Do Milk and Sugar Cause Acne?

It’s confirmed. Dairy products and sugar cause acne.

As our sugar and dairy consumption has increased over the last 100 years, so has the number of people with acne. We now have over 17 million acne sufferers, costing our health care system $1 billion a year. Eighty to 90 percent of teenagers suffer acne to varying degrees. The pimply millions rely on infomercial products hawked by celebrities, or over-the-counter lotions, cleansers and topical remedies. Recent research suggests that it’s not what we slather on our skin that matters most, but what we put in our mouth.

Many have suggested a diet-acne link, but until recently, it has not been proven in large clinical studies. Instead, dermatologists prescribe long-term antibiotics and Accutane, both of which may cause long-term harmful effects. In 2009, a systematic review of 21 observational studies and six clinical trials found clear links. Two large controlled trials found that cow’s milk increased both the number of people who got acne and its severity. Other large randomized prospective controlled trials (the gold standard of medical research) found that people who had higher sugar intake and a high glycemic load diet (more bread, rice, cereal, pasta, sugar, and flour products of all kinds) had significantly more acne. The good news is that chocolate (dark chocolate, that is) didn’t seem to cause acne.

The dietary pimple-producing culprits—dairy and sugar (in all its blood-sugar-raising forms)— cause spikes in certain pimple producing hormones. Dairy boosts male sex hormones (various forms of testosterone or androgens) and increases insulin levels, just as foods that quickly raise blood sugar (sugar and starchy carbs) spike insulin.

Androgens and insulin both stimulate your skin to make those nasty, embarrassing pimples. One patient recently told me he would give a million dollars for a pill to cure acne. He doesn’t need to. It seems that, for many, the cure to acne is at the end of their fork, not in a prescription pad.

While pimples are not as simple as too much milk or sugar in your diet, both have a significant impact. Nutritional deficiencies, as well as excesses, can worsen acne. Correcting common deficiencies, including low levels of healthy omega-3 anti-inflammatory fats, low levels of antioxidants such as vitamin E, zinc and vitamin A, and including an important anti-inflammatory omega-6 fat called evening primrose oil all may be helpful in preventing and treating unwanted pimples. I will explain how you can correct and incorporate all of these nutritional elements of your diet and outline some supplements that will help you fight acne in a moment.

But first it is worth taking a deeper look at milk and sugar.

Stay Away from Dairy and Avoid Acne
One scientist referred to milk as a “complex aqueous, suspended fat, liposomal, suspended protein emulsion.” What we know that milk is designed to grow things—namely, babies—and in the case of cow’s milk, calves. It is naturally full of what we call anabolic hormones (the same ones that bodybuilders and A Rod use to grow big muscles, and that cause bad acne). These are mostly androgens (like testosterone) and growth hormones, including insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). There is no such thing as hormone-free milk.

Here’s a short list of the 60-some hormones in your average glass of milk—even the organic, raw, and bovine-growth-hormone-free milk:

• 20 α-dihydropregnenolone
• progesterone (from pregnenolone)
• 5 α-pregnanedione
• 5 α-pregnan-3 β-ol-20-one, 20 α- and 20 β-dihydroprogesterone (from progesterone)
• 5 α-androstene-3 β17 β-diol
• 5 α-androstanedione
• 5 α-androstan-3 β-ol-17-one
• androstenedione
• testosterone
• dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate acyl ester
• insulin like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and IGF-2)
• insulin

This is what our government suggests we drink in high doses—at least three glasses a day for me, a healthy adult male, according to the choosemyplate.gov website. Those guidelines have been strongly criticized by many, including leading nutrition scientists from Harvard such as Walter Willett and David Ludwig.

The famous Nurse’s Health Study examining health habits of 47,000 nurses found that those who drank more milk as teenagers had much higher rates of severe acne than those who had little or no milk as teenagers. If you think it is the fat in milk, think again. It was actually the skim milk that had the strongest risk for acne. In other studies of over 10,000 boys and girls from 9 to 15 years old, there was a direct link between the amount of milk consumed and the severity of acne.

It appears that it is not just the anabolic or sex hormones in milk that cause problems, but milk’s ability to stimulate insulin production. It actually may be the lactose or milk sugar in milk that acts more like a soft drink than an egg. Drinking a glass of milk can spike insulin levels 300 percent. Not only does that cause pimples, but it also may contribute to prediabetes. This is true despite studies funded by the dairy council showing that milk helps with weight loss. The question is compared to WHAT diet—a diet of bagels and Coke, or a healthy, phytonutrient- and antioxidant-rich, plant-based diet with lean animal protein?

