Why I’m Sugar-Free
- Mood
- Energy
- Focus
- Reduced inflammation
- Long term health
Childhood Deprivation and Bingeing Sugar
As a kid, my mom didn’t allow sugary cereals in our house, but we had a bowl of sugar on the breakfast table. So naturally, I put copious spoonfuls on my Grape Nuts, Wheaties, Corn Flakes, and Shredded Wheat- the only cereals we ever had in the house. My brother and I longed for Cap’n Crunch or Lucky Charms!
When I earned money mowing lawns or shoveling sidewalks, my friend or brother and I would head straight to the local store and spend every last penny on bags of candy and junk food – all the stuff we didn’t have at home. And I mean every last penny. When I was a kid, you could get Bazooka bubble gum for two cents and hard candy for a penny.
Then I started washing dishes at a restaurant at age 14 and got unlimited free soda, I drank Coke, ginger ale, and 7UP like it was going out of style, bingeing on everything I’d been deprived of as a kid!
Looking back, that period alerted me to the violent mood swings and depression that can result from a big blasts of sugar. I didn’t have an explanation at the time for periods of deep despair that I’d go though, but it all made sense later.
Does Sugar Make You Weak?
When I was 15, my chiropractor asked me to bring a container of white granulated sugar to my next appointment. This was the early 1980s – way before clean eating was trending on Instagram or keto was a household word. What happened next changed how I thought about sugar forever.
The chiropractor did applied kinesiology – that muscle testing thing where you hold out your arm and someone pushes down on it. First, he tested my arm strength without the sugar. Then he had me hold the container of sugar in one hand while he pushed my arm down again. The difference was stark. I was dramatically weaker holding the sugar than without it.
For a teenage kid who wanted to be strong, this was a real-world demonstration I couldn’t ignore.
From Deprivation to Discipline & Sugar Blues
A few years later, someone gave me the book Sugar Blues by William Duffy, which eloquently details all the negative impacts of processed sugar on our health. That book, combined with what I’d learned from the muscle testing, sealed the deal.
I went cold turkey in my late teens and never looked back. No cakes, cookies, candy, donuts, sugary drinks- nothing with refined sugar.
The hardest part of making the transition wasn’t the physical cravings – it was the initial discipline required to say no over and over and over. Especially in social settings when everyone else is eating the sugary thing. But the more times I said no or made other choices, the easier it got. It’s like building muscle. Every choice strengthened my resolve.
The Benefits: 40+ Years Later
I’ve been essentially sugar-free for over 4 decades now.
The benefits? I feel more clear-minded, more energetic, and less depressed. Sugar is devastating for depression, especially for an ADD-wired brain like mine. That glucose cycle of empty calories, crashing, then trying to fuel that hole with more sugar is an unhappy merry-go-round.
Minimal inflammation- less aches and pains.
Absolutely No Sugar?
These days I eat keto, so Not only do I not eat sugar, but I eat very few carbs, which are more complex sugars that turn to glucose in the body.
I find that keto takes sugar-free to another level. Not only do I not have dramatic spikes from concentrated sugar, but I don’t even have glucose spikes and drops from more complex sugars. this keeps my mood and energy even.
When I do use sweeteners, it’s honey (local North Carolina honey in salad dressing or occasionally a drizzle on a few spoonfuls of peanut butter), erythritol, allulose, or stevia. These are all non-blood sugar spiking options. Well, honey not so much if you’re doing it in quantity, but in the amount that I do it, it’s fine for me.
Cheat Days?
When I do occasionally cheat and have a little ice cream or a sliver of pie- for example, at my mom’s, I make sure it’s on a full stomach with plenty of protein. I am able to do it in moderation after years of abstinence. It’s still very rare because even with a small portion I can still feel that bone-deep tiredness and sluggishness that comes from recovering from a glucose crash.
It reminds me why I made the choice decades ago.
A Way of Life
For me, sugar free is a way of life. It’s not hard to say no because I know how it will affect me, and I don’t want to lose hours or a day of feeling good for a few mouthfuls of cake or a donut.
My goal is to my optimal self each day and to bring my best to the world. Sugar doesn’t serve me to achieve that.
How about you?
Are you sugar-free or considering being sugar-free? I’d love to hear about your journey!