My journey started last century, when as a young lad in my 20’s and flatting, I made my first Muesli.
Grandpa Collin’s Story
The interest in good food gained momentum in the 1970s when my wife and I started experimenting with diet to see what effect it had on running marathons.
The quest for a greater understanding continued this century.
I had all but convinced my father to make changes to the food he was eating. Tragically the medical profession talked him out of changing and subsequently they killed him with one of the new drugs.
Hardly surprising then, when my 90 year-old Mum asked me to be her health advocate, I stepped into that role.
The health professionals were not happy …..
My work in aviation taught me not to accept a single word or one bit of information without making sure all the bits of the mosaic dovetailed, so it was hardly surprising that I immediately ran into conflicts in terms of drugs and the medicos system of ‘check box prescribing.’
A different view from that of a doctor, plus a duo of glaring discrepancies forced my sister and I to get Mother out of North Shore Hospital into a private unit where we had more input and control over her diet and care.
For the second time we worked at upping Mother’s nutrition and weaning her off the drug load.
And the results?
Both times her cognitive function improved.
For a number of months, she was clearly more aware than those around her (those still with the standard drug load and attendant side effects).
Subsequently I decided that I should use myself as a ‘test bed’ for my theories and see what effect, if any, would occur.
My two big changes in eating:
- Out with ALL sugar and
- Really ramp up the daily intake of quality Saturated Fat.
Fortunately, when I started the process in May 2012, I had a blood test to establish a ‘bench mark’ .
This in turn was followed by a number of other tests so I had results to compare.
And what happened?
All my blood work improved.
BUT
The big surprise came with the 3 extra positive outcomes:
- At 6ft 3 and 92kgs I did not consider myself overweight but I lost just under 3kgs
- My balance improved slowly but noticeably
- I am sure my recall improved and senior moments now seem to have disappeared entirely.
All anecdotal for sure, but I am happy nonetheless!
Grandpa CollinHawkes Bay
Did you know there are over 60 different names for sugar??
See the full list.
1. Anhydrous dextrose 2. Agave 3. Agave nectar 4. Beet sugar 5. Brown sugar (light and dark brown) 6. Cane juice 7. Cane juice solids 8. Cane sugar 9. Cane syrup 10. Carob syrup 11. Caster sugar 12. Coconut sugar 13. Confectioners’ sugar 14. Corn syrup 15. Corn syrup solids 16. Crystalline fructose 17. Date sugar 18. Demerara sugar 19. Dextran 20. Dextrose 21. Dehydrated cane juice 22. Evaporated cane juice 23. Evaporated cane syrup 24. Evaporated sugar cane 25. Fructose 26. Fructose crystals 27. Fruit juice crystals 28. Fruit juice concentrate 29. Glazing sugar 30. Glucose 31. Glucose syrup 32. Golden sugar 33. Golden syrup 34. Granulated sugar 35. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) 36. Honey 37. Icing sugar 38. Invert sugar 39. Invert syrup 40. King’s syrup 41. Lactose 42. Maple syrup 43. Maple sugar 44. Maltose 45. Malt sugar 46. Malt syrup 47. Molasses 48. Muscovado 49. Nectar 50. Pancake syrup 51. Panocha 52. Powdered sugar 53. Raw sugar 54. Refiners’ syrup 55. Sorghum 56. Sorghum syrup 57. Sucanat 58. Sucrose 59. Sugar 60. Superfine sugar 61. Table sugar 62. Treacle 63. Turbinado sugar 64. White sugar 65. Yellow sugar
See the full list.
1. Anhydrous dextrose 2. Agave 3. Agave nectar 4. Beet sugar 5. Brown sugar (light and dark brown) 6. Cane juice 7. Cane juice solids 8. Cane sugar 9. Cane syrup 10. Carob syrup 11. Caster sugar 12. Coconut sugar 13. Confectioners’ sugar 14. Corn syrup 15. Corn syrup solids 16. Crystalline fructose 17. Date sugar 18. Demerara sugar 19. Dextran 20. Dextrose 21. Dehydrated cane juice 22. Evaporated cane juice 23. Evaporated cane syrup 24. Evaporated sugar cane 25. Fructose 26. Fructose crystals 27. Fruit juice crystals 28. Fruit juice concentrate 29. Glazing sugar 30. Glucose 31. Glucose syrup 32. Golden sugar 33. Golden syrup 34. Granulated sugar 35. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) 36. Honey 37. Icing sugar 38. Invert sugar 39. Invert syrup 40. King’s syrup 41. Lactose 42. Maple syrup 43. Maple sugar 44. Maltose 45. Malt sugar 46. Malt syrup 47. Molasses 48. Muscovado 49. Nectar 50. Pancake syrup 51. Panocha 52. Powdered sugar 53. Raw sugar 54. Refiners’ syrup 55. Sorghum 56. Sorghum syrup 57. Sucanat 58. Sucrose 59. Sugar 60. Superfine sugar 61. Table sugar 62. Treacle 63. Turbinado sugar 64. White sugar 65. Yellow sugar
Scary!
