jrustdc Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I know the short answer is no, but I am looking for a little more information. What is the rationale for absolutely no sugar? Is it to make a clean break and have simple rules, or is it because even miniscule amounts can contribute to inflammation and addiction? There is a lot of backstory to this, but it boils down to the fact that we need to simplify meals and meal prep and using a few products with sugar at the end of the ingredient list makes our lives bearable (chicken-only sausage, turkey-only sausage, kosher for passover mayo). In an ideal world I could make mayo, but with two small kids and both parents working more than full-time, it's unrealistic at present. I can't imagine making my own sausage. We could give up sausage and mayo, but again due to the many complicating backstory issues, it's really helpful to have it as something we can pull out when pressed for time. Inflammation is a bigger concern for us than addiction at present, FWIW. I've been wondering this since I first read the rules, but as of today I am also confused because in the Peanut Manifesto it says that the Sunbutter with a small amount of sugar is ok in moderation. Thanks for any input! Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I think the answer is all of the above. The problem is you won't necessarily know how some things are affecting you until you cut them out completely and we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. If we say "some added sugar is OK" you can just imagine how that rule would be abused and I think people would miss the point. I would say you have to do what you have to do to be as compliant as is possible for you but I'm not letting you off the hook without some tough love...I don't know where you live but if you're near a whole foods or other health type store I have found a number of brands of sausage that contain just meat and spices with no additives or sugars. Have you looked around for those? They definitely don't have those at my regular grocery store but with a little effort they can be found. And homemade mayo takes anywhere from 1-5 minutes to make. If you're not making your own you probably don't want to buy any. I have never found one that's made with acceptable ingredients. Making your own is really very easy! You could have made a whole batch in the time it took you to write out your comment above. Do you truly feel you need those products with sugar added to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrustdc Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 I have the time to write out comments like that when I'm at work... at home, not so much! 1-5 minutes is a lot when I already spend 1.5 hours cooking on weekdays and hours and hours on weekends. Although shortly after writing this I realized that mayo is probably a moot point anyway because of rotating proteins (see below) so egg mayo won't work on non-chicken days (and yes, there are egg-free compliant recipes - dunno how they will taste, but worth a try). The sausage needs to be 100% chicken or 100% turkey with no pork casing, because my wife has to rotate proteins. That's what makes it so hard to find any without sugar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted May 30, 2012 Moderators Share Posted May 30, 2012 Sunbutter with sugar is not okay during a Whole30. Sugar messes with insulin, which disrupts hormones, which ultimately causes trouble. That said, sugar is more of an addiction problem than an inflammation problem. One of the benefits to accepting the challenge of eating food with no added sugar is discovering how good you can eat when you look around for new foods to eat. The variety of what I eat is up about 500 percent since I went Whole30. I started trying every meat and every vegetable I had never eaten and found I liked a lot of things that had never been on my plate before. Whole Foods has 3 or 4 chicken sausages with no added sugar that I usually keep in my refrigerator for emergencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrustdc Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 So there are things on the Whole9 website that are not W30 compliant? The Peanut Butter Manifesto is on the W9 blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Yes, Whole9 is MORE than just the Whole30 program. Everything that is Whole30 automatically fits in with a "Whole9" way of life, but the opposite in not necessarily true. The Whole30 is an extremely strict protocol that is generally seen as a short term intervention, whereas Whole9 living is slightly more relaxed, as it's meant to be a sustainable way of life. Many posts on Whole9's blog are about long term choices, vs. living in the narrow strict guidelines of the Whole30 all the time. Does that make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrustdc Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Totally! Thanks so much for helping to clarify it. And Tom, thanks for clearing up the inflammation vs. addiction issue. That's an important distinction for our situation which I may explain in detail another day elsewhere in the forum. Rest assured we are trying many new foods, and enjoying them for the most part. Even with these small amounts of sugar, my eating patterns and relationship to food has been transformed more than I would have thought possible, and we are hoping that my wife's health will begin to improve soon, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrustdc Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Oh, Tom, I bet that if you check the label those chicken sausages have pork casings. If I'm wrong, please share more info about brand and product name. I've spent A LOT of time in the refrigerated aisles of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, the food coop, and a health food store reading labels but haven't yet found one that fits the bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLK Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 On the sausage front, if you are okay with it not being in casing, you can really really easily whip up a batch of ground chicken or turkey with sausage spices and make patties or crumbles for eggs. I know you are looking to limit work time but it is as quick as doing hamburgers or browning any ground meat. Last weekend I did this from a recipe I found online - it was only onion, spices and an egg - viola I'm sure you could omit the egg if necessary for the protein rotation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny M Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 is it not good enough to remove the casing or is having touched the other food an issue? BTW these restrictions are fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea D. Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Not sure where you live but if in the NYC area Bilinskis is a great brand of organic chicken sausages with no pork casing... I live in Colorado but order them online... a bit pricey but they are SO good! http://bilinski.com/productsOC.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrustdc Posted May 31, 2012 Author Share Posted May 31, 2012 Thanks, Andrea! Those look great. Johnny, I did put the looooong backstory in the Whole30 with Health Issues (I don't think that's the exact title) section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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