Join a community of participants in our Sugar Challenge! The Sugar Challenge is a 30-day challenge that involves removing all added sugar from your diet and then slowly reintroducing sugar to help reset your metabolism and detox your body. This challenge will help improve your approach to the foods you eat by enhancing your knowledge and giving you a better understanding of how food affects your body. 

Start the challenge with us on January 9th with a special event at Helena Food Share to kick off the new year in a positive way!

Join us on Thursday, January 9th from 5:30-6:15pm at the Helena Food Share for a Sugar Challenge kickoff event. This event will include an overview of the challenge rules, a presentation from our Lifestyle Medicine provider, Dr. Krainacker, and a cooking demonstration from our Harvest of the Month coordinator, Kim Lloyd. We encourage you to invite friends, family, or coworkers to join with you! The community, accountability and camaraderie will empower you to succeed.

This challenge is great for everyone to try! Whether it’s your first time participating, or you've done it before, this challenge can meet you at your own level and offer multiple benefits like: more energy, reduced brain fog, improved sleep and improved blood sugar.

Why join the challenge? 

On average, people are consuming two to three times the recommended amount of sugar daily. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), adults in America consume an average of 77 grams (15.5 tsp) of sugar per day! That adds up to 60 pounds of sugar a year! AHA’s recommended sugar intake per day is 36 grams (9 tsp) for men and 25 grams (6 tsp) for women. This plays a big part in many diet issues today and is affecting people's health. Taking control of your diet is key to a healthy life!

How does it work?

For 21 days, we challenge you to remove all forms of added sugar from your diet. Added sugar is defined by the FDA as, “sugars that are added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (such as table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices. They do not include naturally occurring sugars that are found in milk, fruits, and vegetables.”1 This means you will avoid foods with any form of added sugar, as well as artificial sweeteners.

For the final 7 days, we help you reintroduce sugar into your diet within the recommended daily amount. We will give tips on how to keep sugar consumption within a moderate level to keep your energy levels up and keep your body working at its best. 

All information and details for the challenge are included in the printable handouts available for download below.

Before you begin, read through the Sugar Challenge Rules for more information.

 

Want to know more? Download a PDF by clicking one of the links below.