A LITTLE OF WHAT YOU FANCY…

Cut back on sugar without driving yourself crazy

Hallelujah! We’ve made it to the end of abstemious January: time to shrug off the hair shirt. But pause a second. Before we sashay out for mojitos, is it worth considering a middle way? A way that is tenable; which celebrates (the odd) chocolate pudding, but is better for our energy, health, sex lives — even our figures. Maybe a slimmer-middle way?

The noise around the evils of sugar, this year’s diet demon, has been deafening. But the truth is that we’re eating more sugar than we did, and more than is good for us.

Here is a summary of the issues, and a non-faddist, no-nonsense path to less sugary eating, with advice from nutritionists Hannah Richards, of the holistic mind and body studio movethreesixty.com, and Amelia Freer, based at members’ club Grace Belgravia and at freernutrition.com. ‘Sugar depletes insulin and can lead to diabetes,’ says Hannah. ‘It dehydrates the body and causes yeast and parasite cultures in the gut. Cancer loves sugar.’

Beyond that it knackers you out: the hit of sugar from a doughnut triggers a release of insulin so the hormone can remove excess sugar from the blood; if it takes out too much, you have a blood sugar low that leaves you tired and moody — and reaching for more sugar.

Sugar also causes your face to sag: in a process called glycation, sugar molecules attach themselves to cells in your body, making them gluey and inefficient. The molecules are particularly attracted to collagen and elastin, the proteins that make your skin plump and youthful; with the sugar coating they become brittle and prone to breaking, which means your frown or smile lines stay, rather than smoothing themselves away.

In short: excessive sugar makes you fat, wrinkly and unwell. Sadly, not so. ‘Wake up!’ says Hannah. ‘All carbohydrates convert to sugar.’ Where the World Health Organisation recommends eating no more than 10 teaspoons a day, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice may contain 8 teaspoons.

‘Our bodies simply weren’t designed to cope with the amount of sugar in today’s diets,’ says Amelia. ‘We get adequate fuel (sugar) from fruit and vegetables — before pasta or bread, let alone sodas and cakes.’

In short: unless it’s protein, it breaks down to sugar.