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Interviewer: It's the hot new thing. Going without sugar for 10 days is part of the sugar free challenge. But are there dangers involved? Find out next, on The Scope.

Announcer: Medical news and research from University of Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to The Scope.

Interviewer: Going sugar free for 10 days seems to be a trend. Lots of people are doing it, in fact I have even participated in the sugar free challenge. But is it actually smart? We are here with Ashley Quadros, a health educator from the University of Utah Department of Health to give some insight on the sugar free challenge. Looking at the sugar free challenge, what does a sugar free diet look like?

Ashley: Really what it means is a diet that is free from added sugar. So when you think of a healthy diet, say in the morning you have oatmeal for breakfast, a lot of times you add maple syrup to it. So in a sugar free challenge you wouldn't do that. You will just be eating the plain oatmeal. Similarly if you like to eat yogurt, you wouldn't be able to do that unless it was plain, because there is added sugar to that.

Added sugar really, is just extra calories and it doesn't really have a lot of nutrients with it. So if you cut back on that, it's easier to keep your calories lower, and if you are trying to lose weight that's a really good thing or if you are trying to maintain your weight it's really good. And generally these foods with a lot of added sugar are not as good for us. So if you're cutting back on those it's definitely a health improvement.

Interviewer: Are there any risks of getting involved with the sugar free challenge?

Ashley: Certainly there are no health risks. I think it's probably a good thing, but it's very unrealistic, I think. And I think you could go a little bit overboard if you got really zealous with the sugar free challenge.
Some people may start limiting how much fruit they eat or I have even heard some people say that they're going to stop drinking milk because they don't want the sugar that is in milk. So you could carry it too far and then you would start excluding things that are actually very good for you. So it's important to have a sort of balanced approach to that.

Interviewer: Are there any side effects that come from depriving your body of sugar? Sometimes I've heard sugar related to a drug and once you take it away your body has some side effects, can you enlighten us?

Ashley: Yeah, that's really interesting. So there is some research to show that if you are really used to eating a lot of sugar and then you start cutting it back, that you crave it, that it is kind of like an addiction and so you have this intense craving and you really want sugar. And that's of course uncomfortable and nobody wants that.

But in terms of side effects, I think really you just might find some people sort of think they don't have energy so if they use that soda as sort of their energy boost in the middle of the day, that now they are going to be suffering from a lack of energy and that sort of thing. But really there are no serious side effects of cutting back sugar because in truth our body doesn't really need any added sugar. Naturally occurring sugar is important but added sugar is really not necessary, so the side effects are pretty minimal.

Interviewer: Yeah, I actually experienced a little bit of that, not having as much energy and when I was reading from other people's experiences they said, they didn't have a lot of energy at first. But then once they kind of recalibrated, their bodies got used to not having those added sugars, they found themselves with more energy. Is there anything to that?

Ashley: Yeah, I've heard that too. I am not sure specifically about the research on that but I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence.

Interviewer: So is 10 days actually enough to see a difference going without sugar, as part of the sugar free challenge?

Ashley: I think so. I think once you get through especially those first three days, you will start to get a good sense of what it is like to not eat so much added sugar. And so, I think 10 days is a good link, I have heard people do it for 30 days as well. But I think with 10 you will definitely get an idea of what its like for you and what your diet looks like, and what sorts of changes you need to make.

Interviewer: Absolutely a good start.

Ashley: Yeah.

Interviewer: You could always go further after that.

Ashley: I think so.

Interviewer: Do you think living a sugar free lifestyle is sustainable in the long run?

Ashley: I think if you wanted to entirely cut out added sugar from your diet, its very unrealistic. Even someone who has a very healthy diet is still going to be getting added sugar occasionally.
So if you think about like, if you ever eat ketchup, or if you ever make a stir fry and you add a little bit of brown sugar or you ever make anything that has sugar as a little bit of seasoning, all that you wouldn't be able to do. And so I think totally sugar free is not sustainable. I think the target of the six to nine teaspoons, which is something that the American Health Association promotes, I think that is realistic. And I think even getting down to that point would be very difficult for a lot of people. So minimizing sugar is certainly sustainable, but totally cutting it out, added sugar, I don't think it's sustainable.

Interviewer: Well great. Thanks for sharing all this information with us today Ashley.

Ashley: Thank you, it's been great.

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