Fed Up

During the month of January, our church does a fast called Daniel. It primarily involves no wheat, no meat, and no sweets. Most of the foods you eat are fresh and do not contain preservatives. Nothing can have added sugar, but must only contain natural sugar. Many of the foods have high fiber content, and the purpose of the Daniel Fast is not the food aspect, but it is more of a spiritual discipline.  Many people ask me about the Daniel Fast and each year we see growth in our lives as a result of this spiritual discipline.

Daniel Walnut Tacos

So, why would my title be Fed Up? Well, I want to talk about to you about something that we've become a little weary about since doing our Daniel Fast. Its name: SUGAR. This one little ingredient KILLS Americans every year and yet, we are not informed. When you go 21 days without processed food and sugar, your taste buds change and you start to enjoy real food. Food without preservatives and pumped with junk that isn't supposed to last in your cupboard for six months.   The first week is terrible as you go through the detox process undergoing headaches,  tiredness, and MASSIVE mood swings. Did you know that food has the power to bring on such terrible things? Yes, our grocery bill increased and we were going to the store weekly, which was a pain, but YOU feel a LOT better. Now, for a while, I thought who cares? Right!  Life is in the balance. I don't need to care about food, this is just temporary, until after that first meal post- Daniel. 

Then...

We watched a documentary on Netflix entitled FED Up, which is all about the food industry primarily dealing with sugar and processed food. It made me disgusted!  I have complete disdain for the lack of governmental regulations on sugar! Why? Simply because we are not informed about the choices we make daily. One interesting fact we learned: On every food item you pick up at the grocery store it will tell you the daily recommended amount of an item such as fiber.   For Example: on a box of Cheerios it may say contains 3 grams of fiber and in percentage form, it will say 12% which means that 12% of the daily recommended amount of fiber you should eat. HOWEVER, it will NEVER tell you how much sugar is recommended daily. WAIT? WHAT?

The United States Government does not SET guidelines on how much sugar AMERICANS should be eating every single day. Now, we can have two schools of thought on this:

 1) The government has no business telling me how much sugar I should eat every single day. No standard should be set.

2) I should be informed about what the proper amount of sugar is to be consumed every day to decrease heart disease, stroke,obesity, heart attacks, diabetes, etc.  The government should set a standard. It's up to me choose my food, but a standard should be set based on advice from top medical experts, doctors, etc. 

My husband and I were floored to find out the very same food companies you and I both consume are the very same companies making us obese, pumping us with preservatives, claiming healthier options and yet lying straight through their teeth. Now, do I blame them entirely? No. They are a business that employs people;  they need a profit to keep their large corporations sustainable and marketing to young kids, to get them hooked and continue the trend. If they were honest, they wouldn't be the number one brands in America that we all recognize, love and are addicted too. It's just a fact. 

Sugar is found in everything. Yogurt, Juices, Soups, Salad Dressings, Crackers, Cookies, Chips- You name it; the contains sugar. High Fructose Syrup (Sugar) has 56 names, and chances are if you don't know what the label means, you might not want to buy it. We've researched food labels in the grocery store to find out the "healthier" options utilized ingredients that are also in household cleaning supplies. GROSS! 

Now, after 21 days sugar detox and watching Fed Up, we've become more educated about food and continue to glean more information about the food industry, alternative healthy food choices and what moderation means. Will I never have a cookie again? Heck no! However, I am convinced that sugar and processed food is NOT helping us live longer, and if we want to change, we have to drop the supply/ demand down for these types of foods. I would highly recommend watching the documentary titled Fed Up because it will MESS you up! 

Education and knowledge can be powerful, but life is about finding balance, and I don't think it's in all those boxes!


From one sweet tooth to another, Happy Friday!

What do you think about sugar? Have you seen Fed Up? Would you watch it or rather not know what's in your food?