Sugarfree 48 Hours Challenge

By now I have had lots of questions and lots of interest about our little challenge this week ranging from “are you mad” to “I’m in!”, so I asked our favourite Nutritional Therapist, Frances van Reenen, for some advice.

First some ground rules:

• No honey – It has a higher Glycemic load than sugar
• No dried fruit sticks covered with sugar.
• Give Xylitol a try, it’s a great sugar replacement we have used for a while now.  It is safe for children, prevents tooth decay and serves as a pre-biotic.  So not only will your hips, your blood-sugar levels and your teeth thank you, your gut will also be very happy as there will be no sugar to aid the growth of candida nasties.
• Peanutbutter is fine as long as you buy a brand that specifies “no sugar added”.  (we use Black Cat)
• Do not underestimate apples.  I often boil and liquidize apples to use instead of sugar, especially in home-made muesli or granola.  It’s easy to keep blocks in the freezer and you can pop them out and use them as you need.  Or you can just keep a small pot in the fridge and scoop over food instead of sugar.  Or you can simply grate apple over cereal in the morning.

By now I know you are wondering how on earth you are going to feed breakfast, pack lunches and organize snacks for those 2 days and we are going to make it as easy as possible, promise!

If you are standing in the shops and you aren’t sure what to look for, here’s what to look for on a food label.  I have used the back of Nairns biscuits for this exercise.

An easy guideline:  If something contains 5g of sugar it is equal to a teaspoon of sugar.  Also, make sure to check the serving sizes!

Breakfast:

• Oats cooked with raisins, grated apple and cinnamon
• Wholewheat or low GI toast  with sugar and salt free peanut butter
• Scrambled/boiled egg with a slice of toast and marmite
• Fruit salad, plain unsweetened yoghurt and sugar-free muesli
• Baked beans on toast
• Tastee wheat with sliced banana and/or raisins
• Rice crispies with Xylitol

 Snacks:

• Popcorn (easy on the salt or use Himalayan salt)
• Biltong
• Dried fruit and raw nuts
• Nuts and raisins
• Nacho’s/plain salted corn chips with avocado dip
• Vegetable sticks (carrot, cucumber, celery) with hummus or avocado dip
• Sugar-free fruit and nut bars
• Pretzels
• Hummus and grissini sticks
• Sliced apple and peanut butter
• Corn thins with cheese and/or good quality ham (no MSG)
• Fruit smoothie
• Boiled egg
• A piece of fresh fruit and a handful of unsalted, raw nuts

Lunch will follow soon on Tanya’s blog!

The participants so far are:

Margot | Tanya | Jules | Andrea | Nicki | Camilla | Adele | Tertia | Candice | Molly | Lauren | Colour Giggles | Pamela | Cazpi | Sharon | Bronwyn | Cat

Please let me know if you are in and I will add you to the list!

PS: If you are looking for a nutritional therapist and you are in Cape Town, please contact Frances.  She is absolutely amazing and has a gift of not making you feel like a fat old hag. Ever.  You can reach her on nutritherapyworks at gmail dot com