The Schaub family made the decision in 2011 not to eat any food with added sugar and instead, decided to make their own foods at home.
Eve Schaub along with her husband and her two daughters Greta and Ilsa made sure to avoid food that contained: high fructose corn syrup, crystalline fructose, maple syrup, honey, molasses, evaporated cane juice, as well as artificial sweeteners.
But Eve insisted that each family member was allowed one exception that contained a small amount of sugar once a month. This was often an agreed upon dessert by all of the family and for Eve it was sometimes a glass of wine.
Eve said she was inspired to take on the challenge after watching a video of a paediatric endocrinologist talking about what sugar does to our bodies. She said her husband was supportive but her kids not so much.
“The kids -- that was a whole other ballgame. Immediately, they started bawling. They knew this meant birthdays and Halloween and play dates and Christmas would all be different.”
But Eve said her daughters got used to the routine after a while, but most importantly she noticed that the whole family’s health improved as a result.
“Things that normally looked very appealing looked obscene and disgusting. We felt healthier, it seemed like we got sick less, like we got better faster or got milder colds. My kids missed significantly less school.”
Even though the year eventually came to an end, Eve said that her family still to this day have kept on some of their healthy habits.
“Now that a lot of time has passed, we've settled it all out. We're somewhere hovering in the middle, but we definitely have retained much more sensitive palates and a more subtle appreciation for sweetness.”
