The "Fed Up" Challenge

Question: Can I give up sugar for 10 days?
Answer: Sure.
Honest answer: I'm not sure.

There's a new documentary out today, called Fed Up, with Katie Couric as a producer and narrator. It's about the really horrible stuff most of us Americans eat most of the time and in conjunction with the release of the movie, Katie has issued a challenge: give up sugar for 10 days, starting Monday.

Question: How hard can that be?
Answer: Really, really hard.

It's not just about giving up the obvious stuff with sugar, like candy, cookies, ice cream and Coke, where the sugar is easy to see. The harder part is the "hidden" sugar, which is in almost everything we eat. A quick check yesterday, as I pondered attempting the challenge, revealed sugar as an ingredient in such things as Wish Bone Italian salad dressing, the tomato sauce in a jar that I put on pasta and the mustard and mayo I put on my sandwich. The pasta doesn't have sugar, but it does have wheat flour, which apparently affects my brain the same way sugar does. The bread in the sandwich has sugar, too, although the label loudly announces "No High Fructose Corn Syrup."

Yikes.

So am I going to take the challenge? Yes, with one caveat: I'm giving myself permission not to do it perfectly. It's not going to be easy. I've already figured out that if I really stop eating everything with even a little bit of sugar in it there won't be much left to eat other than fresh fruit and vegetables, with the occasional piece of chicken or fish on the side. That's pretty much the point of the whole thing, but still. It's a big change to make.

If you're intrigued, check out the Fed Up website here.