Stay Away from Sugar, Refined Carbs, and Pimples
If a glass of milk causes pimples, that may drive you back to your Pepsi. But not so fast. Recent studies also show that sugar and refined carbs (a high-glycemic diet) cause acne. More importantly, taking kids off sugar and putting them on a healthy, whole foods, low-glycemic load diet resulted in significant improvements in acne compared to a control group eating a regular, high-sugar American diet. In addition to having fewer pimples, the participants lost weight, became more sensitive to the effects of insulin (resulting in less pimple-producing insulin circulating around the blood). They also had fewer sex hormones floating around their blood that drive pimples. We know that women who have too much sugar and insulin resistance get acne, hair growth on their face, hair loss on the head, and infertility. This is caused by high levels of circulating male hormones and is called polycystic ovarian syndrome, but is a nutritional, not gynecologic, disease.

But the dietary influences don’t stop there. It is not just sugar, but the bad fats we eat that may also contribute to acne.

Get an Oil Change
Our typical Western diet is full of inflammatory fats—saturated fats, trans fats, too many omega-6, inflammatory, processed vegetable oils like soy and corn oils. These increase IGF-1 and stimulate pimple follicles. Inflammation has been linked to acne, and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats (from fish oil) may help improve acne and help with many skin disorders.

Balance the Hormones that Cause Skin Problems
The link is clear—hormonal imbalances caused by our diet trigger acne. Our diet influences sex hormones like testosterone, IGF-1, and insulin, which promote acne. The biggest factors affecting your hormones are the glycemic load of your diet (determined by how quickly the food you eat increases your blood sugar and insulin levels), and the amount of dairy products you eat. The good news is that eating a healthy diet and taking a few supplements can balance those hormones. Exercise also helps improve insulin function.

How To Prevent and Treat Acne
Nine simple steps will help most overcome their acne problems.

1. Stay away from milk. It is nature’s perfect food—but only if you are a calf.
2. Eat a low glycemic load, low sugar diet. Sugar, liquid calories, and flour products all drive up insulin and cause pimples.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. People who eat more veggies (containing more antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds) have less acne. Make sure you get your 5 to 9 servings of colorful fruits and vegetables every day.
4. Get more healthy anti-inflammatory fats. Make sure to get omega-3 fats (fish oil, or a vegan source of omega-3 (such as this one)
5. and anti-inflammatory omega-6 fats (evening primrose oil). You will need supplements to get adequate amounts (more on that in a moment).
6. Include foods that correct acne problems. Certain foods have been linked to improvements in many of the underlying causes of acne and can help correct it. These include fish oil, turmeric, ginger, green tea, nuts, dark purple and red foods such as berries, green foods like dark green leafy vegetables, and omega 3-eggs.
7. Take acne-fighting supplements. Some supplements are critical for skin health. Antioxidant levels have been shown to be low in acne sufferers. And healthy fats can make a big difference. Here are the supplements I recommend:

-Evening primrose oil: Take 1,000 to 1,500mg twice a day.
-Zinc citrate: Take 30 mg a day.
-Vitamin A: Take 25,000 IU a day. Only do this for three months. Do not do this if you are pregnant.
-Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols, not alpha tocopherol): Take 400 IU a day.

8. Try probiotics. Probiotics (lactobacillus, etc.) also help reduce inflammation in the gut that may be linked to acne.
9. Avoid foods you are sensitive to. Delayed food allergies are among the most common causes of acne—foods like gluten, dairy, yeast and eggs are common culprits and can be a problem if you have a leaky gut.

Following these simple tips will help you eliminate acne and have that glowing skin you have always dreamed of. It’s much cheaper (and safer) than expensive medications and dermatologist visits. Improve your diet and take acne-fighting supplements, and you will watch your pimples disappear.

For more information on how to optimize your nutrition and improve your skin, see http://drhyman.com/.

Now I’d like to hear from you.

Have you struggled with an acne or skin problem? Have you noticed any link between your skin? What seems to be a problem for you?

Why do you think we are encouraged to consume so much dairy when the risks to our health (and our skin) are so high?

What other steps have you taken to fight acne? What has worked? What hasn’t?

Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Sources for this article can be found here.

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Five Ways You’re Addicted to Sugar But May Not Know It

It’s true! Some of us were born sugar lovers and we search high and low to get our hands on the sweet stuff, while others of us unknowingly feed a hidden addiction. For most of my adult life, I was a raging sugar addict but didn’t know it. My mindless consumption of sugar manifested in a handful of sneaky ways.

