The last bastion. The final addiction. The last mile. The only overt vice left that I have is sugar. I kicked the caffeine habit and now I am targeting sugar. In my research it seems that sugar is the culprit behind fluctuating glucose levels in the blood stream, increased risk of disease, reduce immune system effectiveness, rapidly accelerates the aging process, causes tooth decay and gum disease, impacts cognition, increases stress and causes you to forget to eat important nutrient rich foods. Sugar is bad in excess. Sugar is good in small quantities, naturally occurring in nutrient dense foods, but in toffee covered vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce dripped all over it, the amount is just plain toxic.
In a interesting coincidence, I also researched the benefits of water. The obvious benefits aside, staying hydrated throughout the day reduces disease, decreases stress to the body, reduced wear and tear on joints and vital organs, slows the aging process and cleans out toxins. Effectively the body performs far better hydrated then not. I have clearly seen in pushing my running performance to the next level the impact of too much sugar and not enough water. I can have just the right amount of sugar and lots of water and I perform great, but get out of balance things go south quickly.
So being the crazy nut that I am, I am setting out on a quest to substitute my sugar cravings for water. Everytime I am take a pause in the day, instead of looking for the short quick energy of a sugary snack, I am going to replace it with 16oz of water instead. What impact would it have on my life if I drank at least 160 oz of water everyday for a year? That is 10 – 16oz bottles of water per day. Based on my activity level, I would need that amount to stay full hydrated with a little extra to spare. I am confident I am walking around dehydrated frequently. What if I was NEVER dehydrated. What if I was always perfectly hydrated? Besides having to pee more frequently, what would be the benefit!?
What if I replace sugar consumption. Reduced my sugar consumption to less then 50 grams per day, every day at the same time I was improving my hydration. I wonder what the health benefits would be after a year?
Well, I am going to find out! 365 here I come!
Guy Reams
