, etc. So, a guy in a half-truck, whistled at me. That hasn't happened in 15 years. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind if it never happened again. But funny thing is, I bet he saw that I hadn't had sugar in 12 hours. Look, it's already making a difference!

At least I have to tell myself that because my trip to the grocery store was a bit like a dentist visit, only worse. At least at the dentist office you know the anesthesia will wear off after a few hours. As I perused the aisles (I didn't even attempt the middle ones) I was shocked by how little I actually eat on this "No Sugar" plan. Who's idea was this anyway? I entered with low expectations, I knew that it was going to be challenging, but really? Does everything need a boost of sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (that doesn't deserve to be capitalized) to sale in this country? So I made it safely through the fruits and vegetables area, filling my cart generously as I wasn't quite sure anything else in the store would be illegal on this crazy plan. Well, the trouble started with my favorite market fresh salsa, I love this stuff. Fresh. Good. Healthy. Salsa. As I turned over the container there it was glaring at me, laughing at me, SUGAR. Scratch the salsa off my dwindling grocery list. I tried my best to laugh back and keep my "no sugar" positive attitude. Had it really only been 12 hours? The deli counter was next. Honey Ham please? 1/2 pound. I asked to look just to get the practice, not thinking that anyone would think that anyone would pollute the deli counter with unwanted sugars, it's deli meat for heaven sakes. Again, the laughing, this time growing louder. My Honey Ham had honey alright but it also had sugar!!! I checked a few other deli meats, the good quality kind that have no MSG, laughter. I was pretty sure that defeat was around the corner, that I would lay prostrate on the grocery store aisle and bang my fists thinking how I couldn't quit, I had started a blog. Finally the Virginia Ham saved me. No sugar. I regained my strength and began thinking about cheese, pretty safe area. I loaded up, thinking that if I was missing the sugar I could shock my mouth with a few sharp cheeses. Maybe that will take care of those nighttime cravings. Dairy aisle, my favorite "healthy" yogurts were out. Even though they brag "organic sugar", who even knows what that means.

It looks like research time. More later.

My friend once told me that there is no bigger contrast on the color scheme than black and white, that's why I chose it for my template. Contrast, a marked difference. Yep, that's what I want, a marked difference, a contrast. So I decided to start this experiment and knew that I had to fully commit, thus the blog. So here's the experiment:

365 days without sugar: What kind of sugar? Because it is impossible to completely rid your diet of sugar, and unhealthy, I wanted to see what kind of difference it would make in my life to cut out all refined sugars, particularly the High Fructose Corn Syrup. That cuts quite a bit of food out of my American diet. This indeed will be an adventure. So, what am I left with?


http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/carbs/1082/"Sugar cane and beets are subjected to the same refining processes and produce identical products. In the repeated processes of washing, boiling, centrifuging, filtering and drying, nearly all of the plant’s nutritional elements are lost. What remains in the raw sugar product is 95% sucrose along with nutritionally insignificant minerals. "Raw Sugar" is not a raw or natural product at all, but is the highly refined, nutritionally depleted, 95% sucrose product before it is even further refined. IF sanitized by steaming this "raw sugar" can be marketed as turbinado. To produce the white crystals we call table sugar, bleaching agents such as lime and carbon dioxide are added. The sugar is then further "purified" (refined) and whitened by being filtered in a water-added liquid state through beef bone char. This process removes even more minerals. Sucrose in its completely refined stage is more familiarly called table sugar. "Pure" sugar refers to chemical purity, devoid of all nutritional and other elements, and not to a wholesome quality.The completely refined white sugar product is now over 99.9% sucrose and for all practical purposes contains no nutritional elements such as vitamins, minerals, proteins or fibers. This accounts for expressions such as "empty calories" and "junk food".

So there you have it. Refined sugar is basically devoid of all nutrients.
more later.