Sugar!

Sugar - sweet, seductive and enslaving!
Even those of us that say we don't really have a sweet tooth, are ensnared by it, whether we know it  or not. It exists in about 60 different forms and aliases in packaged foods. There's very little you can buy at a supermarket, that has a nutrition label and no sugar in it, health food or otherwise.
I've been doing a lot of reading about sugar, thanks to a dear friend who first shared with me Dr.Robert Lustig's youtube sensation video - Sugar, the bitter truth. I am not a scientist, nutritionist, dietician or in any way an authority on this subject. All that I am about to share here is knowledge gleaned from sources like Dr.Lustig who I've come to respect and love for being so selflessly dedicated to the cause of public health and his crusade against sugar. He is one of the rarities of our time when majority of the responsible people in public health, USDA, FDA, policy makers are all simply spokespersons of the food industry - sugar, dairy, corn, meat etc.
This and the next few posts will be an attempt at journaling what I've learnt before I can forget. Comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome.
Firstly some videos for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ksKkCOgTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1cCXH-XGhI

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=ceFyF9px20Y&list=PLpjST35qoZmrbxePlsBYNUMO4QOH-cn_n&index=2

Please read the nutrition label of every single packaged food you buy. Pay attention to serving size mentioned at the top and then scroll down to Sugars.The serving size is usually a measly 3/4 cup or 1/2 cup , the package will have a total of say, 22 servings.

Each serving will have the specified amount of sugar. 

4 g of sugar is 1 teaspoon. 

For example, in a single serving of simple plain Cheerios cereal- 3/4 cup- the sugar content is 9g, slightly more than 2 tsps. An average person will have at least 4 servings in one go. That is about 8-9 spoons of sugar.Once you start observing and noting this, you'll be appalled at the sugar content of everyday foods - bread, pasta sauce, ketchup, cereal, even cough drops and such.

The cup is the standard measuring cup used in all recipes. Not any bowl or cup in your kitchen. 

Many years ago I used to naively think the entire sugar in the package is the one listed. Did not realize it is for one single serving.

Packaged foods should be minimized as much as possible.If you must buy, choose one with fewest, simplest ingredients.If you don't recognize it or find it hard to pronounce or spell it, forget it.

Sugar is hiding in several aliases like maltodexterose, invert sugar, beet sugar, evaporated cane juice etc.

MRI scans show that sugar activates the same pleasure centers in brain as cocaine or nicotine. Sugar is a drug, addiction is real. That's why we feel withdrawal - headache and restlessness when we miss our coffee ( caffeine too)  or a sugary snack. I worry about non packaged foods where sugar is hiding in unknown quantities. Sweets, snacks and savories - restaurant food like thai curry, papaya salad, Indian sweets etc.

So, to do something about this, a few cousins and I have started a 2 week sugar free challenge yet again. Last time, I did it alone, I think I lasted a week and then some social engagement swallowed me whole. This time, hopefully the group effort will help us all stay afloat. The enthusiasm from the group is infectious, I couldn't be more proud.

Why 2 weeks? 2 weeks is kind of the time the body needs to overcome sugar cravings, for the palate to readjust, detoxify and hopefully start thriving on non sugary foods. It is not to say that after two weeks it'll all be back to usual. This period is to build self awareness and hopefully some of us will discover at least a few habits that can be carried forward. Say, we no longer feel the need for a after dinner dessert or sugar in coffee/tea or that we can do very well without white rice - and so on.

It happened one evening.....

It was a regular crazy busy weekday evening. I rushed from my workplace to pick up both kids, one after another. Upon reaching home, I fixed the kids a quick snack, made coffee for my dad and myself and flung myself immediately into the exercise of preparing dinner.
It was only a few months after my mother's very sudden departure. Every second the four of us - we three sisters and my dad ached and grieved in a way that words cannot describe. My older sister's and my thoughts swayed between our kid sister who was a resident student still in school, thousands of miles away and our frail, guileless dad whose entire universe was my mom. Despite my very demanding routine, I hurt so bad, even breathing felt like a difficult chore - poisonous air filling my lungs and leaving them continuously!
  The opening of the garage door mingled with the pressure cooker whistles and general din in the kitchen. The kids ran toward the garage calling out "appa! appa!" greeting their dad with excitement. My dad joined them also, saying "appa!, appa!" Surprised, I asked my dad " Is he appa for you too?"
My father responded " He bought me tee shirt, razors and walking shoes. He takes me to the temple. He bought me medicines when I had a cold. He feeds me, clothes me and takes care of me. So, yes, he is my appa!"
I had to sit down for a couple of minutes to handle that answer. My throat was dry, my breathing heavy and I simply couldn't bring words out of my overflowing heart!
I had heard sons-in-law being referred to as sons by their fathers-in-law. But this, came as a surprise. Didn't know whether to marvel at my dad's beautiful interpretation or at my husband's little acts of kindness and affection that won over my dad's heart.
Without flowers or surprise gifts, without jewelry or candlelight dinner, my husband had given me such a sweet feeling - I realized that evening that I had definitely transitioned from a girl to a woman.
Caught in the crossfire of love, I relished the last sip from my cup of coffee and proceeded to finish making dinner.

Why?

There are regular days and then there are days like today - when I am dominated by feelings of resentment, bitterness and anger.
I don't know if these feelings are normal, they aren't healthy, for sure.

I miss my mother a lot - so much that I detest anyone in her age group. I detest people around me whose mothers, much older than mine - are alive and well. I want to throw up when people talk about birthdays and anniversaries for their elderly parents. Why didn't I get those opportunities?

The absence of my mother has left a painful gaping hole in my family.
It's like talking and interacting with someone with a significant physical deformity. With the passage of time you try not to show that you are aware of their condition, you try to treat them as normally as you can - but you can't make the fact go away completely - can you?

What was the need for her to go so soon? Couldn't she have lived with us a few more years? What was the hurry? Who decides these things? Who decides who should live for how long and who goes when? What did we do to deserve this?
Is there anything we did for which we were punished so severely?

It's very hard to beleive in God, in a higher power that is kind, benovelent and all-loving, when you're dealt something like this - something totally and utterly non-negotiable.In a world where so many people live, isn't there a little more oxygen she could have breathed, a little space she could have used, a little food she could have eaten, .......

I know there are a lot of people who are in more pain than I.
A child who's the same age as my daughter, in her day care, doesn't have a mom. From when I've learnt this, every time I see that child I struggle to breathe normally for a few seconds.
People whose lives get irreparably affected due to some natural calamity, in a random act of hatred they had nothing to do with - a bomb blast, a hijacked aircraft, a shoot out ....
People who have autistic kids, kids with mental or physical disabilities - what did they do to deserve this?

It is very hard to make sense of pain when you're on the wrong side of the equation. You're filled with anger, you want someone to answer these questions and explain the lack of logic in these happenings.
Everyone has problems. No one's life is perfect. Even so, why do some people's lives seem way more easier and issue free than some of ours.

So many questions. No fitting responses.
I have a sort of love-hate relationship with God. Kind of like the one you may have with your baby's care provider. You don't approve of many things they do, but you need them, depend on them and would much rather keep a cordial relationship for the sake of your child. I have nowhere else to turn but to the same God who gave me all my troubles I am reeling under today.

This piece of writing has no logical flow. I am going to end it as abruptly as I started it. My heart and head are not in the right place today. Life is not fair, especially to some of us, it surely isn't. But it has to go on, until some freak decides to yank us out of this craziness into God knows what, God knows where!