Pawlet writer Eve Ogden Schaub, her husband, Steve, and two young daughters, Ilsa and Greta are halfway through a year with no sugar. Not just white and brown sugar, corn syrup and artificial sweeteners but also honey, maple syrup and fruit juice.
Schaub says the idea came to her after she watched a You Tube video called "Sugar, the Bitter Truth," featuring pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig. In it, Lustig warns of the dangers of fructose, the simple sugar that gives sweetness to innumerable products.
Eve Schaub says discovering how many everyday foods contain sugar was an eye-opener when the family first started. There’s sugar in bread, just about all cereals, organic chicken broth, tortellini, all sorts of condiments, even dried fruit and smoked salmon.
VPR’s Steve Zind recently tagged along with Schaub on a shopping trip. He found that the no sugar project has affected her family in many ways.