The Grinch who stole sugar from Christmas

We are quickly approaching that time of year again. The time when I would dust off all of my recipes and get to work baking for poisoning my family. I loved to see the look on their faces when they would come home to see their favorites treats beckoning them. From frosted cut out cookies to apple pies, a lot of the holiday season's emotional significance was in sugar laden food.

Part of my day is devoted to cooking and preparing real food from scratch. I've got to admit, the smell of bacon grease frying and the ambiance of the smoke detector blaring, as it was last night (our temporary rental house does not have an operating cooking fan but it does have very sensitive smoke detectors attached to very low ceilings), just isn't the same comfy cozy feeling as the smell of fresh baked cookies and breads coming out of the oven.

I've learned too much though, there's no way, knowing what I do now, for me to pour cup after cup of addictive and health devastating sugar into my family's food. I'm going to have to be the bad guy, the Grinch, the mom who will be depriving them of dopamine rushes, gas and bloating, holiday weight gain, blood sugar spikes, and inflammation pain.

My husband was asked yesterday, as he was eating his noodleless lasagna, how much sugar is acceptable in a diet.

None. Take a look at the label on your food. What is the "percentage daily value" of sugar in that particular item. Nothing's listed, is it? In other words, your body has no need for sugar. There is, however, a maximum amount that you should not go over:

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are (7): Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons). Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

The best way to wake up to the reality of what we are feeding our families is to track everything for a day or two. I thought back to when my son was four to six years old and what he would eat in a day. Remember, grown men should not consume more than 9 teaspoons of sugar in a day. This is also a very conservative estimate of what he ate. It doesn't include regular soda, candy or ice cream treats:
 
Breakfast
1 Cup Cheerios -1 gram sugar
1 tsp sugar sprinkled on top - 4 grams
1/2 Cup skim milk - 6 grams
1/2 Banana -7 grams sugar

1/2 Cup grape juice - 18 grams sugar
Lunch
1/2 Cup SphaghettiOs - 5 grams sugar
1 Serving Goldfish Crackers - 1 gram sugar
1/2 Cup skim milk - 6 grams sugar
Snack
1/2 Cup grapes - 8 grams sugar
Supper
2/3 cup Hamburger Helper Stroganoff - 7 grams sugar
1/3 cup cooked carrots - 1 gram sugar
1/2 cup skim milk - 6 grams sugar
Snack
Chocolate Chip Cookie - 17 grams sugar

Totals:
87 grams of sugar, which equals 22 teaspoons sugar which is approximately 1/2 cup sugar (over twice the dietary guidelines for sugar for grown men per day). That is 91 pounds of sugar per year.

To be honest, some days were much worse than that. I know for me, everyday was much worse than that.

Take a moment to read Dr. Mercola's article: The Bitter & Ugly Truth About Sugar

For the Holidays I could spend some time converting my recipes into sugar free treats using almond flour, coconut flour, Stevia, etc. but I think it might be a big waste of money and effort. A couple weeks ago I made a batch of pumpkin cookies doing just that. They taste pretty good. The problem is there is no addictive quality to them. I have never seen a batch of cookies last this long. It's similar to offering a heroin addict a cup off coffee. Whoopie! "Thanks Mom for the most unrewarding cookie ever!"

So this year we will start new traditions with regards to the foods we'll be eating.

A piece of bacon/kale/swiss cheese/crustless Quiche anyone? How about a nice soothing cup of turmeric and black pepper tea?

Update: Sugar is Definitely Toxic, a New Study Says

Watch This!

If you plan to binge watch anything this weekend, I highly recommend this. The Truth About Cancer docuseries will be airing all 9 episodes free this weekend.

The Truth About Cancer Replay

The Truth About Cancer

I just finished watching Episode 1 and highly recommend it to you.

