HI, MY NAME IS SUMMER RAYNE. I'VE ALWAYS HAD A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH MY BODY AND ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME CAN ATTEST THAT I'M FOR THE MOST PART A CLEAN-EATING, ACTIVE INDIVIDUAL. I EXERCISE FREQUENTLY. I'VE NEVER DRUNK ALCOHOL OR COFFEE. AND I RARELY IMBIBE IN CAFFEINE. MY CRAVINGS, HOWEVER, EXIST IN THE FORM OF AMERICA'S (AND THE WORLD'S) FAVORITE RECREATIONAL DRUG—SUGAR!
To say I grew up in a health-conscious household is an understatement. My mother was a ballet, tap, jazz, and aerobics instructor and was the principal gardener and grocery shopper in our household. She knew the detrimental effects of sugar and forbade the substance in the home, opting instead for safflower burgers and those giant wheat cereal biscuits that look more like a loofah that you’d scrub your feet with rather than something you’d eat (although as carbs—they were in fact, sugar). Her plans were not foolproof. Sugar always seemed to creep into our home—often masquerading in over four dozen different names or forms like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), maltose, dextrose, and cane sugar.
I’d placate my cravings by raiding the cupboards for anything we had in whatever form—as long as it was sweet. Occasionally I’d find myself downing packets of hot chocolate (without any water) or grabbing a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Grandma’s house was always a joy too; she had copious amounts of sugar in all forms— ice cream, frosting, candies, cakes. I would fill my pockets with all sorts of goodies laced with my favorite drug. Luckily by the time I was a teenager, my candy-eating days had waned, but to this day certain sweets still trigger me.
Not too long ago, a substantial portion of red velvet cake made its way to my desk. Its creamy frosting was generously slathered over its moist red center. It’s as if some childhood hoarding mentality had reared its head. I had to reach for a fork and taste it. Granted, it was quite possibly the best red velvet cake I have ever eaten, but why did I feel compelled to taste it? Was I even really hungry? I don’t get the same cravings if someone shows up with a juicy burger or a freshly-baked bread loaf or steamed veggies...so what is it about sweets—and certain sweets in particular—that provoke my salivary glands?
A recent Credit Issue report revealed that over $1 trillion of our healthcare costs in the U.S. alone are linked to our over consumption of sugar (ref). That's a sobering fact! Given that so many of us can't seem to satisfy our sweet tooth, I felt compelled to create this website as a resource to help you kick the habit.
I've always been taught that having a good diet combined with daily exercise, the ability to manage and overcome stressful situations, and maintaining loving, supportive relationships is the key to a healthy life. That can be very challenging, especially in the face of our daily responsibilities and ever-changing situations. At the very least, I hope that my own personal sugar detox and the development of these resources will not only serve as inspiration towards your pursuit of health, but also be a useful, down-to-earth guide that takes the guesswork out of the research, the recipes, and the risks revolving around cleansing ourselves from that five letter word—S-U-G-A-R.
All my best,
Sugar is a drug.
Sugar is an addictive substance that has been shown to change your biochemical pathways, override self-control mechanisms, and prompt you to eat more of it. Any food executive looking to get customers hooked would quickly realize that they could do so legally with a generous dose of sugar. Michael Moss, the author of Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us writes, “the optimum amount of sugar in a product became known as the ‘bliss point,’” and food inventors are obsessive on finding the exact amount that keeps us coming back for more.
He reports that some of the largest food companies have been employing the use of brain scans to understand how we neurologically respond to sugar (it’s not unlike how our brains would respond to cocaine, another highly addictive and harmful substance). As a matter of fact, sugar is far more addictive than cocaine. A 2007 report demonstrated that when given the option of water sweetened with saccharin or intravenous cocaine 94 percent of rats preferred the sweet taste of saccharin. Increasing the doses of cocaine didn’t even override the preference for sugar in the rats.
Not surprisingly, a substance this addictive is big business. According to a recent report from BCC Research, the global market share for sugar and sweeteners in 2012 was $77.5BN and is projected to grow to a whopping $97.2BN in 2017. Sugar and other sweeteners have become ubiquitous: A 2014 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows that on average, 75 percent of all our foods and beverages contain added sugar—across an array of types of foods and brand names. That means if we were blindfolded in a supermarket and had to pick food at random, three out of four times we’d grab something with sugar in it!
Our bodies are going into sugar shock.
