“The mental fog that went with the roller-coaster quest for sugar is gone,” she said. “Now the overly sweet treats I loved have lost their appeal.”
Not everyone noticed physical changes. Many reported simply feeling positive about being more in-the-know about what they were eating and drinking.
“I found it eye-opening. Added sugar is in what I considered to be pretty healthy food,” said Paula Doll-Wildenberg of St. Paul. Being part of the challenge taught her to be a “better consumer by reading labels more carefully.”
Mary Hanson-Busch of New Prague said she was shocked to learn how much added sugar she had been regularly consuming.
“I don’t drink pop, so that was easy, but smoothies and blended coffee drinks were frequent purchases for me,” she said. “I feel like I can continue to pass on products that have added sugar or other sugar substitutes and hope it leads to better food choices overall.”
And like Wynn Martin, many in the challenge found they actually enjoyed eating more vegetables and fruit and less processed and packaged foods.
“It was a good change in our house,” said Martin, who lives in Minneapolis.
This was what I ended up liking most about the challenge, too — the fresh foods we added to our shopping list. Cucumber slices instead of crackers. Fresh pineapple and mango instead of blondies and brownies, with no whining from our kids.
We also managed to (mostly) wean our youngest off ketchup, although some of this effort was undone when, out to eat as a family, she saw that red bottle on the table before we did. (My efforts at a homemade, date-sweetened ketchup were completely rejected, as were date and cocoa “brownie” bites.)
When the Star Tribune decided to host this challenge, our hope was that we’d learn about the added sugar in packaged foods, sauces and condiments, which would spur us to create new, healthy habits to keep sugar consumption more in line with current recommended limits.
Weight loss wasn’t one of the goals, but we did hear about it from lots of folks taking part. Many said they dropped a few pounds (this was true for me), while some said the scale didn’t change at all. Others, like Hanson-Busch, said they lost a dozen pounds or more.
Some of the most inspiring feedback we’ve received has been from those who are newly empowered to permanently take charge of how and when added sugar makes its way onto their plate.
“I have always been pretty conscientious about what I eat, but have never avoided sugars like this. It has been eye-opening,” said Mary Swanson Senneka.
“The challenge has made me more deliberate about what I eat. I will go back to eating sugars. I love a piece of dark chocolate now and then or a cookie or ice cream. But I think that I now want to be able to decide when I consume sugar — my choice on the chocolate, not a manufacturer deciding to put it in soup.”
Article source: https://www.thespec.com/living-story/9204387-what-giving-up-added-sugar-gave-us/