Find Your Answers Here

Here is your one-stop shop for all things Sugar Fast success! Get expert guidance, practical tips, and delicious recipes to make your journey smooth and satisfying.

The next Sugar Fast starts on 2 November 2024 and will finish at midnight on 11 December 2024.

You need to become a label reader! With sugar widely added to packaged foods and drinks, the only way you will know is by reading the list of ingredients. You want to look out for sugar under its various guises.

Anything ending in ‘ose’: fructose, dextrose, maltose, sucrose, ribose

Artificial sweeteners: acesulfame-K, aspartame, saccharin, sucralose

Sugars: beet sugar, palm sugar, brown sugar, icing sugar, raw sugar, buttered sugar

Syrups: agave syrup, brown rice syrup, carob syrup, caramelised sugar syrup, date syrup, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, golden syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, inverted sugar syrup, malt syrup

Yet more versions: barley malt, cane juice/crystals, caramel, dextrin, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, honey, molasses, nectar, sorbitol

Many people use artificial sweeteners as a substitute for sugar, or opt for 'diet' fizzy drinks. However, studies show that sugar substitutes can potentially increase your risk for weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. They can become addictive, increase appetite and can even disrupt the gut microbiome. If you are interested to learn more, here is a short video by Dr Mark Hyman, giving 3 compelling reasons to avoid them. This is why they are 'Out' on the 40-Day Sugar Fast!

The Sugar Fast is about removing added sugars and artificial sweeteners from your diet for 40 days. Some foods, such as milk, contain natural sugars, which are just fine. When reading food labels you need to check for added sugars in the list of ingredients.

Fruit juices are widely considered to be a healthy drink, however, once the fibre has been removed, the remaining juice is like sugar and will have the same effect on blood sugar levels. This is why the actual fruit itself is allowed on the Sugar Fast, but fruit juices aren’t. Stick with the whole fruit and you can’t go wrong.

Food manufacturers have been adding sugar to processed foods for years and the practice is now so widespread that you will find sugar in the most unusual places. In fact, as much as two-thirds of packaged foods and drinks contain at least one form of sugar. You are therefore going to need to read labels to find the products without sugar. For example, some breads have no added sugar, which are fine to have during the fast, whereas others have some form of sugar listed in the ingredients so should be avoided.

While you might have been unaware of this up until now, the microbiome that lives in your guts might well be influencing your decisions and cravings for certain foods. 

Your microbiome is made up of a variety of bacteria and yeast, which are, in turn, influenced by what you eat. Some love sugar and others love fat. The more sugar you consume, the more dominant the sugar-lovers become - and the more sugar they want…  These pesky microbes can even increase your hunger hormones in their fight for survival.

This leads to cravings that you will find incredibly hard to resist. However, the good news is that you can change the balance in your microbiome by changing your diet and starving out the bad guys. This is one of the main aims of the 40-Day Sugar Fast.

When you feel a craving for something sweet try having a healthy snack, which includes good fats, such as olive oil, avocado and nuts. We have provided some great options in the Sugar Fast Recipe Book. Then congratulate yourself that you are starving out those sugar-hungry microbes! You can do this!

Absolutely not! The recipes we have provided in the Sugar Fast Recipe Book are suggestions to help get you started. There are so many delicious sugar-free recipes out there that you can enjoy. For example, Jamie Oliver has a section of his website devoted to healthy recipes - just avoid anything with dates for now, during the fast, such as energy balls!

During the 40-Day Sugar Fast we really want to help you kick the sugar habit and we know it can be tough. While we encourage you to stick with the guidelines in the In and Out lists on the Cheat Sheet, we have also included some options in the Limit list to help make the fast achievable.

Stevia, which is a 100% natural zero calorie sweetener, and maple syrup are listed as sugar alternatives and we have provided a handful of recipes using these ingredients. To get the most benefit out of the fast, please limit how much you consume.

It’s probably best to aim for dishes without a sauce or bread, such as burgers. You could choose grilled fish, chicken breast or steak with vegetables or a salad. You will most likely need to avoid dessert so maybe have a starter instead.

Restaurants will often place a basket of white bread on the table while everyone is deciding what to eat so, to avoid temptation, have a small snack before leaving for the restaurant.

Sure. If you usually have an energy drink or bar after exercising then be sure to have a healthy snack instead, such as a banana and oat cakes with nut butter. It will be important to drink enough water too.

Sticking with the fast will help build your self-discipline muscle, recalibrate your taste buds and give you the opportunity to fully experience the difference in your mood, energy and mental sharpness. However, if there comes a moment when the pull to eat something sweet becomes too strong, please ask yourself just three short questions:

What is going on for me in this moment?

How is eating this food going to solve that problem?

Then, how do I feel now that I've eaten it?

Ultimately, becoming more aware of the meaning you give sugar and the relationship you have with it is at the heart of the Sugar Fast. Please don't berate yourself. Instead, come back to the fast as quickly as you can. You can do this!

The 40-Day Sugar Fast is not a weight loss programme. While you might lose a few pounds, the aim of the fast is to help you become more aware of how much sugar you are consuming on a daily basis, where it is hidden, and the effect it is having on your mood, energy and mental sharpness. We encourage you not to restrict your diet in order to lose weight, but rather shift the way you eat to include real, whole food. When you do this, the weight loss will often sort itself out.