Whoa, there have been times in my life I sucked down way more sugar than I needed and sure paid a heavy – well over 200 pound – price for it. Not too long ago, even though my weight has remained stable in the mid-160’s for decades, I was still dumping almost 2 tablespoons of sugar into a large mug of coffee – and drinking quite a few of those mugs, like the one shown above, daily. I’m now sure that contributed to my otherwise medically monitored but healthy stomach not feeling well for years.

I’ve since cut back a lot to 1 teaspoon of sugar along with about 1/3 teaspoon of stevia, an alternative natural herbal sweetener derived from the leaves of South American stevia plant leaves. I was going to do a short piece about that last week when I found myself glued to scientific information about why sugar, specifically fructose (which, along with glucose in equal parts makes up sucrose or any color granulated sugar), has NOT so innocently invaded our diet and so severely crippled our health.

I’m still doing research and will list sources when I write about what I’ve learned soon. In the meantime, though, I’ve been experimenting on myself by eliminating sugar from my morning coffee for a week and cutting back on sugar intake in general. The no sugar coffee is the toughest deal even with a good shot of whipped crew, as shown above, made in bulk with about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and a shot of vanilla extract. Today is day 5. I’m not digging it. I’ve come up with a list of mental excuses – including maintaining mental stability (yah, I know) – to allow just a little shot of sugar back in the coffee. Writing about it here sure helps.

More soon!