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Making of video of the preparations for a promotional picture I took with 40 kg of sugar for my 'this contains SUGAR!' campaign.

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Fed Up Challenge - Day 3

Breakfast: - 1 apple and 2 bananas Lunch: - Onion soup (again, the "home-made" soup from my school canteen) with a piece of white bread with melted cheese on top. FAIL! The white bread with melted cheese contains sugar. Also the broth (obviously) and they added a bit of crystal sugar themselves. It's so annoying to not be able to eat anything in my school canteen because it all contains sugar (the soups, snacks, bread...) Kinda scary to become aware of that fact. Dinner: - Couscous (with olive oil and butter) with 1 courgette, 1 red pepper, sweet potatoes, 6 tomatoes (couldn't buy the tomato paste from a package, because they add sugar for the 'taste'), 1 big carrot, chickpeas and raisins. Snacks: - Raisins - Unsalted cashewnuts - Salty popcorn from the microwave

Drinks: - water

Conclusion: It's becoming more and more difficult to contain myself to buy things that include sugar (because almost everything does!) I was really craving for this onion soup at school, so that was the weak moment of the day. To keep up with this diet it's important to buy fresh things that come directly from the ground or from the animal. And to make dishes myself! So if I want onion soup, I have to make it myself (with self made broth without sugar) I feel like I've been brainwashed by food producers all my life and a whole new world is opening up to me.

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Promotion video for my blog.

Take a look and let me know what you think!

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Fed Up Challenge - Day 2

Breakfast: - full yoghurt with fresh strawberries I can't eat breakfast cereals any more because it's full with sugars... :-( Lunch: - 5 pieces of roasted bread (sour dough bread from stadsbakkerij Broodt) with avocado, tomato and goats cheese Since the challenge I'm a regular customer at Broodt, a lovely authentic, organic bakery in the centre of Eindhoven. They are very helpful and when I asked them if they use sugar in their bread, they said: 'no, none of them contain sugar.' They are very open about the ingredients they use, like it should be! Visit their website here: http://www.broodt.nl Dinner: - lettuce with olive oil, balsamic dressing & tomatoes - cutlet baked in organic butter & olive oil with green beans and nutmeg Snacks: - 1 banana Drinks: - (cold) water Conclusion of day 2: no failure whatsoever! Quite proud of myself :-)

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Fed Up Challenge - Day 1

I used to drink quite a lot of lemonade (Roosvicee), to keep myself hydrated. My boyfriend bought me a pink (washable) bottle because he worried about the fact that I didn't drink a lot, so the bottle would function as a big stick. And because I have a sweet tooth, I figured it wouldn't hurt to drink lemonade instead of water. Because it's better than nothing, right?

But during this challenge, I trained myself to drink water instead of lemonade, because lemonade, even the seemingly 'healthy ones' (secretly) contain (a lot of) added sugar.

Ok, moving on to the food of that day: Drinks: - Roosvicee lemonade first fail of the day, because obviously it contains (added) sugar. - glasses of water (cold from the refrigerator) Lunch: - 1 brown panini with cumin cheese & mustard the panini (from the supermarket) and mustard both contain sugar. - "home-made" cauliflower soup with blue cheese (from our school cafeteria) apparently "home-made" means that it doesn't come from a big bucket, but the ingredients are 'thrown' in a pan by hand. I asked (after I already ate the soup) if the soup contained sugar. Yes, in the broth (which came from the supermarket) and they put in a little themselves.

Dinner: - quiche with broccoli, red pepper & grated cheese - salad with olive oil & balsamic vinegar - few pieces of sushi with cucumber, crab and soy sauce. both in the crab sticks and the soy sauce sugar can be found.

Dessert: - full yoghurt with fresh strawberries Snacks: - 3 plumes - piece of "home-made" (made by a classmate) cake buttermilk - lemon with walnut crust I couldn't resist!!! - 1 apple Ok, so the conclusion is that day 1 was a complete failure. I thought I didn't eat a lot of sugar but oh boy, I was wrong. Sugar is literally everywhere!

