Sweet Poison on Sunday Night (Channel 7)

http://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/article/-/13058226/sweet-poison/3/

How good was that? I often worry when stuff like this is going to be shown on a current affairs program, because more than likely in a week or two Channel 7 will be airing a program on how wonderful the carrot stick diet or the banana diet is (fictional at this point in time as far as I know...) However, having Peter Fitzsimons reporting from the perspective of actually living a sugar-free lifestyle made it more real for me. And I have had numerous messages from friends asking how to get hold of the book now. I am so excited that the message is getting out there.

You just can't argue with the logic. Even "Dr" Alan Barclay said it - eat all foods in moderation, go back to whole foods, nutritional foods. (Sugar has zero nutritional value people). So glad they didn't show too much more of him talking as I may have punched my TV. As a diabetic's wife, I get so annoyed that he is still pushing the idea that sugar is ok, even though the response of so many diabetics (type 1 and type 2) is that their sugar levels are far easier to control when they cut out the processed sugar. I read through the comments on Sunday Night's website and there was one mother's comment saying "Well my son is a type 1 diabetic and if he doesn't eat sugar he will die" ummm... well hello, have a look at what is in his hypo kit - it is pure glucose, so don't you think if you replace his sugar with glucose he will still be ok. Speaking from experience, you will be doing your diabetic family member a massive favour by switching to glucose. The insulin will start to work better (in our case, long acting insulin has been reduced significantly) and their sugar levels will be far more steady from day to day.

Admittedly, not once during the program was the word fructose mentioned. I wonder if this was on purpose. I find that at first people find it very hard to comprehend what fructose is. Unfortunately, if you just say "cut out all sugar" people get very jumpy, because sugar includes all your ranges of carbohydrates. Be assured, nowhere in his book does David suggest we stop eating potatoes, pumpkin or peas (all the good veges begin with p - except parsnip, it is NOT a good vege according to my tastebuds!). David makes a very clear distinction on the difference between glucose (a good sugar) and sucrose (a half-bad sugar, the bad half being fructose).

Okay Nestle, this is a quote from your statement to Channel 7 regarding their program from tonight. "And finally, and probably most importantly, using the 100gms stat is completely misleading – it’s absurd to suggest that anyone would eat 15 heaped teaspoons of Milo in one sitting." I am guessing whoever wrote that never met me at various stages in my life - eg. pre-menstrual, stressed, tired, hungover, bored, happy, sad. I have memories of sitting with a can of milo and a dessertspoon (not a teaspoon). And in all honesty, who cannot admit to just putting enough milk into half a cup of milo to just make it wet enough to eat without choking on the dry product! Go on... you can admit it here, you are among friends!

Toady I ran a little experiment. I took my 5 year old son to his first big school birthday party today. Sugar sugar everywhere. The lolly bag was a "lolly shop" situation. I agreed with my husband that we would allow the boys a limited amount of sugar from the party, so my son and I went down the line and he pointed out all the lollies he would like - i got 4 of each - 2 for him and 2 for his brother. They shared when they got home. They threw out about half of the lollies because they just didn't like them. They only got about 10 little jelly type lollies and a few jaffas. They ate maybe half, threw out a few, and the rest are in a sealed container that will go in the bin tomorrow night. The experiment concludes then when I determine if they remember they are there and ask for them. It sounds a bit horrible running experiments on your kids, but I want to know what the effect of me choosing to cut sugar out of their diet has been. I am pretty positive so far. Today's attitude to the lollies is enough for me to know they don't really want it and are not missing out. They still get dessert most nights a week - usually it is the dextrose-based icecream that I make. Sometimes it is yoghurt (natural with Stevia as a sweetener). Sometimes it is a rice cake! The lolly situation is a far cry from 2 Christmases ago, when we went to the carols and Santa brought a massive bag of lollies for each kid. Santa dressed up was my boys' Great Grandfather, so he made sure those darling little boys of his got extra lollies. My little man was about 2 and a half at the time and sat and ate his entire bag of lollies (except those blocks someone put in his bag of lollies - licorice allsorts). Now he struggles to get through 10 little lollies.

And the best thing that I noticed was in my own response. I have ALWAYS loved lollies. I could eat a big bag in the space of time it would take you to read this blog. That would certainly go a long way to explaining why i wear clothes of the size I do.... but today, I was not interested. I ate two little party pies and a quarter of a ham sandwich that Mr 5 had taken a bite out of. I think I may still have been full from a yummy bacon and eggs breaky, but there was not a chance a lolly was going in my mouth. That was probably my first big temptation since focussing on this issue. One step at a time, but I avoided that one so I know I am getting stronger.

On my weight, I am not going to be reporting on a weekly basis. Given the natural fluctuations in our bodies, I think it is better that I look on a monthly basis. I also am trying to beat some mental demons, one of which is a fixation with the numbers. I need to remember that it is about feeling better, not just what number comes up on the scales.

So, ciao for now!