Refined sugars were virtually absent in our diets for much of human history, so it should come to no surprise that our bodies aren’t used to the chemical assault that we have unleashed upon them. Three hundred years ago people—on average—consumed a measly 4 pounds/year! This was in part due to the novelty of sugar and its hefty price tag. During that time a pound of sugar was equivalent to around $45, which is far pricier than what we can buy it for today, which is about $1.70/pound at retail. By the time we reached 1800, people were consuming about 18 pounds of sugar per year. And when England’s prime minister, William Gladstone, removed the sugar tax in 1874, the consumption of the addictive substance blossomed into 100 pounds per person per year by 1950—a little less than 2 pounds/week.[1] Since 1950, the amount of sugar intake per capita has quietly crept up. 1980 saw an increase to 120 pounds; by 2010 it was 132 pounds/year; and current consumption, according to the USDA, hovers around 152 pounds annually, which is inching towards 3 pounds/week!
As you can imagine, three pounds of sugar every week is well outside the suggested intake. In March of this year, the World Health Organization proposed new draft guidelines that sugar should not exceed 10 percent of a person’s total energy intake/day and by reducing our intake to five percent of our energy intake/day we would have additional health benefits, like preventing tooth decay, which has become prevalent across the world. To put that in perspective, 5 percent is equivalent to around 25 grams or 6 teaspoons/day or a little over 1/3 of a pound/week. Considering that on average we’re consuming 9 times our daily allowance, we are really pushing our limits.
After learning more about this all-too-common chemical assault on my body and reflecting on my past obsession with sugar, I began to feel more empowered and energized to make a change. At the risk of sounding like this is one giant ad for taking control, I’ve decided to do a 30-day sugar detox to once and for all break free of my sugar cravings. In the coming days, I’ll not only share with you the process that I will go through in order to do this nutritional reset; but also the highlights, the recipes, and the good friends who will be helping me along the way. Since this process is new to me, as it will be for some of you, I welcome you to provide your thoughts, advice, and educated opinions on the matter so that those interested in the journey may learn along with us.
You realize how much we turn to certain foods to comfort us especially when we decide to remove them — even temporarily — from our diet. I have, as you know, decided to do a sugar cleanse and after several months of research and planning, these are the ten steps that I've naturally come up with in order to help make it a success. This may not be the steps that you personally need to follow, but hopefully it can serve as a well thought-out guide that will help you along your path.
STEP 1. Know that a food addiction is real.
The concept of a “food addiction” is relatively new. In the past, if I had seen someone who was morbidly obese or downing their fifth Twinkie, I would think to myself that the person has a lack of willpower or discipline; a common thought had by many. However, as Richard L. Atkinson, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science at the University of Wisconsin, penned in the journal Nutrition and Health(2005), this is no longer defensible given all the current studies showing how sugar and other substances definitively alter our biochemical pathways.[1] This is an absolute paradigm shift in the way we think about what we eat. It shouldn’t however, be hard to believe once you understand that sugar is 8 times as addictive than cocaine. Whether we realize it or not, many of us use food—and in particular, sugar—to alter our brain chemistry..Most commonly, that sugar induces the release of serotonin, endorphins and dopamine, changing our brain chemistry, and subsequently, our moods.
STEP 2. Learn how biochemical pathways are altered after consuming sugar.
It’s difficult to summarize the complex processes surrounding the release of serotonin, endorphins and dopamine. The best and easiest-to-understand explanations I found were in a book entitled Anatomy of a Food Addiction published in 1991, though it was helpful to supplement those explanations with newer research.
We actually have a mass of neural tissue in our gut called the enteric nervous system that scientists have dubbed “the second brain.” According to Scientific American, this area contains over 100 million neurons and more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain. In fact, 95 percent of the body’s serotonin is found in the bowels. Serotonin brings relief and this likely evolved in our body because we generally eat when we feel safe. If we’re being chased by some bad guy who wants to hunt us down, we’re likely not going to take a leisurely stroll through the market or go through the fast food drive-thru to grab some grub. We’ll wait until he’s out of sight! It’s only when we feel safe again that our stomach sends us the signals to eat. When we eat, the food is designed to comfort us. For some of us—perhaps those that have lower serotonin levels to being with—food like refined carbs, sugar, alcohol, and white bread are used to boost the serotonin that we’re lacking
Endorphins are often also released when people eat sweets, starches and fats. These help relieve discomfort and pain and allow people to temporarily feel good. If you eat sugar, beta-endorphin is released and you’ll likely want to eat more sugar. This will continue to release more beta-endorphin and you’ll want to eat more. A more detailed explanation of this process is in Anatomy of a Food Addiction, but to sum it up: Stress triggers the release of dynorphin, a type of endorphin that is a powerful appetite stimulant. When you eat, the act of chewing releases dopamine, and dopamine comforts. Thus, stress was comforted by eating. For sugar addicts, we often turn to sugars and starches for comfort. When we eat that sugar, our dopamine levels—or reward centers—are turned on, making us feel good. The problem? Over time, we need to eat more and more sugar to obtain that same level of dopamine release.
