Day 1: Getting Started
Saturday , September 7, 2013
9:10 am
In this video, I describe the program and try my first drink. It tastes like candy!
Video Summary:
I’m starting a new series of videos on how to gradually withdraw from sugar. I did a previous set of videos on quitting caffeine which seemed to work. I’ve been completely off of caffeine for more than 3 months, and no longer have any psychological or physical withdrawal effects.
I’m starting a second series of “T Minus 30” videos on how to gradually withdraw from sugar, which is a problem that I, and many others, seem to have. I’m going to use a system very similar to the one I used for caffeine withdrawal in which I decreased the concentration of caffeine/sugar gradually over a period of 30 days.
Now there’s a fundamental difference between caffeine and sugar in that caffeine is a poison to the body and can be completely eliminated from your diet with no ill effects, whereas sugar (in the form of glucose) is actually a necessary food to live.
I am going to mix 30 drinks again, as I did in the caffeine videos, because sugar is often consumed in liquid form (primarily soda). In this program I am simply adding refined sugar to water.
Here’s how I mixed the drinks:
I took 30 bottles of water and removed 2 oz. of water to leave room for the sugar. I measure 1/2 tsp. of sugar into drink 30, 1 tsp. into drink 29, 1 1/2 tsp into drink 28 all the way up to 15 tsp in drink 1. (So I increased the sugar concentrations in each drink in increments of 1/2 tsp.)
You’ll need 5 cups of sugar to mix all 30 drinks, which is a little more than found in a standard 2 lb. box of sugar. Other supplies required are some measuring spoons (1/2 tsp. 1 tsp. and 1 tablespoon) and a small funnel for pouring the sugar into the bottles.
The first bottle has a strength of 15 tsp (a normal soda has 8-10 tsp.) because the average person consumes 22 tsp of added sugar a day. I picked 15 because it was easier to measure out in 1/2 tsp increments over 30 days, and because I would probably be consuming 7 added tsp. throughout the day from a variety of sources. I will try to avoid sweet drinks, cookies, candies, etc. throughout the day, however.
My goal is to gradually wean myself off of sugar over 30 days. The system did work in my caffeine withdrawal program, so I am trying to do the same thing with sugar withdrawal.
I will try to do book reports on sugar and nutrition while I am doing the program.
I tried the drink and it tastes sort of like candy. It’s not like my caffeine videos where I needed to have a hit of it first thing in the morning. I may drink the bottle all at once or gradually over the day.