Check out my tips for combating the five most common ways sugar sneaks into our daily dishes.

Sugar Lurks Everywhere. From the Pinkberry treat you enjoy on hot summer afternoons to the peanut butter you spread on your whole-wheat toast every morning. Manufacturers know that sugar is addictive so they lace their food with it, keeping you coming back for more.

Take back your power: Check labels and read the ingredients on packaged foods to rule out hidden sugar often disguised by words that end in “ose” like fructose, sucrose and glucose. Don’t be fooled by the health claims on food labels. Those are often just advertising.

The Daily “Desk Doldrums” Set In. Whether it happens to you mid-morning, mid-afternoon or both, you can practically set your watch by the desk doldrums, that feeling of low energy and tiredness that sends you bee-lining for the nearest Starbucks or office vending machine. After a sugar-laden breakfast or lunch, your blood sugar levels may have trouble stabilizing. They rise sky high after a meal, then dip low a few hours later leaving you zapped of energy and craving a dip into the candy bowl.

Take back your power: Have a breakfast or lunch that includes whole grains, which are energetically grounding and release slow, sustained energy rather than a surge all at once.

The Post-Meal Sweet Craving. Sometimes you give in, other times you don’t, but you find yourself craving something sweet after every meal. Eating establishments have practically programmed our brains to think about sweet after savory with their creative and timely presentation of the dessert menu upon completion of the main event. It’s hard to resist. Because our bodies naturally want to maintain homeostasis, they often look to balance overly salty tastes, typical of the standard American diet and restaurant food, with its complementary taste: sweet.

Take back your power: Next time a sweet craving sets in after a meal, drink a glass of water and wait 30 minutes. Often it dissipates. Sipping herbal and peppermint tea can also counteract a sweet craving.

Stress Makes a Meal Out of a Slice of Cake. After a long day at the office, an argument with your boyfriend or even during your monthly cycle, the prospect of a slice of cake for dinner isn’t often that far out of the question when given a fork, a comfy sofa and some reality television. Knowing your triggers can be an important first step in breaking this cycle.

Take back your power: At the first sign of uncomfortable emotions, ask yourself what you really need. Maybe it’s a long walk, a massage, a hug or a phone call to your best friend instead.

Bloating, Constipation, Fatigue and Break Outs Become a Way of Life. Chronic symptoms like bloating, body aches, digestive dysfunction and skin break outs can be a sign of candida overgrowth (Candidiasis) – a surplus of yeast in the gut flora caused by factors such as repeated antibiotic use, long-term use of oral contraceptives, a diet high in sugar and carbohydrates, use of drugs and alcohol, high stress levels or a combination of the above.

Take back your power: If you suspect you may have Candidiasis, speak with an integrative doctor or nutritionist who specializes in the condition for support with diet and supplements that can bring your body back to a healthy state.

What are your creative tips for curbing sugar cravings?

Marissa Vicario is the founder of Marissa’s Well-being and Health (MWAH!). As a certified holistic health coach, Marissa works with urban professionals who want to lose weight, control cravings and feel more energized without dieting. She also lectures on corporate wellness and teaches cooking classes.

Photo credit: Bob.Fornal

Does Sugar Feed Cancer?

Does sugar feed cancer? Well, yes and no. Um, OK – yes.

All cells use sugar – aka glucose – for their primary fuel source, so sugar does indeed feed all cells. But if you’ve ever had a PET scan, you know that before you get your scan, you get to drink a lovely shake of radioactive glucose or get an injection of a similar concoction. Cancer cells are very greedy; they like to gobble up glucose much more quickly than non-cancerous cells, which is why the cancer cells light up on the screen during your scan.

All carbohydrate-containing foods contain sugar to some degree. So this means even healthy foods like whole grains, beans, fruits, and even vegetables contain some sugar. The glycemic index basically tells you how fast a particular food will raise your blood sugar level. For instance, we know refined/processed foods like white sugar, white bread, and white rice are high glycemic foods, but so are healthy foods like watermelon, dates, and potatoes. The glycemic load of a meal takes into account the whole meal. Sometimes eating higher glycemic foods along with lower glycemic foods can blunt the rise in blood glucose when eaten together.