STEP 3. Determine whether you have an addiction and the extent to which you have one.
Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity produced the Yale Food Addiction Scale, which is a series of 25 questions designed to identify whether someone has a substance dependence with the consumption of high fat/high sugar foods. The quiz and the way the scoring is tallied is here and here. According to the quiz, I do not qualify as having a food addiction, though I do exhibit withdrawal symptoms and have 3 symptoms out of 7 if scored on the continuous scoring scale. This is helpful to identify because it gives me a goal to work toward improving or resolving.
STEP 4. Know where your sugar comes from.
Where we obtain our sugar naturally varies from person to person. It would make sense to keep a journal on where and how much sugar we consume on a daily basis, but for those of us who don’t have the time, we can instead become aware of how the majority of us—unknowingly—consume sugar. About 29 pounds (17 percent) of the 152 pounds that we consume each year comes directly from traditional sugar. About 26 percent of added sugars in our diets come from prepared foods like ketchup, spreads, salad dressings, canned vegetables and fruits, and peanut butter. Around 33 percent of added sugar in our diet comes from soft drinks—consumption of soda has increased fivefold since 1950.[2] Approximately 10 percent of our sugars come from sweetened fruit drinks; five percent from candy and cake; four percent from cereal; and the same goes for table sugar, honey, cookies, brownies, syrups and toppings.[3]
STEP 5. Research what you can and can’t eat.
When you go on a proper sugar detox, it means taking out all sugars and starches for the time you are doing the detox. This is not a diet. It is a nutritional reset so that you may be able to break the cycle of sugar reliance and addiction. That means you need to overcompensate for a while in order to achieve those goals. A list of foodstuffs you need to avoid and that I’ll be removing from my diet over the next 30 days can be found here.
STEP 6. Clean out your kitchen.
Some of us are more prone to an external food sensitivity, which means that we get cravings after seeing or smelling food—despite whether we are hungry or not. You know yourself better than anyone else, so if this is something that sets you off, then I would suggest cleaning out your kitchen of anything that would serve as a weakness. Take a look at salsas, salad dressings, juice, soda, candy, sweets, fruit and grain bars, and instant oatmeal. All of these items will have some sugar in them. Try to remove as much of the temptation as possible.
STEP 7. To break your sugar cravings, you need to abstain—not moderate.
It’s far easier to follow a program when restrictions are very black and white. One little bit of sugar can actually set them off on a downward spiral, so it’s best to remove sugar completely from one’s diet...at least for some time. There are so many programs on the Internet advertising different lengths of time. Behavioral research shows that the length of time to course correct from a bad habit varies dramatically from person-to-person, and some people aren’t able to ever touch a substance again. My suggestion is try the detox for 30 days; observe how you feel after it; reflect on your ability to work through the detox; revel in how you were able to follow the plan; and then determine if you’d like to continue forward with your newfound health plan. Remember: This isn’t a permanent diet—this is a lifestyle plan to help you cleanse your system of your sugar cravings and help you start eating more wholesome foods and live a healthier life.
STEP 8. Plan your recipes in advance
It’s far easier to follow a program when you have a list of ingredients and recipes that you can work from. Over the past few weeks I’ve been taking a look at the ingredients that I can have and coming up with interesting recipe ideas that would personally work for me in addition to asking friends to suggest their own.
Variety is the spice of life! Make sure you have a collection of recipes in your arsenal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Enjoy the challenge and adventure of preparing healthy, simple meals; and come up with any food contingency plans around special events like birthday parties and celebrations. All of these plans will help guarantee greater success.
STEP 9. Remove risks by finding support.
