That's Fit

Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Today we take a bit of a detour from highlighting healthy foods to remind you why eating sugar is not such a fabulous idea.

My family and I went to a fair today, a seasonal activity not to be missed here in New England. However, evil lurks at every corner at these fairs. Sprinkled in amidst the animal shows, cattle barn and spinning demonstration (and I mean yarn, not the exercise craze) are food booths. Lots and lots of food booths.

So by the time we left the fair, we had partaken in myriads of junk food, from the sugary-sweet Kettle Corn to soft-serve ice cream. Dinner out left my toddler sucking down Jello for dessert at a local buffet, so his day was completely shot.

Mind you, we are not people who ever eat refined sugar, and I really mean never. How did our systems react, you ask?
Here's the scene in our household tonight: The toddler couldn't fall asleep, he was so hyper. He'd alternate from crying to running around, jumping on his bed. He'd cry that he was so tired and wanted to sleep, then he'd start playing peek-a-boo with his bed sheet.

I am nursing a blasting headache and an unquenchable thirst.

My husband, aside from digestive problems, is suffering from seasonal allergies like nobody's business, because his liver is so clogged trying to process all of the refined sugar that it can't filter out the environmental toxins.

Only the dog, who didn't accompany us down our sugar-laden path today, seems himself.

Well, I can tell you that we are back on the wagon as of this very moment. This week, it is lots of fresh veggies for us to flush our systems of the poison we ingested today.

Do you need more to convince you that sugar really does awful things to your body?

• A compilation of studies since the 1970's show the negative effects sugar has on the body.
• Sugar ingestion puts your body at risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease, among other things.
• Seventy-six ways sugar can ruin your health, with annotations.

Convinced yet? Need some alternatives to refined sugar?

• Stevia, a sweet herb that even diabetics can eat, is beginning to be more readily available, even on the shelves of good ol' Trader Joe's.
• Sucanat is crystals dried from sugar cane syrup, and retains all of the healthy vitamins and minerals of the plant.

Let my family's trip to Sugar Fair today be a reminder that you truly are what you eat. What step will you take this week to remove refined sugar from your diet?