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Fed Up Challenge (sugar free for 10 days!) - Introduction

I tried this experiment (and I must admit, I can confirm that I'm quite addicted to sugar after trying to cut it for 10 days)

First, an introduction to what the challenge is about:

"Once you see Fed Up and learn the truth about sugar, we know you’ll be just as Fed Up as we are with the state of our food environment. Link to the full documentary here: http://vidbull.com/zcslf5o665al.html

The Fed Up Challenge is a national (American) campaign to break loose from the sugar industry’s powerful grip. We’re asking individuals, kids, schools, parents and communities to join us in going sugar free for 10 days. Giving up sugar will be tough because sugar is everywhere.

Start by cutting sodas and other sweetened beverages and foods that have ADDED sugars. EAT real, fresh, whole foods and lay off all products that contain added sugar including honey, molasses, agave, etc., and all liquid sugars, such as sodas, bottled teas, fruit juices, and sports drinks. This includes all artificial sugars and sugar substitutes.

No exceptions, so don’t ask! Artificial sweeteners slow your metabolism and make you crave and eat more food. Also, be aware of foods that may have hidden sugars, like yoghurt, canned foods, spaghetti sauce, and ketchup. Watch for hidden names of sugar. Also try cutting out all flour products that turn to sugar in your body.

Did you know that sugar has the same addictive properties as tobacco and alcohol? The more sugar you eat, the more you need to satisfy your craving. The withdrawal, which includes symptoms of crankiness and lethargy (loomheid), is often the hardest part. Unlike cigarettes, the warnings against the addictive powers of sugar are virtually non-existent. Sugar can be found in an alarming amount of foods, and half of it is hidden by calling it one of its 56 other sneaky names, it can be hard to determine exactly how much sugar is in any particular product.

In the Netherlands these are the most common names:

Tafelsuiker

Sucrose

Sacharose

Saccharose

Stroop

Siroop

Fruitsuiker

Fructose

Fructosestroop of -siroop

Druivensuiker

Dextrose

Glucose

Glucosestroop of -siroop

D-glucose

Glucose-fructosestroop

Melksuiker

Lactose

Galactose

Moutsuiker

Malt

Maltose

Maltodextrine

Basterdsuiker

Poedersuiker

Kristalsuiker

Rietsuiker

Bietsuiker

Demerara

Honing

Nectar

Palmsuiker

Kokosbloemsuiker

Kokosbloesemsuiker

Ahornsiroop

Esdoornsiroop

Maple Syrup

Melasse

Molasses

Zwarte rietsuikermelasse

Blackstrap Molasses

Muscovado

Barbados suiker

Agavesiroop

Agavenectar

Turbinado

Oersuiker

Panocha

Panela

Piloncillo

Parelsuiker

Maïssuiker

Maisstroop

Rijstsuiker

Rijststroop

Invertsuiker

Invertstroop

Treacle

Caramel (verhitte suiker)

Karamel

Basterdsuiker (licht & donker)

Geleisuiker

Vanillesuiker

Dadelstroop

Tarwestroop

Schenkstroop

Question: How long will it take for me to feel a difference? Answer: If you cut out all added sugars, you will start to feel better in 1-2 days. Cravings may persist for 1 to 3 weeks.

Question: Are all sugars bad? Answer: Natural sugars in fruit are fine (but not fruit juice). Added sugars and artificial sweeteners are worse because they increase hunger. Stay away from all of them.

Question: How can I tell if a product has sugar in it? Answer: Read all of the ingredients on the Nutritional Facts label and keep your eyes peeled for added sugars. Look for ingredients like: corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sucrose, syrup and table sugar.

Question: Why is sugar added to food? Answer: Sugar is added to food for one reason only. To make it taste better and make you eat more of it. It is addictive and when you consume too much you want more and which makes you buy more of the food industry’s products. Better for them. Bad for you.

Question: Should I go cold turkey? Answer: The best way to cut your sugar cravings are to cut out all sugar at once. Otherwise you keep triggering the addiction centre in the brain. This is easier said than done, so don’t give up if you slip up."

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What's your new year's resolution?

I know it's been a while. But not to worry, I'm still alive and my new year's resolution is to update my blog more frequently.

