Why I'm Trying to Eat Less Sugar

I probably talk about food the majority of the time on here, and most recently about sugar. Here are some resources that highlight the reasons why.

As I'm sure you know, my favorite movie of 2014 was Fed Up. Watch it. Even Jordan and Trevor watched it and they liked it.

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

This video is pretty long, but I think there's a short version somewhere. It basically talks about the way our bodies process sugar, specifically fructose. Some basics - fructose goes straight to the liver, and is either stored as glycogen (energy for later) or turned into triglycerides, which are fat. Because it does this, it doesn't raise out blood sugar like other forms of sugar do, so foods that are high in fructose may register low on the GI scale (agave, looking at you). Because science. I'm in college I know stuff.

Reading material:
This article pretty much sums it up: The 7 Deadly Truths of Sugar

A Year of No Sugar
"It's dinnertime. Do you know where your sugar is coming from? Most likely everywhere. Sure, it's in ice cream and cookies, but what scared Eve O. Schaub was the secret world of sugar—hidden in bacon, crackers, salad dressing, pasta sauce, chicken broth, and baby food.

With her eyes opened by the work of obesity expert Dr. Robert Lustig and others, Eve challenged her husband and two school-age daughters to join her on a quest to quit sugar for an entire year.

Along the way, Eve uncovered the real costs of our sugar-heavy American diet—including diabetes, obesity, and increased incidences of health problems such as heart disease and cancer. The stories, tips, and recipes she shares throw fresh light on questionable nutritional advice we've been following for years and show that it is possible to eat at restaurants and go grocery shopping—with less and even no added sugar.

Year of No Sugar is what the conversation about "kicking the sugar addiction" looks like for a real American family—a roller coaster of unexpected discoveries and challenges."

This book was easy to read and while sometimes the writing style bothered me, it was really helpful to see a normal family be able to live without sugar for a year. It's less about the science, and more just about the practicality of it. Pretty much her only research was watching The Bitter Truth (see above) but they just decided to do it and did it. 

There are several other books I love that highlight the evils of the food industry, so while not directly about sugar, they make me want to take a harder look at what I eat. Honorable mentions are Salt Sugar Fat, What To Eat, The Omnivore's Dilemma.