The Added Sugar Challenge

Added sugar.  Seems like most foods we eat have added sugar.  Last week we talked about all the added sugar in foods, especially sugar-sweetened beverages like soda pop, sweetened tea and fruit punch.  The Star Tribune ran some interesting articles about added sugar, one about readers challenged to give up on added sugar for a month.    Journalist, Erica Pearson, began noticing how many foods have added sugar.  Not just the donuts, cakes, pies, cookies that we all know have added sugar, but the salad dressings, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, even chicken stock.   The Star Tribune challenged readers to take a sugar break – a bread from added sugar for 28 days.  They called it the “28-day Sugar Free Challenge” which they held in February.  Why February?  They said it was the shortest month which made the challenge somewhat easier.

Goal – cut out the added sugar in one’s diet for 28 days.  

This was to include not just the sugar you added to your morning cereal or cup of coffee but all the added sugar manufacturers add to almost every packaged food.  As I noted last week, researchers from the University of North Carolina found 68% of packaged foods have added sugar.  Thus, to really stick to this challenge one would have to cut out many, if not most, of the packaged food they eat.

Findings – how well did the Star Tribune readers do on this no added sugar challenge and what did they have to say about trying the challenge?  The Star Tribune ran a follow-up article describing lessons learned.    Not scientific evidence but anecdotal comments from some of the 3,000 people who took on the 28-day Sugar Free Challenge.  

1.  Feel better – many said cutting out added sugar for a month just made them feel better.
2. One person noted their mental fog had cleared. 
3. More health savvy – even if they didn’t feel better some commentators noted they felt they knew more about what they were eating and drinking.  One reader was surprised to find added sugar in what she thought was healthy food.
4. More fruits and veggies – to replace some of the added sugar foods, some readers found themselves eating more fruits and vegetables.  Reminds me of a student in my class who lost 15 pounds by adding 5 A DAY – five fruits and vegetables every day.  He said he didn’t have room for the all junk food he was eating. 

Pasta sauce with no added sugar

Like some of the commentators, I have no desire to give up all foods with added sugar.  But I do try to keep the added sugar foods to dessert or what I know is something to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I try to avoid a lot of added sugar packaged foods in the main part of my meal.  One commentator summed up their No Added Sugar Challenge by saying, “The challenge has made me more deliberate about what I eat.  I will go back to eating sugars.  I love a piece of dark chocolate now and then or a cookie or ice cream.  But I think that I now want to be able to decide when I consume sugar – my choice on the chocolate, not a manufacturer deciding to put it in soup.”  

Soup with high fructose syrup

 How many added sugar foods can you find in your diet and cut back on?  Soda would be a good place to start.  If you drink a can of soda or more a day, try to cut back.  The Mayo Clinic notes that beverages like soda and fruit drinks are two of the major sources of added sugar in our diets.  There are brands of spaghetti sauce without added sugar, soup without added sugar, crackers without added sugar. but it does take some patience to read food labels and hunt for those brands on store shelves.  Mayo Clinic recommends choosing foods with 5 grams of added sugar or less in each serving.   

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