Why is your blood sugar level a concern? Because your body produces insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) whenever your blood sugar level rises. We know insulin helps regulate blood sugar, but did you know insulin is also a growth hormone? So is IGF-1, which reacts in response to insulin production. So more sugar eaten = more insulin produced = more IGF-1 produced = more cancer cell growth. Yikes! In fact, IGF-1 has been found through a number of studies to play a big role in promoting breast, lung, prostate, and other types of solid tumor growth. IGF-1 has a growth-promoting effect on almost every cell in the body especially in muscle, bones, liver, kidney, nerves, skin, lungs and blood. IGF-1 also affects the DNA synthesis within these cells.

If you have an advanced cancer, you need to be even more aware of your blood sugar level since rapidly growing cancer cells consume more glucose to keep up with their growth spurt. And if you are on chemotherapy, high levels of insulin and IGF-1 can play a role in blocking chemo activity making cancer cells less responsive to chemotherapy. If you have a hormonal cancer such as breast, endometrial or uterine cancer, then IGF-1 is also a concern as estrogen receptors on cancer cells can be stimulated by IGF-1. IGF-1 has even been found to interfere with the effectiveness of the drug trastuzumab.

What can you do about it?

1. Plant in your mind that plants are best! A plant-based diet lowers your daily glycemic load so less insulin and IGF-1 are produced in response to your blood sugar level. A diet chock full of veggies, whole grains, nuts, beans, legumes, and fruits will not raise your blood sugar as much as a diet full of white stuff like white sugar, white rice, white bread, etc. Foods that grow out of the ground are naturally low in sugar and high in fiber. Fiber helps to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream, resulting in the production of less insulin and IGF-1. Now here’s the kicker: switching to a plant-based diet will help you to cut back or eliminate animal foods, which will lower your IGF-1. Your body naturally produces IGF-1. We need this growth hormone for – you guessed it – growth. As babies, we need IGF-1 to help us grow, but then stop drinking mother’s milk. Somewhere along the line, humans began drinking animal milks that also contain natural IGF-1. Americans love milk and cheese and yogurt and ice cream … you get the picture. IGF-1 in animals is identical to IGF-1 in humans, so the more we consume dairy, the more we consume IGF-1. IGF-1 is also in animal meats and fats. Eliminating red meat, poultry and dairy will significantly help reduce your IGF-1.

2. Stop eating junk! Cut out refined and processed foods and stick to stuff Mother Nature made. No more candy, soda, white bread, white rice, ice cream, or even white potatoes. Switch to whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and steel-cut oats. Choose starchy veggies like sweet potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, squash and pumpkin.

3. Watch your sweetener intake. No more high-fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice or dextrose. While you’re at it, cut out artificial sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin, aspartame and acesulfame potassium. If you must sweeten your foods or if you like to bake, try stevia leaf, brown rice syrup, agave syrup or maple syrup in small amounts – less than five teaspoons per day.

4. Get moving! Exercise helps to lower blood sugar levels by sensitizing cells to insulin and helps them take in more glucose for fuel rather than letting glucose float around in the blood where it can do damage. Exercise also helps lower IGF-1 by increasing a binding protein that acts like a magnet to IGF-1 and makes it less available to cancer cells for growth.

5. Know your numbers. Ask your doctor to check your fasting blood glucose, insulin and IGF-1 levels. Most doctors would consider a normal glucose level to be between 70-100 mg/dL, but new evidence has suggests that glucose between 70-80 mg/dL is optimal. Levels above 100 mg/dL might indicate prediabetes or even full-blown diabetes. Insulin can help your doctor check for insulin resistance. Insulin should be between 5-20 microunits/mL. Anything above this could indicate insulin resistance. Optimal IGF-1 levels are based on your age and sex. Laboratory results will show your ideal range. Your level should be in the bottom half of that range.

Jacki Glew, MS, RD, LDN, is the clinical nutrition manager at the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment. She and four other dietitians work daily with the Block Center’s integrative staff to create individualized and scientifically based nutrition and supplement plans for people battling cancer.

Photo Credit: kaibara87

A Sweet Life

Jessica Apple & husband, Mike

By Jessica Apple

In 2008, while pregnant with my third child, I felt unusually tired. I reasoned that taking care of my two sons and growing a third was more than my body could handle. But then I noticed something else—my exhaustion peaked just after meal times. If I ate pizza, pasta, or a bagel, not only did I feel drowsy, but I felt like I had weights attached to my body. Every movement was sluggish, almost impossible. I couldn’t keep up with my daily routine, and my kids were spending time in front of the TV instead of with me. I went from one doctor to the next and did one blood test after another. I finally received a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes from an endocrinologist at a clinic for high-risk pregnancies.

