If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I went on “The Real Food Challenge” in May because I wanted to cut out processed foods from our diet.
We’ve done quite well this far especially if we eat at home. When we eat out, we try to choose restaurants that offered real food.
This week’s challenge is to have no refined or artificial sweeteners including (but not limited to): white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, sucanat, splenda, stevia, agave, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and cane juice.
Foods and beverages can only be sweetened with a moderate amount of honey or maple syrup.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed with pre-diabates. I didn’t want to become diabetic so I decided then and there to cut sugar out of my diet.
My doctor suspected that most of my sugar came from bread, fruits and rice. He recommended a new diet for me:
- NO red apples, bananas, papayas and watermelon
- NO fruit juices
- NO sweet drinks (e.g. “teh tarik“, which is STILL sweet, even after I ask for less condensed milk “kurang manis“)
- NO sugar added to my mug of Milo. Only milk.
- NO chocolates or sweets
- NO bread, potatoes, cookies, biscuits and half the portion of rice for my lunch and dinner
I’ve been going for the annual glucose test and my doctor is very happy with me 
Due to this, I am very conscious about the presence of sugar in the family diet. No candy or chocolates for the kids – they get A LOT from children’s parties and school.
Recently, I met up with another mom with 2 kids and brought along a box of chocolates as a treat. Her kids would only take ONE chocolate each! She said that they didn’t like chocolates because they hardly ate them. Isn’t that amazing?
I am also conscious now about sugar in my cooking especially for cupcakes and cookies. I’d usually find recipes that are low on sugar or, I’d cut down a lot of the sugar i.e. 1/4 cup if the recipe calls for 1 cup. The cookies and cupcakes taste good anyway if you add fruit in it.
I’ve seen a huge change in the way my son takes his snacks e.g. he prefers plain French toast without the jam or honey. However, he loves to drink hot chocolate or Milo, which has a high sugar content.
My daughter loves to eat the filling of breads and cakes, which is another danger zone. Looks like it’s an ongoing challenge but hey, I’ll stick to it. How about you?
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