Ok, moving on to my first blog post of 2015! A while ago a bio-market was organized in Culemborg: my lovely home-town. A small stand, practically in front of my house, caught my eye. It was the stand of the Veldkeuken: a pop-up restaurant which started in Amelisweerd, Bunnik, but opened its second venue at Werk Aan Het Spoel in Culemborg. (take a look at their website here: http://www.veldkeuken.nl/index.php)

One of the things that the Veldkeuken is especially famous for is their bread. They bake it at Amelisweerd in their own bakery. And my main interest is of course: does it contain sugar? The answer is no. The bread (and actually all of their products, except for the obvious things like cake and cookies) does not contain any of it. And that was a nice thing to hear, because I have been asking quite some bakeries if they use (a lot of) sugar in their bread. And to my surprise: a lot of the bread contains sugar. And in the supermarket it's (almost) impossible to find any without it. 'Why do they even use sugar in bread?' You might ask yourself. Because until now I lived in the illusion that bread only needed very basic ingredients: flour, water and yeast.

To dough 'bread improvers' are added to ensure that the bread is preservable and soft for a longer amount of time. Next to a fair amount of E-numbers, sugar is also a part of these 'bread improvers'. The sugar is added to make the yeast quickly 'do its work'; it's actually feeding the yeast so that it can start to ferment. So you don't have to wait until sugar arises in a natural way. But crafted bakers do not use added sugar, because they give bread enough time to rise. At the Veldkeuken they bake leavened bread (zuurdesem) using the 'levain' technique (a French method of baking leavened bread), which doesn't contain sugar at all!

I bought a Pain Gris. The prices of the bread are very reasonable! Considering that you can keep the bread in your freezer and that you're practically full after one slice (so, worth its money!)

I also bought some jam, but without any added sugar! Applejuice was used instead, which is so clever in my opinion! Apples of course contain natural sugars. And! One more nice thing: all the fruit and ingredients used to make the Veldkeuken products are local (among others from the centuries old vegetable gardens)

Oh, and take a look at the graphical designers of De Veldkeuken logo! They create a lot of nice stuff: http://www.roquefort.nl/#!/home/

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hee i am a student who needs to make a presentation next friday about sugar. it is just a 2 min presentation but when i saw you page i thought i can use some of your information. but i think it is good to let you know about that before i am really going to do that. succes with blogging

Hi anonymous! Of course you may use my information! It's not a lot (yet) but I'm honored that you want to make use of it! What kind of student are you?

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My fathers' storage room

Last weekend I decided to dive into my fathers' storage room to see how many (in which you wouldn't expect it) products would contain sugar. Maybe I'll pay a visit to your home in the near future too ;-) Ok, so let's see.......

According to http://www.suikerinfo.nl : "In savoury preparations it helps to add sugar to accentuate the natural flavour. Also, the bitterness decreases. It is recommended to add 15 grams of sugar per kilo of vegetables. Even if you cook tomatoes or beets, you can safely add some sugar." Makes sense. But I still recommend to buy fresh beets instead of canned ones, so you can regulate the amount of sugar added to the beets. It just needs a hint of sugar. Also, funny that they state that it doesn't contain preservatives, because sugar is a preservative! Very sneaky HAK..... Again, according to http://www.suikerinfo.nl : "Sugar is known for centuries as a preservative. In order to maintain the flavour, texture and colour products are preserved or potted with sugar or sugar syrup." "Sugar also brings up the taste of vegetables. Adding a teaspoon of sugar to corn, carrots, asparagus, peas or pods dampens the sometimes corny flavour and enhances the other flavour characteristics."

No explanation needed for the peas then. Next!

Wow!... this blows my mind. 15 grams of sugar per 100 grams of these canned mandarins??? http://www.dieetvandaag.nl : "The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum of 10% of the diet to consist of sugars. 100 grams of sugar contains 400 calories. An average woman needs 2,000 calories per day, so you may have 200 calories from sugar. That is 50 grams per day." If you eat all the mandarins from this can you've already eaten approx. 45 grams of sugar.....

Mustard doesn't need sugar. Yes, maybe for preservative reasons (and we like things sweet), but that's all. Try to find a sugar free option! (organic stores sell them sometimes) Or make it yourself: http://www.blijzondersuiker.nl/blog/recepten-2/recept-homemade-mosterd-basisrecept/  --> it's really easy!