Not sure what type 1 diabetes is? Here’s a primer: Type 1 diabetes (also known as juvenile diabetes) is an autoimmune disease which leads to the destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone whose most important job is to carry nutrients, particularly sugar, from the blood into the body’s cells. Since the sugar molecule is too big to enter the cells by itself, insulin helps it. When a cell does not see insulin, sugar cannot get into it, the cell gets no energy, and it starves. In order to survive, type 1 diabetics must inject themselves with insulin.

If you think that sounds like a lot for a pregnant woman to process, you’re right. But it wasn’t as complicated for me as you might guess. While I was a newly-diagnosed diabetic, I was not at all new to diabetes. In fact, I knew the disease very well, since my husband, Mike, had been diagnosed with type 1 just six years earlier. (Note: this is a highly unusual coincidence). As much as I thought I knew the in’s and out’s of managing type 1 diabetes, however, I only truly understood what Mike was going through when I felt it in my own body. In my own struggle to try to find the correct balance between food intake and the amount of insulin injected, I experienced what I’d been observing with Mike for six years—the blood sugar highs that make you so groggy you can barely function, and the terrifying lows—the sweaty, shaking, almost-passing-out lows.

Type 1 diabetes definitely takes the (sugar-free) cake when it comes to diseases or conditions that can make a person conscious of food intake. It’s not an illness that necessitates 100% avoidance of certain things, but rather it’s a disease of (imprecise) calculations. The bottom line with type 1 diabetes is that you can’t eat without calculating (or guessing) how much insulin you need to give your body. And the more sugar and carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin you need. When you eat protein and vegetables, you need very little insulin. For me, understanding this was the key to getting my diabetes under control. Mike and I talked about this constantly. In fact, we talked about diabetes constantly. Diabetes had taken over our bodies, and it was threatening to take over our household too. Instead of letting diabetes depress us, Mike and I decided to take charge of our health as best we could. We began to incorporate more raw food into our diet. We never sat down to eat without vegetables on the table. We began to see improvements in our blood sugar control right away. And as we worked together and cheered each other on, we saw how well we managed as a team. So we decided to go one step further, and we created a website called ASweetLife, so we could reach out to others in the diabetic community. Rather than think about diabetes in the negative sense of an illness, we’ve come to think of it as our lifestyle.

As part of this lifestyle I’ve almost completely stopped eating refined carbohydrates and sweet foods. Instead, I eat nuts, vegetables, small amounts of whole grain carbohydrates, and lots of my favorite – avocados. I’ve found that my insulin requirements have dropped, and the more controlled my blood sugar is, the better I feel. My skin is clearer, too. And despite not getting a lot of sleep, I still have energy.

Rather than feel sorry for myself about all of the things I can’t really eat because of diabetes, I’ve decided not to have a negative attitude. I focus on all of the things I can eat. In fact, I actually get excited about fresh, green vegetables. They are not something I have to force myself to eat, but something I really want. Salad with fresh spinach leaves, pomegranate seeds, and almonds – not spaghetti – is a meal. Brazil nuts, not toast with butter, is a snack. And I’ve come to realize that by eating a healthy diabetic diet, I am actually doing exactly what I should have been doing for myself all along. (What we should all be doing for ourselves). The greener and cleaner my diet becomes, the better I feel.

There is no cure for type 1 diabetes, but eating right is certainly the best way to keep insulin requirements to a minimum. Mike and I know that diabetes is a very serious and frightening disease, but we also know that life with diabetes can be manageable. It can even be sweet.

Below is one of my favorite recipes.

Oven Roasted Acorn Squash

You really can’t go wrong with acorn squash since it’s naturally sweet and delicious. We’ve seen so many acorn squash recipes that call for the addition of brown sugar or maple syrup, but it doesn’t need sweeteners to enhance its flavor. Our recipe is one the simplest and healthiest ways to eat acorn squash.

Ingredients:
2-3 acorn squash, quartered and seeds removed
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste (optional)

Preparation:
Combine the olive oil and the squash in a bowl so the squash is completely coated with oil.
Place the squash in a baking dish skin side down. Preheat oven to 450 and place the squash in the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the squash is brown and soft.
Salt and serve.

Serves 4-6

Carbohydrates per serving: 25g

Jessica’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. For more information, visit ASweetLife, where she serves as editor-in-chief.

A Year Without Sugar

Nicole MacDonald

I am thinking about all you sugar addicts out there when I say this: I never thought it would be possible to go without sugar.

