Sugar

I've been reading quite a bit lately about sugar and the addiction many people have to it. I fully agree with the idea that "we" eat far too much sugar and refined carbohydrates. Sugar used to be a food item that was eaten in moderation, something that was used sparingly as it was expensive and relatively hard to get. It's really been since the introduction of the concept that fat is bad that sugar has increased in consumption. Take the fat out of a product and you need to increase the sugar to make it edible - eg yoghurt. There is sugar in burger buns so that when they get zapped in the microwave they freshen up perfectly! There is ALOT of sugar in processed food, so when that is what most people eat, then it follows that people are eating more sugar. Now, I did seriously consider going off sugar entirely and this may seem a lousy excuse, but a) I don't think I'm addicted and b)I don't want to as we don't eat much processed food in our house and if we do it's usually in the form of chips and crackers. I try to label read to make sure I make good choices with these. We don't eat them often either. We use Rapdura sugar, organic raw sugar, maple syrup or honey for sweetening. I do bake cakes and biscuits for Kim (occasionally). But really, sweet treats are just that - treats. It's not sugar apparently that's the problem, it's fructose. We eat a lot of fruit. In summer it's fruit salad and yoghurt and soaked oats for breakfast, winter means grapefruit (with a little sugar on it) and orange juice and then fruit for lunch as well. Juice is bad as it's pure fructose. Our oranges are ripe and they make the most delicious juice! We are currently eating home grown oranges and monsterio deliciousio, local bananas and pineapples (fairly local anyway) and I'm still eating dried mango from last summer - dried fruit of course is another baddy. I will try to only eat local fruits (goodbye apples and pears) but I really do think all food should be eaten in moderation. The secret to good health is a balanced diet and for me, fruit and sweet things will be part of it. Having said that, good luck to those that have a sugar addiction and want to get over it!