Sugar in a hotdog. Why??? And what are all these other ingredients? Let's start with 'kippenseperatorvlees'. Wikipedia: "'Seperatorvlees' (or MSM) is also called "spray meat", and it is a by-product of the meat industry. Bones of a carcass are sprayed on by a high-pressure machine, the separator, and stripped of the last processable meat residues." aka: disgusting..... 'Rundercollageen' is "a protein-forming glue. It is the main component of the connective tissue of the skin." It is used to create the 'snapping' skin of the sausage. 'Rehydrolyseerd soja-eiwit' Wow, a world just opened up for me. I never really knew what this product was. It is actually a different name for a quite dangerous product: MSG. Also known as the E-number E621. http://www.drfranklipman.com : "MSG, (monosodium glutamate), a known carcinogen, endocrine disrupter and killer of brain cells, which may also be linked to the development of cardiac problems, kidney problems, neurological disorders, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease to name a few. Chances are, if you saw MSG on the label, you’d put it right back on the shelf and keep walking. Food processers know this, so it’s rare that you’ll see the actual phrase “MSG” on a label. Instead, they hide the evidence by making MSG difficult to identify. Also known as glutamate (the chemical in monosodium glutamate), MSG often lurks behind murky phrases like “natural ingredients,” “natural seasonings, ” “natural flavors,” or specific ones that don’t easily reveal the presence of MSG, such as maltodextrin, gelatin, glutamic acid, citric acid, hydrolyzed yeast, protein isolate, textured protein, hydrolyzed protein, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), soy protein extract (!!!), autolyzed plant protein, autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate  and modified corn starch to name a few. As the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) doesn’t consider glutamate hazardous to eat, it’s easy for food processors to blur the presence of MSG, making it nearly impossible for the average consumer to recognize. Even more absurd is the loophole that allows processed foods to be marked “no added MSG,” or “contains no MSG,” even though they still contain glutamate, the chemical in MSG. While it may seem like hair-splitting, the phrases “no added MSG,” “contains no MSG,” and even “MSG-free” are by no means a guarantee that glutamate isn’t in the processed foods you buy. Even some processed organic foods are guilty of hiding the nasty stuff. In many cases, a close label-reading will turn up glutamate here too, so my advice is to skip all processed foods, organic or otherwise." 'Stabilisator E451' http://www.e-nummers-lijst.nl/alle-e-nummers/e451-pentanatriumtrifosfaat/ : "E451, Pentasodium, is a bad E-number. It is a synthetic emulsifier and stabilizer. There is a high risk of hyperactivity and intestine disorders. Also, the absorption of vitamins and minerals and fertility can be reduced." 'Smaakversterkers E621, E627 & E631' Let's start with E621 (http://www.e-nummers-lijst.nl -> E621 has its own page on there!) "E621 is a synthetic flavour enhancer that lifts up the appetite. This flavour enhancer is associated with obesity, diabetes, and excessive use can cause migraines, swollen limbs and heart palpitations. It can also cause damage to the lungs, reproductive organs and brain. E621 appears to have a negative impact on the behaviour of various disorders such as autism and hyperactivity, nervous disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and various cancers. Our advice is therefore: avoid E621 as much as possible! Many sceptics point to studies that argue that E621 is harmless and that is has no negative effects on the human body. However, the investigations on which they rely are often subsidized by the food industry which benefit from the use of E621 in their food products.

E621 is added to many products under a different name (like soy protein extract) Misleading names for E621:

- Monosodium Glutamate - Sodium Glutamate - MSG - Glutamate - Glutamate Acid  - Artificial flavours - Spice extracts - Mono Potassium Glutamate http://www.gezondheidenvoeding.nl/voeding/e621-mononatriumglutamaat-msg-vermijden-gevaar-voor-je-gezondheid/ : "E621 interrupts the connection between our satiety centre in the brain and stomach. The 'brain' of the stomach no longer receives the signal 'I am full' and we continue to eat. E621 therefore increases the appetite without the body needing food. This is also the reason that a bag of chips makes you feel like you should eat it all at once. And that is what the food industry wants. More appetite -> buy more food -> more money And money is all that matters, there is no moral sense in production companies because if they would care they would at least get rid of E621 (and basically all other E-numbers)." Ok, moving on to the next E-number: E627. http://wijzijnzon.wordpress.com/e-nummer-lijst/op-nummer/e600-699/ : "E627 is very dangerous. It is also called natriumguanylaat and it is a vegetable, animal or synthetic flavour enhancer which is used to replace salt. This substance makes you want to eat more (so it has an addictive effect). The following health risks are known: hyperactivity, asthma, skin reactions, insomnia, allergies, irritation of the mucous membranes and it has an immediate danger to unborn children and nursing infants." Last but not least: E631. http://www.e-nummers-lijst.nl/?s=631 : "E631, also called Disodium Inosinate, is a bad E-number. It is a flavour enhancer that can cause asthma, skin allergies, insomnia and irritation of the mucous membranes." Voedingszuur (Ascorbinezuur) is actually an E-number: E300 to be precise. According to Wikipedia : "A food acid lowers the acidity (pH) of a product (thus makes it more acidic). In addition, it also strengthens (in some cases) the effect of antioxidants and preservation and can sometimes work colour conservatory." Gist extract (or yeast extract) http://www.foodforfood.info/kortnieuws/artikel/e621-of-gistextract : "Nutritional yeast is naturally rich in monosodium glutamate (MSG), so an extract (a concentrated form) contains many glutamate. Even so that it can serve as a substitute of the purified monosodium glutamate in processed products. The advantage: you do not have to declare it on the package as a flavour enhancer (an E-number). The downside: it is in fact exactly the same as adding purified monosodium glutamate (E621). The replacement of E621 by yeast extract has an enormous marketing value because consumers don't want this E-number, but actually you're consuming it anyway. E250 is a preservative and it is also called Natriumnitriet. http://www.ninefornews.nl/wat-is-e250-of-natriumnitriet/ : "Nitriet out of the natriumnitriet can interfere the oxygen transport in the blood because it oxidizes hemoglobin. Infants are especially sensitive to this and E250 is therefore prohibited in products for children under 6 months. Nitrites dilate blood vessels and therefore may cause headaches, low blood pressure and/or hyperventilation. The Health Council advises pregnant women not to eat meat that is treated with nitrite due to uncertainty about a link with children's leukemia.

Food manufacturers are required to put E250 on the ingredients list, but not the quantity of it. So in the end you do not know how much of it you you ingest on a daily basis.

Knowing what was actually in the hot-dogs I'm scared to eat these vegetable bouillon blocks....

Oh, here they are again! 'Smaakversterkers E621, E627 & E631'. Let's have a look at these food colouring additives E150c and E101. E150c http://www.naturalnews.com/033820_food_coloring_chemicals.html : "Caramel, the grandfather of food colouring, is the most ubiquitous. It's what makes colas brown, like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and others. It's in almost any brown liquid including whiskey, brown gravies, many soy sauces, and most balsamic vinegars. It's created by caramelizing (burning) sugar. (as if there wasn't enough sugar added to this product already) Sometimes caramel is processed with ammonium. That's indicated by the codes Caramel E150C and E150D.

E101 http://www.e-nummers-lijst.nl/?s=101 : "E101, also known as Riboflavin, is a good e-number. It is a yellow vegetable dye, and it is not harmful." Thank God there's a 'safe E-number in this product too! CONCLUSION: Educate yourselves! The food industry can't be trusted (so it seems) and we need to start our own revolution!!! Hopefully this blog is a good start :-)

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The documentary that triggered my interest in the sugar industry. Watch it! I will post my remarks (and a link to the full documentary) on it later on.

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Introduction

First of all, welcome! Let me introduce myself: I'm a student from the Design Academy in Eindhoven (Leisure Department). Food has a big influence on my life. I love food. Especially because I can enjoy it everyday :-) Some food related questions that interest me are: 'How is it made?' 'Where does it come from?' 'Why are there extra ingredients that don't have to be added to the natural product?' 'What are these strange extra ingredients?' 'Can inspection marks be trusted?' Just to name a few. Trust in the food industry is fading. But we still keep on over-consuming without educating ourselves. Is this because we are becoming lazy? Uninterested? Or are we being brainwashed by the media?

At the moment I'm digging deeper into the sugar territory because sugar is a sketchy area in the food industry. Sugar is secretly added in a lot of products. Why? I'm trying to figure this out. Because sometimes products logically contain sugar (like cookies, cakes, candy; everything that is pretty obvious) but some of them don't need it all (think of bread, canned tomatoes, crackers, pickles & meat). I will try to give as much answers as possible by asking big & small companies about their production methods and why they use sugar in their products. Also, I would like to get to know the real truth about sugar. What effect does it have on us? By following my blog I will keep you updated on all sugar related topics. Hopefully I can create some transparency and make you more aware of the actual food that you consume everyday.