Hi Colin…I was rapt to find your article. i grew stevia last year and have 2 large containers of the dried leaves.
is there a ‘rule of thumb’ of what quantities to use when substituting dried stevia leaves for sugar?
Great about your weight loss..very encouraging
Lynn
Without doing any real research ‘taste test’ seems to be the rule of thumb, but one facet i did uncover is that the green stevia powder is a healthier product compared to the pure white one which has been messed with by processing.
If you were thinking of selling i would stress the quality ‘green non processed’ aspect of your stevia.
Weight Loss- well that was bit of an accident!
Collin
I cannot see how you can possibly avoid sugar completely as ever thing has sugar & if not sugar it has increased salt.
D M Daddy From the extensive reading i have done i am fairly sure ‘short-sightedness’ can be addressed and assisted.
Of course the larger question is whether or not there is the will to address the issue of what you cannot see.
I have recently been put onto a reduced sugar regime and it is killing me as I am a chocoholic!!! I have reduced my sugar intake by at least 50% tho BUT don’t starches (bread, Flour, Potatoes etc.) break down to Glucose in the body? I am determined to do this but to give up altogether is beyond my capabilities and my mind control. I don’t want to lose any more weight either. How did you do it???? I think I feel better already tho and have been doing this awful thing for 5 weeks now. Shall I press on and maybe still try to cut down?
Hi Heather,
a few aspects pop up – viz “ i have been put on ….”
My take is that when one takes responsibility and chooses a course of action the resistance part – ‘and it is killing me ….’ avoids the setting of the hurdles sufficiently high to make it difficult to clear them.
Many years ago met a trainee doctor who had the view all food is converted to energy by the body, why not just give the kids sugar right from the start and save the body all the hard work.
My focus in heading in the direction that i did, was to prove to myself that a high fat diet was beneficial, but i had also read that sugar gives the body the easy out for not doing the more difficult task of burning fat as a fuel and the best path to forcing the issue was to stop all simple sugar ( refined processed sugar in its many forms )
Very difficult for me to know why you are doing what you are doing and what effect you are trying to achieve, but taking control of your health yourself seems the best choice as far as i can see.
Well done, Heather – every step helps! I saw a programme featuring a couple who decided to reduce their sugar intake and they made a concerted effort not to eat anything that had more than 4g per serve of sugar. It isn’t easy to find those items (most cereals seem to be 10+g per serve) but it made a big difference to that couple and I have been trying to follow that guideline, too. As another writer says, almost everything has SOME sugar content in some format. Another friend (who is also a chocoholic!) told me that she started to put her chocolate supply in the fridge and told herself “I’ll have a piece tomorrow’. So far, it is still sitting there …..
With every best wish, Gillian
My theory is that supermarket foods have to have chemicals added to ensure they last and look good, only problem is the chemicals make the product taste ‘funny’ so sugar is added to hide the taste of the chemicals.
Double whammy – chemicals + sugar!
Remember – just my theory!
Have found on this regime that if i am not careful and let the quantity of vegetables drop, i end up a little acidic.
How do i know?
Athletes Foot makes a reappearance, always a good clue for me, so have added in a morning drink of natural Apple Cider Vinegar with 2 drops of Thieves Essential Oils from Young Living.
Check out the description at this link;
https://tinyurl.com/k3uft4t
Right on Collin: when I started to learn to fly, my instructor told me a couple of things that stuck. First “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, there are no old bold pilots!”
and “Learn from the mistake of others, you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself!”
I added another couple :Two of the most dangerous places in town, a doctors consulting room and the center of a supper market !”
Finally, from a heart surgeon in U K :” Food can be a most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison!”
To narrow the supermarket, danger down a bit further. Don’t buy anything in the “Cooking oils” aisle! They are deadly poison. How many know that “Heart Foundations”, “American Heart Association”, are founded on money from The Edible Oils Industry?
I began my nintieth year year on the 24th of May!
I am alive today , in spite of ,”modern Medicine and “Doctors” prescribing it!
I try to learn something new each day!
Today’s new item ? Check out “nitric oxide “if your’ having problems with high blood pressure
According to Korean War Legacy I am the youngest surviving Korean War Veteran on the planet.
My obituary has already been written at On line Cenotaph Auckland Museum. just needs date of death.
I have no plans for that for some time!
To learn how all this mess in the medical system got started? check out,
isupportgary.com.
view Belinda Fettke’s video, from start to finish, in will come as a bit of a surprises, it was to me!
See also
Ivor Cummins, ‘The fat emperor”. More informative videos.
These really hit the mark and give us a better understanding of the darker side or what and who we are up against.
Hi Heather, have a look at dietdoctor.com, they might help with your sugar with withdrawal problem