I was lucky growing up in the fifties, neither of my parents took sugar in tea or coffee–spoilt the taste they insisted.
Like a good son, I copied them and in spite of Ma’s talent for baking–coffee cakes and flapjacks were unrefusable offers at “tea-time”–I didn’t develop the raging sweet tooth some people have to feed.
So the changes I made after I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes thirteen years ago were minimal and not really painful.
“Out with the whites” (refined carbohydrates like white rice, white pasta, white bread)–an earlier post–became the rule and I don’t miss ’em!
I prefer wholewheat pasta, brown basmati rice and whole rye bread–I prefer the taste I mean.
And of course I don’t drink artificially sweetened soft drinks, though I remember in the fifties enjoying my share of something colored red called TIZER, bought in large bottles from “The Tuck Shop” in Highgate Village after school.
I was doubly lucky it turns out, according to this piece from The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat
I was brought up before the development of high-fructose corn syrup (H-FCS) produced in the 1970s from a glut of corn.
This readable article is an introduction to a three-part TV series to be shown on BBC2 starting this Thursday evening. Journalist and film maker Jacques Peretti identifies SUGAR–and in particular the development and wide spread introduction into food and drink products of H-FCS–as villain in the search for why people (especially children) are dangerously overweight these days.
Obesity is strongly linked to the development of Type 2 diabetes in adults–and, more recently, also in children.
(Meredith just told me that her father restricted her to one bottle of Coca-Cola a day in the fifties but lifted the order when Diet Coke was introduced. Game, Set and Match to Coca-Cola!!)
Robin Ellis 
Hi Robin,
I was brought up never being allowed to drink sodas… I was upset about it as a kid – it was so uncool … But now I’m so grateful! I never got into the habit and frankly, don’t understand the attraction. But I have to help many of my clients realize “liquid calories,” in particular sweetened beverages, are causing them health and weight problems… Funny, they catch on quickly and rarely miss them!
Great point, Katherine–ie how quickly one can get used to a change.
Have you heard of Jimmy Moore? He’s a very outgoing champion of the low-carb lifestyle, and he has always referred to sugar as “rat poison” to get his point across about how nasty the stuff is for you/us.
Added sugar and high fructose corn syrup is everywhere in processed foods. I was (being lazy) trying to purchase a jar of tomato-based pasta sauce yesterday and could not find one that didn’t have sugar or HFCS added, and I don’t even like how pasta sauce tastes with sugar. But so many kids have been raised on this stuff. I will need to go back to making my own 🙂 Our family is blessed to have a “secret family recipe” that my grandfather got during Prohibition from the owner of a Sicilian restaurant that was a front for a speak-easy where Grandpa liked to hang out. And amazingly there’s no alcohol used in the sauce!
Now’s the time to share it with the rest of us, Cindy!!
Sorry, forgot to change my logon name…
–Cindy
You are right on here Robin. Sugar is the enemy, and certainly my biggest enemy. I am addicted – when I don’t have it I crave it terribly and if that isn’t an addiction I don’t know what is.
It’s hard, Elizabeth.
Have you not found something to curb the urge?
Dry fruit? High cacao chocolate (in moderation of course!)?
Try chromium picolinate supplement. It worked for me.
Robin, I’ve been reading more about Agave Nectar, a liquid sweetener derived from the agave plant, It is said to have more sweetening power with less glycemic disruption to the human body’s system. I am not diabetic, but I’m wondering if you’ve become familiar with this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar. but then there is this forum which would put me off using it:
http://www.diabetesdaily.com/forum/food-diet/39413-agave-nectar
Keep spreading the message Robin! The corn lobby is strong here and attempts to curb the HFCS in food meets mighty opposition. Consumers need to make producers aware – we don’t want that in our food!
Hi Robin…a really interesting post & discussion. Sugar & the way that it creeps into the diet via processed foods is the biggest problem in the nutritional world, I believe. It conditions people to crave that over-the-top sweetness all the time. I was very lucky to be raised in a sugar-wary household too – we were only allowed sweets on a Sunday & 1 glass of ‘fizz’ (we loved Tizer, too…or Dandelion & Burdock!) with Sunday lunch. Mum made most meals from scratch & we only really ate anything ‘shop bought’ at friends’ houses (& LOVED it, back then of course!) Consequently, none of us have ever had weight problems (I have 2 sisters) & – an added bonus – at 45 I have never had a filling!! With very little or no added sugar, I think you really TASTE food. Hope all is well with you both, happy week!
Sounds ideal–allez Mums that cook!
I once had 22 fillings!–my fault though. Now I spend most of my day flossing!
Meredith doesn’t really believe it(Chicago is where they were born), but it’s true –I have never eaten a MacDonald’s.
I must have fallen prey to agave advertising. Thanks for setting me straight.
I have done such a turn-around in my old age! I was denied any sugar or snacks in childhood and for me it became forbidden fruits. I conspired to get any amount I could. It started a lifetime of sneak-eating and -of course- weight gain!
Now at 72, and with medical background, I am just about sugar free, almost 100% whole wheat,and essentially cooking the types of food you recommend in your book.
I am fortunate not to have diabetes, but I embrace the general way of eating and send kudos for your book.
I work in Hospice, and know all too well the result of not taking this condition seriously.
You have been a shining example to all who have the brains to listen and hear…You are doing it all right, and you are an inspiration!
Thank you, Denise–you are the one working in a Hospice…all hail to you and you’ve turned your own situation around.
Almost 45 years ago or so, my mom (with me a veteran of the diet wars – and often defeated veterans) found and introduced me to Tab. She was always trying to lose weight and Tab seemed like a god-send. Now we could drink soda and not worry about the sugar and calories. Thus began a decades long love of and consumption of diet Coke and diet Pepsi. Before I began the Blood Sugar Solution, I would drink 2 liters a day. Even when I began the program I was sceptical about giving it up. After all, it was a no-calorie drink, so what harn could it do? Then I read a scientific study that showed that those who drank diet drinks put on 30% more belly fat than those who drank no sodas at all. WHAT? It seems that the sensation of sweet taste fools the pancreas into secreting insulin and for those who don’t know it, insulin is-among other functions- a fat-storage hormone. When insulin is not used at the cellular level, it works to store fat, mainly around your middle.
So, 8 weeks ago, I said goodbye to a life long pleasure and I’ve never looked back. I’m now 35 pounds lighter, 6 pants sizes smaller, and my blood sugar readings are now, for the first time in 30 years, dead normal despite the fact that I now take no insulin injections or oral medications. And thanks to friends like Robin, who has taken the lead, the meals are tasty and fulfilling. Thanks, Robin. Keep preaching about the dangers of sweeteners both natural and artificial.
That is an inspiring story–thank you rnp, for posting and sharing it.
It seems that the sensation of sweet taste fools the pancreas into secreting insulin and for those who don’t know it, insulin is-among other functions- a fat-storage hormone. When insulin is not used at the cellular level, it works to store fat, mainly around your middle.
You explain this so well.
Robin, I was very fortunate that my mother started researching these things when I was in my teens. She was certainly ahead of her time, a devotee of food writer Adele Davis, who was also ahead of her time. I could say volumes, but will just mention that if one is interested in the links between obesity and corruption in the incredibly powerful food industry, Jamie Oliver’s programs on school food in both the UK and US are must-watches. Horrifying, but we need to know.
J Oliver is a hero of mine, Deborah. He has/is doing wonderful work.
Do you remember the family in Rotherham, Yorks, he was supposedly staying the week with?
The children were very rowdy and difficult for the harassed mother to control. Their diet was truly awful!
As well as doing the school turnaround he cooked and encouraged the mum to cook in a different way for the week.
he asked at the end. The mother couldn’t believe how the children’s behavior in the household had changed for the better.
I am a mother too, three daughters and it is my reposibility too, to untroduce wholeweat pasta and brown rice. And no coca-cola and crips at home except for special days like the European footballmatch Holland-Germany tonight! At weekend I make home made yoghurt(low fat) with fresh fruit so jamie O. won’t come along with us but he is welcome of course! I met him in Amsterdam – book-sighning which was very nice.
Reblogged this on Martisima's Blog.
Like you Robin I grow up in the fifies,I remember the Tizar bottles, bought with spends at the week-end, mum use to go mad at me for drinking it. I could not drink it now though. I do not have sweet tooth, though like mum I do bake fruit pies and cakes, and I do tend to cook from scratch rather than a jar where I can keep an eye on the sugars for Jimmy who is insulin diabetic,which is ware your cook book comes in handy.I have noticed that if I have a glass of diet coke, I always want another,I am trying very hard to brake myself of this,but it is so easy to pour another glass.I should know better I know, and Jimmy does try to stop me drinking it.I will just have to keep that look in mum’s eyes in my mind,and stop myself.
Interesting topic Robin, It depends for indivudual to individual.Myself I’am 47 , take some sugar (not a lot), I’am heavy not because of the sugar but because I keep water up (oedemia),about 12 years ago they did infiltrations in my back and that did not work. I take a lot of medicines because of my very bad back.I don’t have sugar ilness (yet).My mother was very slim because her ilness dystonia a musle ilness, she had a little sugar in her blood.My father had a lot sugar in his blood but stuborn like he was did not take his medicines at all, it causes his dead a few months ago.It’s so important that people who have sugar illness take their medicines.My blood get’s checked every 2 years, no cholestrol, no sugar, and for the moment my kidneys and pancreas-liver is still good (I hope it stays that way) for me it’s taking a lot of medicines or having a morphine pump & neuro stimulator implated (what I refused for the moment) .I still have my 32 own teeth (I hope to keep them, lol) 8 of them are filled.I try to eat healty (I like a lot of fish, what is also good for the bones).My goal is to emigrate to France (for a better climate), there will be still a delay in this for at least a year, because of the recent dead of my dad.Life here in Belgium as disabelt is very bad, discrimination in every way.A life full of health that’s still the most important in life .Take care dear Robin, big hughs, Chantal.
Robin read Wheat Belly By Cardiologist Dr William Davis and look up Dr Mary Vernon in the US. If you lose the wheat out of your diet you no longer will have type 2 diabetic symptoms!
Thank you Robin for this post and drawing attention to the article in the Guardian. Thank you everybody else for the informative contributions. I’ve learnt a lot! The challenge is to do like you, to be consistent in personal lifestyle but also to try equally consistently to get the message across appealingly and without being smugly self-satisfied.
Incidentally, I also remember Tizer and a naughty childhood drink called, I think, “cream soda.” It seems to have disappeared completely. Just as well!
I am sure you all know that sugar is an addiction like alcohol. I think the one thing that people miss when discussing obesity is the medications that are used to keep us “healthy” i.e antidepressants are a must for people with clinical depressions but they are notorious for packing on the weight long term i.e. 50 pounds because this type of medication slows the metabolism and the cravings for carbs. are increased. Even people who try and eat healthy while on anti depressants are prone to put on weight. Hard choice for people with mental health problems..put on the weight and risk chronic illness i.e. diabetes etc or struggle with the horrible illness of clinical deordepression.
I’ve been using Raw Coconut Crystals, a low glycemic sugar alternative. I haven’t tried baking with it (I don’t care for baking), but use it for tea, coffee or anything I want to sweeten just a little. I’m not diabetic, but just healthy-eating conscious. The producers discovered coconut crystals on a quest for healthy sugar alternatives when their parents became diabetic. It might be worth checking out…wwww.coconutsecret.com.
Liz, cream soda still exists. It is possible to get diet cream soda.
Really!! I’ll look out for it when back in the UK, but I suspect I wouldn’t appreciate it now, although I think it had/has a vanilla flavour and vanilla remains a firm favourite.
As a child I was allowed cream soda occasionally but candy floss was banned, with good reason, as I now appreciate, and became the “forbidden fruit.” I have no wish to experiment with it now, I should hasten to add. I think my experience is similar to that described by Elaine Ward in her post. Fortunately, unlike Robin, I never had to have 22 fillings, but my son (21 years old) has not had one, so far.
Thank you too for highlighting the serious matter concerning antidepressants.
Greetings from Poland.
You mentioned Tizer. Do you remember dandelion and burdock pop?
I haven’t seen it for years in our shops. Recently, we took some university students for lunch to a little cafe where we had some of this drink made naturally from a Victorian recipe. It was good without the fizz of the old pop.
Incidentally, I heard that you can use dandelions in a pan as a vegetable. Have you ever tried that?
Yesterday, I was looking at elderflower on the trees. My mother tried that once in a pan too–I think you can use it as a dessert too.
Surprising what nature gives us to eat.
Oh, nettles too can be cooked. Once on holiday in Wales at Betswy-coed, an old lady was serving nettle beer. My parents said it was nice.
Probably Angharad Rees knows more than me about these recipes. Sorry about my spelling in Welsh too.!
Heidi, I have heard that dandelions can be used as a vegetable. My grand mother used to make dandelion wine…have no idea how it tasted. In the Pennsylvania Dutch area (Amish) of Pennsylvania there is a type of soda called Birch beer (non alcoholic) which is red color. Supposedly it is made from Birch bark. We get this drink in MD. I have not found any diet version of the drink. I agree that it is amazing what nature provides for drink/food.
Thanks for telling me. That’s interesting.
Hopefully the red is from the natural birch bark color and not food dye!!!
Thanks for the article Robin, and for indicating the BBC TV series. Thanks to all for the great comments.
I watched the first part of the TV series on Thursday. It was totally mindblowing. One doctor interviewed said that he was surprised that there are still so many thin people. The food industry has so much to answer for. As long as they are able to convince us that an industrial low fat (but high sugar!) raspberry desert is better for us than a natural yoghurt with a bowl of fresh raspberries, they will continue raking in the money at the expense of our health. And the people producing the raspberries and other natural food will continue to struggle to get decent prices for their produce.
Je suis d’accord and thanks for commenting.
Ha, red dye can also be from the cocinella (cactus flea) = natural product.
Got used before in the Campari, and surimi sticks.Enjoy the red dye , lol.
Thank you Chantal…after I wrote the first part about the Birch beer … I started thinking about the pretty color..then went in to shock…wondering if it was red dye!! Now I can enjoy the drink.
Ann