Bloggingmyproclivities

Bloggingmyproclivities

Thursday, 9 August 2012

Not sweet enough. Apparently


You know how when people ask if you want sugar in your tea/coffee and, being virtuous, you don’t take any so say, “No thanks, I’m sweet enough.” Well, that’s not me.

About two months ago I read some startling ‘facts’ about sugar. According to Robin McGraw’s book  What's Age Got To Do With It?  sugar bonds with something or the other and may help cause wrinkles. Plus they’re a toxin. I’m a bit hazy on the details but the bottom line is I decided to give up sugar.

Robin, bless her cotton socks, gave up sugar for an entire year. She probably had her husband, Dr Phil (I found out they're married when I tried to google* her book) providing all sorts of fabulous moral support.  An entire year, people! No cookies, no cake, no chocolate, no lollies. Hm, now that I write it out it just doesn’t seem possible. Who could be that virtuous?

Anyway, inspired by both Robin and vanity I decided to cut out sugar for two weeks. A year seemed a bit excessive. I thought I’d start with something more reasonable.

Cakes and biscuits weren’t too hard to forego, although those TimTams in my fridge did have a very loud siren call. And my beloved lemon sherbet lollies which I turn to two or three times a day were reasonably easy to kick but tea without sugar proved not sweet enough.

In the past friends have expressed horror that I have two teaspoons of sugar in my tea. “Two!” they exclaim with dismay. But it’s not that bad, I don’t have that many cups of tea in a day, maybe four on a bad day.

Not anymore, tea is so disappointing without sugar I have maybe two cups a day. I’ve survived the two weeks without sugar and now am back to eating a little tiny bit but still have no sugar in my tea.

So disappointing. Tea is no fun at all. (Did I mention that already?)

So I’ve become a bit of a tea slut, trying Lady Grey, Russian Caravan (ugh), Ceylon, Oolong, Darjeeling. They all sound exotic, some taste better than others, but all would be improved by a couple of teaspoons of sugar. 

Alas.

* When I wrote "google" on my iMac, it came up as spelt incorrectly. Is it just me who sees the irony here? 

2 comments:

  1. Well, I gave up sugar in its multifarious forms about 30 years ago. Needs must. Of course I've had the occasional 'treat' in the form of a Magnum or a sliver of chocolate cake on a birthday. Found chardonnay filled the sugar gap nicely.
    What's worse? Sugar or chardy? Probs chardy in the quantities I consume, but there you go.
    Cheers.

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  2. Try cinnamon-y teas.

    by the way, you've got mail. now can you remember where? ;) (sorry it took me so long)

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