When I decided that I would do this detox, it was natural for me to tell all of my friends. I knew I’d be cooking nearly every day for the next 30 days, so it made sense to invite friends over. What I didn’t expect was that so many people would be inspired and interested in doing a detox with me. It’s this type of support within your network that is indispensable to achieve success.
STEP 10. Help yourself by helping others.
If you look into or have partaken in any recovery programs, the last step is always helping others through the same issue. Hopefully by sharing your journey, your own actions will inspire others, which is a powerful positive feedback loop that will naturally keep you satisfied—without the sugar!
Good luck on your journey!
The 30-day sugar detox program is not a diet. It is merely a way to reset your body's reliance on sugar. The reason I preface this is because I don't want anyone freaking out about the ingredients and foodstuffs that you'll need to temporarily abstain from indulging in. Even though you'll be removing quite a bit of food from your diet, there are still plenty more tasty items on the "Foods to Embrace" List. Quite personally, I'm always up for a challenge and LOVE the idea of concentrating on a select number of ingredients. It gives me the opportunity not only to familiarize myself with what I'm putting into my body, but also gives me a chance to prepare, cook and create with particular ingredients in new ways.
FOODS TO AVOID
All added sugars - real, fake or otherwise. This is one of the biggest challenges since sugar and its derivatives are in just about everything and it masquerades in different forms under different names. I've put together a short list (around 50 terms below) that you need to avoid. Keep in mind this is notan exhaustive list, but it exhausted me realizing how quickly we can be fooled into eating something with sugar in it.
Acesulfame, Agave nectar, Agave syrup, Aspartame, Barley malt, Beet sugar, Buttered syrup, Cane sugar, Cane juice, Carob syrup, Confectioner's sugar, Corn syrup, High fructose corn syrup, Corn sugar, Corn sweetener, Corn syrup solids, Crystallized fructose, Date Sugar, Dextran, Dextrose, Diatase, Diastatic malt, Erythritol, Evaporated cane juice, Fructose, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Glucose, Glucose solids, Glucose sugar, Golden syrup, Grape sugar, Grape juice concentrate, Honey, Invert sugar, Lactose, Malt, Maltitol, Maltodextrain, Maltose, Manitol, Maple syrup, Molasses, Neotame, Polydextrose, Raw sugar, Refiner's syrup, Sorbitol, Saccharin, Sorghum syrup, Sucanat, Sucralose, Sucrose, Stevia, Sugar, Turbinado sugar, Yellow sugar, Xylitol, Zerose
Unfortunately whole fruits (except lemons and limes), all fruit juices, beets, and carrots are also limited if you want to do a sugar detox. And no desserts!!
Almost all starches and grains. If you are a bread, pasta or cereal lover, then you'll have to abstain from all of these items, unless they are true whole grains (with the fiber) like rye, barley, sprouted breads, and to a lesser extent sourdough. Starches stripped of their fiber—like corn or quinoa chips, tortilla, oatmeal, granola, millet, white rice, buckwheat, bran, cracked barley, oats, germ and corn are also on the "do not touch list." I've even seen quinoa, whole brown rice, potatoes and yams on this list although some sugar detox programs leave it in—as long as they are left as whole foods (ex. a roasted potato is not a greasy french fry). You'll want to consider the "glycemic load" of what you're eating. If I cook with any of these (knowing that none of these ingredients trigger me personally), I'll reduce it to 1/2 cup serving/day.
Alcohol. If you like to drink - beer, wine or otherwise - all forms of alcohol will need to be removed. This is an easy one for me, as I don't drink, but I realize this social lubricant will be the hardest one to get rid of for many people.
Dairy. Cheese, cream sauces, ice cream, yogurt - all of these items are blacklisted. You might even want to check your nut and seed milks because you want to avoid ingredients like carrageenan, which is used to improve texture primarily in milk-based products. Carrageenan in particular has been proven to cause inflammation in our bodies. I was shocked to see that it was in the flax milk that I normally get at the supermarket, so on this detox I'll be either getting fresh-pressed almond (or flax) milk or making my own almond, macadamia, Brazil nut or coconut milk with my food processor.
Legumes. Typically leguminous foods such as soy-based products (e.g., seitan, tempeh, tofu), soybeans, garbanzos, cashews, peanuts (including peanut butter) are recommended as healthy options in certain diets, but in many cases they have more carbs than protein. I've seen white beans, sugar snap peas and lentils as "exceptions" to the rules in some sugar detox programs, so deciding on whether to keep those "in" or "out" of your cleanse will depend on which program you follow. Almond is not a legume and is therefore okay....if you have a hankering for almond butter, then use the ones without any sugar or any of the blacklisted ingredients listed here. If you would like to add beans, which are an excellent source of protein, I would look into sprouting them so they release more nutrients and are easier on the stomach.
