Hello All, and Happy New Year!!

I must admit I'm tickled that over 400 people have signed up for this 31-day challenge -- and I am hoping that by February 1 -- whatever this challenge has meant for you -- has help to enlighten your knowledge about our culture of food choices and the control we have. Please remember first and foremost it's primarily an educational awakening of sorts that is the most important. Some of you may being able to eliminate ALL added sweetener (both real and fake), all alcohol, and any synthetic ingredient you have identified in the ingredient lists of your most common foods for the full month-- while others may just have learned to kick a soda habit or not eat out as much, among other awesome changes. Again, whatever this challenge does for you, pat yourself on the back. You can continue to learn and modify with the tools you're learning well beyond the end of January. Challenge yourself until you feel confident :)

If you've missed the previous 4 emails sent (with awesome links to resources and handouts) click HERE to review the emails and download the resources.

A few things:

  • Anyone frustrated or confused by the food labels, the ingredient lists or how to discern added sweetener and synthetics and choose food you're "supposed" to eat?! YOU'RE NOT ALONE.

  • The Food Industry does not care about your health!

  • Big Sugar and Big Food are just as powerful as Big Tobacco -- it is up to us, as consumers, to make choices and stay in control.

  • Grocery stores have not become bigger because we have discovered so many more wholesome varieties of fruits and veggies, dairy products, protein sources and whole grains. Food product is the majority of the store.

  • There is space in your overall eating pattern for food product (we can't always live perfect) but it's choosing carefully and ensuring those food products are not minimizing or substituting real food in our patterns.
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A recap just for recap sake:

1) The challenge is to eliminate ALL added sweetener for the month. This does not include the natural sugars found in fruit, milk, etc. Eliminate anything ADDED to the food (including better real varieties like honey, etc.). The reason is to reset your metabolisms and your tastebuds -- and get you to NOTICE. Come Feb 1 you'll be set to include real sugars (no fake stuff) in the moderation it was meant.

  • There are 56 different added sugars -- the knowledge of these can be easily seen in the "added sugar" row of the food label. Look at the serving size first, then to the grams (4g = 1 tsp). How many tsp of added sugar is there?

  • Sometimes foods can have dozens of different added sugars in just one food. Click HERE to check out the variety

  • Good varieties (the ones you can easily get like honey, molasses, maple syrup) are NOT bad. We just need a break and then add back in responsibly to our diets.

  • There are 17+ FDA-approved synthetic sweeteners (some derived from natural sources, like Stevia) but they aren't considered sugar so they won't be in the "added sugar" row.

  • They'll be identified in the ingredient list only. The ingredient list is by volume -- the closer the ingredient to the beginning the more there is in there.

  • Alternative sweeteners can be 200-700x sweeter than regular sugars (hence their popularity in food products) but they can cause their own host of issues -- most notably diarrhea, inflammation and other unpleasant side effects.

  • Click HERE to learn more about identifying.

2) After the above, eliminate all alcohol simultaneously. This is not a "must" but it's helpful as alcohol can destabilize our blood sugars and lead to cravings.

3) I encourage this last challenge no matter what for the rest of your days -- eliminate (or at least minimize) the synthetics that makes food into food product. These are ingredients you identify in the ingredient list that you couldn't get yourself. These are ingredients only food scientists, manufacturers and Big Food have access to.

  • You are either eating REAL FOOD (ingredients you could get to make yourself) or you eat FOOD PRODUCT (synthetic mimics).

  • Real food is the goal. Our bodies NEED real food to survive and to thrive. Food is Medicine!!!!

  • Food product can fit -- but not as part of a pattern (if you want to be healthy). Food product can be a small part of our life -- a treat, a small guilty pleasure. But, our society has replaced real food with food product and that's why we all feel icky. Our bodies were never designed for synthetics. We're overloaded!

  • Eating out (whether that be fast food or restaurants or cafeterias) will likely into the food product category because most food prepared outside of the home is supplied by the food industry. Unless you're eating very basic foods or eating farm-to-table -- it had to be synthteically modified so it could travel.

  • This includes refined grains that have synthetic "vitamins and minerals" (you'll notice under the ingredient list) that are sprayed on after the grain is stripped of its nutrients for shelf stability. While abstaining from these (including white rice and white flours) for 31-days helps to stabilize, you'll eventually want to make sure most of your intake is whole. Click HERE for a helpful whole grains handout and visit www.wholegrainscouncil.org for info and recipes.

It's a lot to digest (pun totally intended) so breathe and simplify. Food used to be simple -- until it wasn't anymore. Let's get back to simple! Be in control of your food so you can control your health.

Let's connect on Social Media! We're posting in the private FB group. Visit St. Peter's Sugar Challenge | Facebook to join. You can also join my personal food pages on Instagram (@thefoodstoeat) or on FB at https://www.facebook.com/thefoodstoeat

Happy Monday peeps! Stay positive, and keep going. You'll be amazed by Week 3 how different you feel :)

Jaime