The initial goal was to test my willpower. On the cusp of the 2008 New Year, I proclaimed to my husband that I would go without sugar for a year. I secretly doubted I could get ahead of the addiction that made me eat goodies until my belly ached.

The Obsession

I was born into a family of sugar-lovers and from a young age I gravitated towards all things sweet. I ate excessive amounts of sugary goodies and paid the consequences. I ate until I felt like I would burst and then hated myself for it. After the lovely sugar high, I fell asleep or felt unmotivated and grumpy. I felt miserable for overeating in an effort to get a sugar fix. I could not eat sugar in moderation. I tried. Things got worse when I began using sugar like a drug. When I needed a pick-me-up I kept hard candy in my mouth. When I felt blue, a hot fudge sundae or plate of snickerdoodles filled the need to be comforted. To reward myself meant a pint of ice cream or bag of donut holes. I recognized an unhealthy pattern but it felt out of my control.

The funny thing is, with the exception of sugar, I ate healthy. After college I overhauled my diet to vegetarian and organic. My friends and family referred to me as a health nut. I liked the nickname but I still had a terrible habit of eating too much sugar. For several years I did most of my sugar binging alone, careful to guard my health nut image.

Free At Last

The first few weeks of 2008 went surprisingly well because I stocked my kitchen beforehand with natural sweeteners like dried fruit, dates, maple syrup, honey, molasses, date sugar and brown rice syrup. I discovered that sugar substitutes were not boring after all. (Artificial sweeteners are not an option for me—I like to eat food, not chemicals.) Experimenting with new recipes gave me the satisfaction and comfort that baking has always been to me. Since the white stuff was out of my system, I noticed that I had more energy and didn’t experience the debilitating sleepiness that accompanied the crash I was used to feeling after getting high on sugar. I felt less moody and more motivated. For once in my life I wasn’t chained to the one object that had laid claim to my decisions, emotions and willpower. Sugar used to be in control and now I was. Every day that I didn’t eat sugar was an accomplishment. The biggest changes in my life were not just physical—they were also mental, emotional, and spiritual. I was free of my slavery to sugar, which led me to another fantastic discovery: I realized my potential to do anything I wanted. Willpower in other areas of my life skyrocketed. I faced challenges with a different attitude, because if I, the Queen of all sugar addicts, could give it up then nothing was impossible.

Sugar-Free Tips

Navigating food at stores and restaurants is…interesting. There are hidden sugars in all kinds of products: salt, spices, lip gloss, canned foods, and so-called “healthy” cereals, crackers, breads, meat/dairy alternatives and soups. Read ingredient labels, ask questions, and request healthier, sugarless products at restaurants and grocery stores. It works! Focus less on packaged foods and more on a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Support your local farmer and help the environment by joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). All the local fresh produce and herbs you get out of it will blow your mind.

In the last two years I’ve done hours of research and read books about nutrition, overeating, sugar addiction, the psychology of eating and the food industry. All have been extremely rousing. To really motivate yourself to cut out sugar, read about it. It’s much easier to stick to your sugar-free goals when you read about why it’s important. Sugar plays a role in many diseases including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Learn about the people and organizations who put sugars in our food and get passionate! Moderation is key, but for most of us the ability to determine what and how much to eat is a troubling gray area. There are many variables influencing this. Billions of dollars are spent every year on advertising junk food. Recognize when and why you have a craving. Be prepared by keeping healthy snacks with you at all times (mixed nuts, dried fruit, fruit leathers, flavored tea, an apple, etc.). When you’re invited to dinner, bring a naturally-sweetened dessert for all to try. You can have a lot of fun experimenting with recipes and surprising your host with delicious, sugar-free versions of sweetness.

Since quitting the white stuff, I’m happier, more energetic, less moody and less tired. I used to get the flu every year but I haven’t had the flu or a cold in over two years. I have a blog where I write about my experiences, research, tips, recipes and alternatives to sugar. Networking with people has been invaluable. Find like-minded people for encouragement and discussions.

During my sugar-free journey, I’ve been greatly inspired by the following books and give them credit for the motivation they’ve provided:

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink, Ph.D.

The End of Overeating by David Kessler, M.D.

Food Politics by Marion Nestle

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy by Walter Willett, M.D.

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Sugar Blues by William Dufty

Nicole MacDonald lives in the Washington, D.C. area. She enjoys volunteering with nutrition advocacy groups and is currently working on several writing projects.