Other ingredients you'd like to avoid are MSG, trans fat, and other additives that typically come along with packaged foods. This includes most salsas, salad dressings, ketchup, and other items that sugar, starch, dairy and other no-no ingredients may be lurking in.
FOODS TO EMBRACE
Now that we got the bad news out of the way, now's the time for the good news: The food we can eat. Instead of going through groupings, it might be easier to just do a broad list of food. Items such as fresh fish and meats (preferably organic, pasture-raised beef, free-range chicken and turkey, pork, and lamb) are all in.(It's crazy because I'll probably eat more meat over the next 30 days than I typically would, but I realize this is just a temporary thing to do a course correction on sugar). Avocado, eggs, brown rice, quinoa (with limits), vegetables (except for the ones listed above), green beans (with limits), seaweed, tomatoes, goji berries, nuts (aside from cashews), unsweetened almond butter, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, grape seed oil, lemon and lime, vanilla (from the vanilla pod), vinegars (sherry, white, red), and unsweetened chocolate are all fair game.
There are so many sugar detox programs that one could follow, with a few foods falling in one category or another. Some say that it's OK to have corn, beets, and carrots, provided that they are used in limited amounts. Some consider green beans, sugar snap peas and lentils to be exceptions to the "legume" rule because they have tremendous benefits. And still others say that it's okay to have whole fruit in the diet. Given these varying views, I'm going to come up with a set of rules that I think will work in my case, knowing what triggers me. Feel free to do your own research and personal introspection on what works for you, but here's my plan below, which you're more than welcome to follow:
Here are the rules:
For 30-days I will avoid all items on the "Foods to Avoid" list above. Exceptions will include: lentils, quinoa, sugar snap peas and green beans - though each of these will be limited to 1/2 cup serving and can be used in only one meal/day.
On Day 15, I will begin integrating whole fruits into my diet again, but only 1/2 cup serving for a meal or snack (no more than 2 cups/day). No fruit juices - fresh-pressed or otherwise will be allowed.
On Day 15, I will re-introduce carrots and beets into my diet again, but will limit them to 1/2 cup/serving and be used in only one meal/day.
I was pleased with the program because it reminded me daily of the commitment I made to remove sugar from my diet. While I was aware of the amount that was in our foods I had never decided to eliminate all of it and see how I felt. It is nice to go through days without that mid-afternoon energy crashes, or feeling like I needed a sugar boost to have a pick me up. I think the greatest benefit will be in the days ahead as I continue this program; why stop something that is good for you?
The SugarDetoxMe journey was the kick in the pants I needed to get some sugar out of my life. It’s also the right amount of time to experience the benefits long enough to repave some bad habits. I feel like I’m set up for a much healthier relationship with sugar moving forward.
I just want to thank you for this wonderful site. I have been a type 2 diabetic since 12/2010. I should have done this years ago! I was having the most crazy sweet cravings and of course that made my numbers go nuts! The 6th day on your sugar detox , I stopped taking my meal time insulin! (I was taking 2-4 units before each meal) and I was taking 14 units of my long acting (slow burn) insulin at night prior and now I’m taking 3 units! I feel great, sleep like a baby, skin is clearing up.... I am now almost through Day 11 and I’m excited at all the wonderful changes I have seen. I was surprised by day 8 I had lost 7 pounds, as this was not something I was even thinking about. I will continue eating healthy and incorporating a few items after the 30 days just so I don’t have to make it hard for people to have me over, but now I will choose the foods that don’t trigger me! Thank you so much for sharing this site and I will share it with everyone I know!
This was a challenging and ultimately empowering journey for me. I became more in touch with both my body’s needs and my mind’s desires. Most importantly, I am more aware now of where sugar lives and my patterns of consumption. My energy was much more clean and consistent during the last few days of the detox. I admit, I ate a massive donut the second that I could eat sugar again and I honestly didn’t enjoy it. It tasted good (let’s be real), but I am now aware of what that sugar does to my body AND that I already have a ton of sugar pumping through me from naturally occurring sugar in whole fruits. I now know that I don’t need the icing on the cake! Thank you.