Family Bans Sugar For a Year

One family recently went a year without any added sugars of any kind. Why? In the wake of an increasingly sugar-aware world, it made for a great book idea.

Author Eve Schaub recently published Year of No Sugar: a Memoir which details the trials and difficulties her family face during their conquest to swear off added sugars for an entire year.

According to the Boston Globe's Deborah Kotz, a health and wellness blogger, the book would have been more compelling if the sudden dietary change had been inspired by some urgent medical need. Still, Kotz, writes that even despite that, Year of no Sugar does manage to show how depressingly difficult avoiding added sugars in this day and age can be.

For instance, Schaub explains at one point how she and her husband found themselves on a wild goose chace one date-night, being completely unable to find a resuraunt that served food, drinks, and even bread free of added sugars. 

According to initial reviews of the book, not only does it describe the struggle that all Americans would face if they decided to "kick the sugar addiction," but it also offers tips and even recipes that readers can try themselves to avoid added sugars

The book just became available to Amazon customers earlier this month, but of the customer reviews already submitted, nearly all of them say that one of the driving reasons for purchasing the book in the first place was to find a guide to help avoid sugar.

This reflects a growing understanding in the United States and other well-developed countries that added-sugars are not as healthy as they taste good. In-fact, a recent poll revealed that Americans commonly think that sugar can be more harmful than marijuana, alcohol, and even tobacco.

Recent research has alo revealed that excess added sugar consumption increases a person's risk of heart disease by 30 percent on average.

And just last month, the World Health Organisation changed their health guidelines regarding free and added sugar daily intake, now recommending that free sugars should account for no more than five percent of the average person's daily caloric intake.