We did it and so can you. It’s really not as bad as it sounds. You DO have to give it a chance. You DO have to experiment with other sweeteners and be willing to have sugar cravings for about two weeks. After that, it is easier. The less you eat, the less your body “wants” it… amazing!
And yes, to answer your next question, sugar really is that bad for you. I won’t use up pages telling you why except to say that research really does support how sugar is a powerfully dangerous “anti-nutrient” to our bodies and contributes to many now common diseases. Sugar has not always been with us and people who are not exposed to it in remote parts of the world do not have the same health problems we have in “civilized” nations. Why don’t you hear about it, you say? Hm… interesting question… start reading labels and the answer will become quite clear.
Oh, by the way, sugar also manifests as high fructose corn syrup — the most dangerous offender because it has been so highly processed. You may also see sucrose, fructose, etc. Artificial sweeteners are no better and may be worse, but we won’t go there today. Don’t eat them! Other sugar varieties will not help you either — for example “raw” sugar, etc… you need to skip over sugar entirely.
Instead, I will go straight to the list of sugar alternatives you can begin shopping for and using your cooking and baking. Although I hope you find this list helpful, please do not use it as a carte blanch ticket to eat as much of them as you want. You should still be very conservative with sweeteners of any kinds.
- Maple Syrup
- Stevia (powder or liquid)
- Brown Rice Syrup
- Sorghum Syrup
- Raw Honey
- Fruit jams
*When you are a desperate for a refined sugar substitute (for example if you must bake in large quantities), you may use rapadura / Succanat (usually found in health food stores) or pilloncillo (must be grated) which is dehydrated sugar cane juice.
For everyday sweet needs, stevia works great. I usually rotate using stevia, maple syrup, sorghum and honey in my oatmeal. The syrups are good for baking. Stevia and honey are good for hot drinks.
In time, you may even find you don’t’ need your foods to be as sweet as you once did. This happened to us and now we have a hard time eating store-bought or other people’s goodies when pressed to do so.
$ Note: pilloncillo, stevia liquid (it lasts forever) and sorghum syrup seem to be the cheapest products overall, maybe jam. Pilloncillo takes time to prepare by grating first however. Find it in the Latin foods section.
The Nutritionary 
June 12, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Hey! I didn’t know you had started this. I knew you had talked about putting this into a blog but I didn’t know it had come to be. Looks great. I’m a subscriber.