Do you know anyone with diabetes? Do you have diabetes yourself? I am not diabetic, but I know quite a few individuals that suffer from this disease, and I have also lost friends and loved ones to diabetes. It is now estimated that nearly 10% of the United States population (30 million people) suffer from either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. This number is astounding! Sadly, diabetes is beginning to affect younger and younger generations, with elementary age children even being affected. It is time to change our lifestyle in this country because the continued rise in disease cannot be fixed with medication.
Diabetes can cause very serious complications including high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, and death. I currently have two family members that suffer from diabetes, each suffering from a different type. Though the disease is not in my immediate blood line, this gives me great reason to look at my own diet, and specifically my sugar consumption. After losing a friend to diabetes a few weeks ago, the time to make a change is now.
I have never thought much about my sugar consumption until recently. I generally eat well, but I do have a bit of a sweet tooth. I was astounded to find that sugar content in some of the items that I never considered (bread, yogurt, salad dressing, and pretty much every packaged food on the shelf). This week I have decided to start reading nutrition labels on food, this time searching for sugar content. This will not be an overnight change, but my hope is to slowly replace some of the higher sugar items with healthier alternatives. After my discovery of the sugar content in store-bought yogurt, I have made the switch to homemade plain yogurt to cut my sugar consumption. I have started to use olive oil and infused vinegar for salads, over the pre-packaged dressings in the store. Over the next few weeks I am planning to cut down on my consumption of bread, potatoes, and some fruits (I love grapes, but found that they have an extremely high amount of sugar- similar to eating a Twinkie! I will not completely cut grapes from my diet as they do provide health benefits, but I will focus on lower sugar fruits for the bulk of my nutrition). I have already made some changes to my desserts and sweets and have cut out most of the cakes, cookies, and ice cream and have replaced it with a piece of dark chocolate when I am really craving dessert.
I am hoping that over the next few weeks I will slowly lose my desire for sugars. I feel like I have already made some progress in not wanting dessert every night! It takes a lot of time to read labels and consider all of your food choices, but in the end knowledge is the best medicine we have against disease.
Crunchy Granola Mama 