The Rules

Why a year without sugar?

It’s one part protest against our increasingly twisted food industry.  It’s one part protest against government complicity in this mess.  It’s one part protest against the disinfo campaign being waged on the public.  And one part a personal attempt to lead by example.

Starting March 1 2012, for a full year I’m going to eliminate from my diet two of the least healthy things we can put in our bodies:

• processed sugar
  (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, and so on … essentially any sugar that does not occur as part of whole natural foods)

• alcohol
  (in all its forms … even red wine)

How to Play

Over the next year I’ll be blogging about my experiences on this journey and also sharing information about how our food impacts our health.

If you want to join me in this quest, comment below saying “I’m in” and then, as much as possible, comment on each new post letting everyone know how you’re doing.  This is a journey that will be much easier with a group, so hang out here for support.

Disclaimer:  I’m not a doctor.  I don’t play one on the Internet.  Talk to one before embarking on this journey.

I don’t have any products to sell and doubt I’ll be recommending any along the way, save for a few books or documentaries.  So much health advice is tied to a particular product line or agenda …  Indeed, many books about health and nutrition are sales letters disguised as science.  Let’s see what happens when that conflict of interest is removed from the equation.

How to Earn Bonus Points

I believe that giving up processed sugar and alcohol for a year, by itself will improve anyone’s health.  I hope you join me in that quest.  I also hope you do this only after seeking qualified medical advice, of course.

Personally I’ll be taking it a step further.  I intend to, as strictly as possible,  follow a diet plan consisting of primarily natural whole foods.  The actual diet plan I follow may change over the year (could be any all-natural diet like Dr. Doug Graham’s 80/10/10 raw vegan diet, Dr. McDougall’s vegan diet, or the definitely-not-vegan Paleo diet … we’ll see), but as a constant I’ll also be avoiding:

• processed starches
  (flour, corn starch, and so on … any starch that does not occur in unprocessed, whole, natural foods)

• dairy
  (milk, butter, cheese, and so on … occurring naturally or otherwise)

Are you in?  If so, comment below saying “I’m in” and let everyone know the level of commitment you intend to keep.

How far should you go?  That’s up to you and your doctor, of course.  Some folks I know are willing to give up sugar for a year, but not alcohol.  Do what works for you … Either way, we’re all going to learn a lot about ourselves and the impact of the foods we put in our bodies.