Cathy Slusser

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Sugar detox

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.  Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel,  but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”  Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah,  “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.  Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.”  So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.  At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.  So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.  Daniel 1:8-16 (NIV)

Last week, I started a 21 day sugar detox program.  A month before, I bought a book with a meal plan, shopping lists and recipes and consulted with my nutritionist who encouraged me to follow through although she told me that the program was actually harder than the one that she would have given me.  The program calls for eliminating all sugars, grains, potatoes and most fruit (green bananas and green apples are the only ones allowed) from my diet for three weeks.  This is designated to break the addiction to sugar.   Following the book, I cleaned any sugar products out of our pantry and refrigerator, stocked up on plain Greek yogurt, spices, coconut and olive oil, vegetables, fish and chicken.  In advance, I cooked two chickens in my roasting pan and saved the meat and broth.  On Monday morning after Mother’s Day, I started the day with plain Greek yogurt which tastes like vomit.  I wanted to cry.  Lunch was some chicken and a green apple.  Dinner was the hardest as I usually start snacking as soon as I get home and try to have dinner ready within forty-five minutes of walking in the door.   The recipes in the detox book are complicated and include a lot of steps.  That first night we didn’t sit down to eat until almost 8:00 PM.  By that time, I was ready to kill someone.   Everyone told me the first three days were the hardest and they were.  I finally gave up the meal plan in favor of cooking some dinner options that were sugar free and healthy, but faster to make. It was adding stress to spend more than an hour in the kitchen every night.   I learned to use half of my allotted one piece of fruit per day to mash banana into the yogurt at least making it taste a little less like throw-up.  I started making roasted vegetables at every meal, healthy and satisfying; it is amazing how sweet natural food can be when you quit eating so much processed sugar all day long.  I got a water infuser and put green apples, ginger, cinnamon sticks and lemons in my water and find that the taste of ginger is a substitute for sugar.  I think I do feel better. It’s been a subtle change so it is hard to put my finger on. I don’t know that I have more energy, but it feels like my thinking is clearer. My family will tell you that I have been more irritable but that is just because they insist on snacking around me and talking about going out for ice cream.  This experience has been a reminder of things that are important in our Christian walk.  A plan for healthy spiritual living.  People to hold you accountable and encourage you.  Staying away from temptation and those who would bring you down.  (I am considering divorcing my family though temporarily.)  14 more days.  Then, I am making some chocolate chip cookies!    

 

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Comments

  1. I went through something similar when I decided to give up gluten. My stomach problems and general malaise made me notice a magazine article about going gluten-free. There was a list of symptoms and they said that if you have two or more you might have a sensitivity. I had ALL of them. So I decided to give it up for 6 weeks and see how I felt at the end of it. It only took 3 DAYS to realize that I felt so much better! I'm not totally GF, but I'm staying away from it most of the time (and I suffer the consequences when that fried chicken or home-baked bread smells too good to resist). I've now adopted a "is it worth the consequences?" style of eating. Most of the time, the answer is no. I wonder if you will find the same for yourself and this sugar detox?

    My family doesn't get it at all, so I don't talk about it – I just make dinner I can eat and then they eat it too. The only real difference is that I don't do sandwich places that they do – and I tell them to go ahead without me.

    I should sugar detox as well. I am diabetic and I've noticed a bit more creeping into my diet again. Time to reset the taste-o-meter!

    You can do this – and not divorce your family. It just takes adjustment, which you are well aware of!

    Reply

  2. Plain Greek yogurt is delicious if used in place of sour cream or with garlic and onion in it with Greek food. I can't eat it in place of a sweet – just like cottage cheese, I wonder if you put salt and pepper in it will it taste better?

    Reply

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