Here is the trailer:

Episode 1: The True History of Chemotherapy & the Pharmaceutical Monopoly
Update:
Episode 2: Cancer Facts and Fictions, Breast Cancer, Hormones, Skin Cancer & Essential Oils 
Episode 3: Cancer-Killing Viruses, Cancer Stem Cells, GMOs, Juicing & Eating the Rainbow
Episode 4: Excitotoxins that Fuel Cancer, Nature's Pharmacy and Healing Cancer with Sound and Light 
If you are taking L-Glutamine as a supplement, you need to watch Episode 4.
Episode 5: Cancer Causing Blindspots, Toxic Vaccines, Homeopathy, & The Power of Emotions
Episode 6: The NOCEBO Effect, Healing Vaccines, Advanced Detoxing & Going Inside A German Cancer Clinic
Episode 7: Heal Cancer with Clean Electricity, Unique Water, Natural Sunlight & Combining Superfoods
Episode 8: Cannabis, Nature's Epigenetic Switches, Peptides & Healing With Micronutrient Therapy
Episode 9: Cancer conquerors and Their Powerful Stories of Victory

Loving Fat - an update

In May I told you about my goal to lose forty pounds at the age of forty. I'm closing in on that goal with only 11 pounds to go and three months to do it.

Want to know a secret? I'm not doing anything but living my life with my new way of eating incorporated in it - never hungry, never feeling deprived, fully satisfied, and feeling incredibly healthy. I haven't exercised or exerted myself more than what my normal day requires. Week after week I lose a pound here and a pound there, a half inch of fat here and a half inch of fat there. My lean muscle mass has remained unchanged and my energy level is higher than it has ever been. I'm enjoying life without inflammation pain in my joints - like I had in my 30's. I'll be honest, I don't miss grueling work outs and the physical pain of exercises my body was never built for (running, for example).

By eating silly amounts of fat, I am steadily and without effort losing fat in a slow and very manageable way.

RLB remains pain free though he has a herniated disc in his back. It's been four and a half months since he was on Morphine and Percocet to manage his sciatic pain. The recurring facet nerve pain he had has not returned either. He had been getting injections for that pain every four months. His last injection was in the beginning of April. August came and went and the pain didn't return.

Always the scientist, he must test his pain threshold every now and then by eating a(n) (un)healthy dose of carbohydrates and feeling like crap for the next day. He claims it's because he needs to know if there is healing going on. I think it's because he needs to know how that burger tastes with the bun, or to revisit that dopamine high from that little piece of a gooey chocolate bar. The pain flushes through his leg shortly after his indulgence. Then my logical scientist makes yet another hypothesis that he must refrain from sugar in order to remain pain free.

We've had to purchase a new wardrobe for him. He's lost more weight than I have (of course) and is back to the slender anvil shape he had when I first met him.

I continue to study and research as much as I can about the Ketogenic diet and willingly share all that I learn with anyone who requests to know.

I often get asked if I'll ever be able to eat carbohydrates again. I do eat plenty of them, but they are all in the form of vegetables and nuts. No, I don't think I'll ever want to eat sugar again. I've learned far too much at this point. And, when I've eaten something that has added sugar I've found it's too sweet for me to enjoy. I've tasted bread here and there and it tastes like Play-doh to me.

Some of you will understand this (those who have been food addicts or gluttons), the most valuable thing I've gained from eating this way is the freedom to no longer fight with myself over food. I don't have food cravings anymore. I've successfully retrained my fat cells to communicate effectively with my brain. Nothing in my head is telling me to indulge. As a result of that, or just another huge benefit of this way of eating, I have no guilt from eating, no shame, no feeling of defeat. Some of you are probably wondering "what was wrong with you?" - really, that's what people who struggle with their weight go through. I remember it all too well. It's agonizing.

I once surrendered to believing that my struggle was about sin and rebellion to God. I spent a lot of time in prayer over this. Guess what, God didn't convict me I was in sin, he convicted me I needed to learn more and then He led me - He led me to the articles, to the people who knew more than I did, and to the research and studies.

Shout out to Keoni of the Hawaiian Libertarian - thank you for providing so much information, the links, and conviction. Also to commentator Looking Glass who took the time to help heal our guts (including my daughter's) with his very knowledgeable supplement recommendations.

Here are some of the links I've learned even more from:
Cereal Killers Movie
Real Meal Revolution
Mercola
The Charlie Foundation
The Weston A. Price Foundation
Doc's Opinion 

One of the videos I suggest to anyone curious about this fat eating diet is The Oiling of America by Sally Fallon Morell of the Weston Price Foundation. It's long and very informative, I hope you'll take the time: