First some background....

This week from Thursday, May 8- Wednesday May 14, I will be going on a no sweetener challenge. This means that everything I eat during that week cannot have any added sweeteners. I decided to embark upon this challenge for a few reasons.

My first reason for undertaking this challenge is to gain awareness. Many products in America are full of sugar. The average American eats 4x the daily recommended amount of sugar. All this added sugar has lead to rising rates of Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses. I am hoping that by avoiding all added
sweeteners, I will gain awareness of where all this added sugar is hiding in my food and hopefully be able to limit my sugar consumption.

I am also taking this challenge to help reset my taste buds.  All the added sugar in foods in the standard American diet has made Americans accustomed to food that is super sweet. I am hoping that by the end of the challenge, my taste buds will be more sensitive to sweet and I won't need to have so much added sweetener in my food.

My last reason for taking this challenge is to show that it's possible. Sugar is hiding in so many products, it's easy to be overwhelmed and think that it's impossible to reduce sugar consumption. I am hoping that this challenge will show me that it is possible to reduce added sweetener in our foods.

Starting Thursday I will be avoiding all sweeteners including but not limited to, sugar, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, brown rice syrup, aspartame, sucralose, xylitol and coconut sugar. I am hoping to learn and benefit from this experience.