Some people use the new year to detox, some to give up alcohol. Others join a gym, quit smoking or take up yoga. This year, for the month of January, I’m cutting out sugar. Fructose, glucose, galactose: it goes by many names, but of all society’s approved drugs, sugar sits in a curious limbo. Medical advice ranges from the confusing to the disapproving, while a financial disincentive could even transpire in the form of a long-mooted tax on soft drinks.
Sugar has been called our most dangerous foe in the fight against obesity. It has even been compared to hard drugs by some health campaigners. And, in the business of providing this sugar fix, we’re all users and we’re all dealers.
For the month of January, I’ve resolved to attempt to wean myself off sugar’s toxic allure. It won’t be easy. Two dieticians – one private, one HSE – have agreed to help me identify which foods contain sugar. It’s going to be a bit more complicated than merely ditching junk food.
"If you look at nutrition as a whole, all excess carbohydrates turn into sugar in the blood," says Aveen Bannon, a dietician and founder of the Dublin Nutrition Centre. "If you've any excess carbohydrates, that's excess sugar in the system. I would say all fruit juice is out, for example. It's better to get some fibre when eating fruit, to take it in properly. Of course . . ." She pauses. "There's also sugar in alcohol."
I knew something like this was going to happen. Sugar is added to most alcoholic drinks, but alcohol itself contains empty calories that the body transforms into sugar. Bannon recommends drinking small amounts of low-sugar alcohols, such as vodka, soda water and lemon, or certain wines (nothing sweet).
We draw up a rough dietary outline, aiming for fewer than 5g of sugar per 100g of food. As well as the obvious junk food, bananas, apples, tropical and dried fruits are also out due to their high sugar content. Bannon recommends two fruit servings per day, mainly berries, citrus, avocados, and kiwis. Root vegetables such as carrots and turnips are fine in small amounts, but butternut squash is out.
Also gone are jams, marmalade, honey, fruit juices, breakfast bars, energy drinks and almost all cereals.
“You’ll also have to control your carbohydrate portions,” says Bannon. “You need to focus more on protein and fibre and make sure you’ve enough calcium.”
We agree to ditch sweeteners, as they lack nutrition and maintain sweet craving. It’s a shame. As a 7Up Free fan, I’d been counting on sweeteners to get me through. Instead, snacks will be a mixture of fibre and protein. The other real challenges will be breakfast – especially having porridge without honey – and eating out.
What’s left?
With so much cut out, what’s left? Quite a lot. Poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, meat, salads, most vegetables, nuts, seeds, some fruit, milk, oatcakes, fibrous bread, rice cakes, peanut butter, some protein bars and balanced helpings of carbohydrates such as potatoes and rice. For snacks, popcorn and pretzels are on the menu.
My core diet wasn’t too bad to start with, if you ignore the fact that it was garnished by generous helpings of sugary treats. This habit is partly due to indolence and partly the result of working from home: with a deadline looming, I’d sell my first-born child for a flapjack.
Like most of you, things go up a gear at Christmas, where sugar features in almost everything, from glazed ham to cranberry sauce. Then there’s the profusion of selection boxes, biscuits, crisps and a longstanding Scots Clan dependency. All in all, I live on the sugar rollercoaster, and it’s a hell of a ride. But what happens when the music stops and I’m snacking on peanut butter on rye and remembering the glory days?
“You’ll probably feel quite awful and headachey for the first week or so,” Bannon says. “And your energy levels will slump. You won’t feel great, but you will come through it and end up feeling a lot better.”
Medical check-ups
To assess the effects, my GP, Dr Sinéad Rowell at Grafton Medical, will give me a before-and-after check-up. The first results are encouraging. My blood sugar levels, blood cell counts, liver and kidneys are all fine. There is, however, a minor shortage of “good” cholesterol and a slightly higher body fat percentage than expected.
Although Bannon says the percentage of body fat should drop without sugar, we’re not aiming for weight loss. Despite being a heavy user of sugar, my body mass index is healthy, which is probably down to cycling. Others aren’t so fortunate.
Due to budget constraints, the HSE's Healthy Eating Unit generally only deals with individuals suffering from obesity or diabetes. "The general advice we'd give out is not to use refined sugar, for example not to add it to tea or coffee," says Margaret O'Neill, dietician manager with the HSE. "We give people realistic, gradual advice based on what they are currently eating. In your case, you want to achieve an extremely low-sugar diet, but you still need to get your nutrients."
Two out of every three adults in this country are overweight or obese, as are a quarter of children. And sugar is increasingly blamed, with some health campaigners comparing its addictive, toxic properties to those of cocaine and heroin.
In his book Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar, Dr Robert Lustig of the University of California asks whether people would accept food companies lacing breakfast cereal with morphine in order to sell more of it.
Experts here have called for a sugar tax similar to the levy introduced in France, but proposals have foundered at Cabinet level amid vehement resistance by the industry and opposition from Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.
Whatever the official policy, O’Neill advises against all fizzy drinks. She also recommends the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s healthy-eating guidelines, which is based on the traditional food pyramid.
Not everyone agrees with this model, however. “Our food pyramid is not really up to date with the latest advice on carbohydrates,” Bannon says. She recommends the Harvard Food Pyramid, which includes exercise and portion size. “They have wholegrains and healthy oils; it’s just much, much better. My advice is keep the carbs down and get the right types of carbs.”
The die is cast. Having put my affairs in order, I use the dying embers of 2014 to spend some quality time with two family friends: Jacob’s Chocolate Mallows and a tin or two of Cadbury’s Roses. How I cherish the memories we have made together. Watching a DVD just won’t be the same without their nectar coursing through my bloodstream. Parting is such sweet, sugary sorrow. At the end of the month I’ll let you know how I got on.
Twitter @reporterdarragh
