The Skinny on Sugar and Fake Sugar

The LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest 10/19/2011:

Greetings! 

Hello and Welcome!

With Halloween just around the corner and the feasting holidays coming right behind now is a good time to look at sugar, artificial sweeteners and the role they play in our weight loss surgery diets. I am always nervous about the "sugar" newsletter because if there is one thing health conscious people have strong opinions about it is sweet foods and how they get to be sweet. There is so much information (and mis-information) about sweets in the American diet that we can find "studies" or "proof" to support just about any position we want to take.

As a voice in the weight loss surgery community I seek the most current data from the sources we trust in this country to protect the health of the citizens. My sources include the Food and Drug Administration, The American Diabetes Association, The American Heart Association, The Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Medicine -- to name a few.

Today I've gathered some tidbits from these trusted sources to look at sugar, sugar substitutes, and sugar alcohol in the American diet and the weight loss surgery diet. I know that my fellow WLS patients are avid researchers and students and I invite you to take this information, expand on it with your own research, and apply to your personal experience. I believe you will find a suitable relationship with sweets in your healthy recovery from obesity with weight loss surgery.

And finally, this Halloween I wish you the best of life's treats as you pursue your dreams LivingAfterWLS!

CHEERS!
Kaye

Read the full digest in our archive: October 19, 2011


Featured Articles:
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Artificial Sweeteners

 

Assignment: Chocolate & Strawberries

Have you heard about the LivingAfterWLS Chocolate & Strawberries challenge? It all started when one of our Neighbors was struggling with evening sweet cravings. I tossed the challenge out to her in the Neighborhood (Read Here) and it was featured in our 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin on March 2. Here is the full challenge:

Sweet Treat: Permission Granted

Today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin is all about indulging yourself! So often we struggle with feelings of deprivation for the so-called "Bad Food" or "Forbidden Food." But there are many nutritious treats in which we can indulge while respecting our LivingAfterWLS way of life. In the assignment below you will learn how to include chocolate and strawberries in your eating program without feeling guilt or remorse. Are you ready to take this assignment? It's the perfect time of year as strawberries are abundant in the marketplace.

If you are doing the 5 Day Pouch Test this week plan this special treat to conclude your program on Day 5. You deserve to be healthy, nourished and treated!

You Can Do This!

The assignment:
Please go to your grocery store and purchase two items:
1 quart of fresh strawberries (they are looking really good this time of year)
1 jar sugar free chocolate syrup (or 1 bar of 70% cocoa dark chocolate)

Next - think about these beautiful berries that are full of vitamin C, fiber and carcinogen fighting phytochemicals. Putting these strawberries in your body is a nurturing gift. Think about that today, but don't eat the strawberries just yet. Just focus on how sweet and succulent they will taste and how you will kindly nurture your sweet cravings with this wonderful food. Think about how you will feel as you eat them and how you will feel in the morning knowing you did not give you body food that made it sick and sluggish. Remind yourself that you deserve to feel healthy and in control of your eating and you are capable of being healthy and in control of your eating.

What you are doing is creating that "mental storm of enthusiasm" for nurturing your body with smart food choices.

Now, tonight when the sweet craving hits I want you to wash 6 strawberries in cold running water. Dry them gently with a paper towel and arrange them on a pretty plate. If they are large cut them in bite-size slices. Drizzle them with the sugar free chocolate syrup -- not too much -- just a drizzle. Then find a comfortable place without distractions to sit and enjoy each bite. If you like, invite your boyfriend to join you with YOUR refreshment and kindly ask him to respect you by not having his chocolate in front of you. Enjoy every single bite and reflect on how good it feels to treat yourself in a nurturing and healthy manner.

This is a treat and a ritual you can do every night. If you chose to get dark chocolate instead of the syrup just melt one or two ounces on low in the microwave and dip your berries into the creamy chocolate that is actually low in sugar and rich in antioxidants.

Join others in this fun assignment: Go to the Neighborhood