It’s been hard and I’ve had to learn how to cook and bake from scratch, but it’s been worth it. There’s a lot of studies that have recently been done of late that indicate that most of the processed sugars in foods (most corn-derived) do have addictive properties to them. Good luck!

My guess would be that it’s because processed sugar is in so much stuff to one degree or another that, if you go too far past switching out Kornsyrup Krunchies for bran flakes and unsweetened tea for Coca-Cola, food can wind up requiring a lot of time and effort that it didn’t before. It’s kind of like the difference between being an ovo-lacto vegetarian and being vegan.

You sound like my friend’s ex-roommate. She would use an entire scoop of Kool-Aid to make one glass.

I put three or four packs of Equal in a venti mocha. I use the diner’s entire supply of Equal and Splenda if I have a third cup. I make iced coffee with Splenda and Coffeemate. I make hot chocolate with two packs of Carnation and five Equals in a regular-sized cup.

I don’t think I could ever give up sugar entirely. I lasted about three weeks with an increasingly bad headache and nasty outlook on life, which to me means that giving up sugar was going too far for me personally and my specific physiology. But I definitely am not the sugar fiend I used to be — I used to put sugar in my Cafe Mocha from Starbucks. (No, seriously.)

My thought? It’s because America is the Land of the Food Cranks, and has been since the days of Kellogg and Graham (if not before). The “OMG how can you give up sugar!?!” people are the ones getting on your nerves now, but just wait until you encounter the “Sugar is a DEADLY POISON” squad. No one can just let people eat the way they want. Everything has to be a Social Statement, and either you’re with them or you’re against them. Those of us who just want to eat better without making it the source of conversation end up huddling in the middle.

It’s what makes it annoying to be a meat-eater in this society. On the one side, you have the Vegan Evangelists, who are irritating all on their own. Then, on the other side, you have the Manly Man Meat-Eaters, who seem to think that their dick is going to fall off if a vegetable accidentally crosses their lips.

It’s enough to make you want to become a Breathatarian.

My point is that I’m trying to assess why it’s considered such a big deal to give up sugar. It’s not like there isn’t sugar in foods like fruit. So why is it considered a big honkin’ deal to eliminate processed sugar?

And I think the answer is that we, as a society, have invested a lot of importance in sugar and sugary treats. It’s not like your body needs them. But we’re all culturally conditioned to celebrate with cake, to think of cookies as a big treat, and more importantly, to think of sugary food as something that’s “bad” but at the same time, highly desirable. So you get guilt if you eat them, but if you don’t, then people worry that you’re a control freak or pinched or something.