It’s 2 a.m. on a Tuesday and my roommate and I are sprawled across our respective beds, shouting different types of carbs and sweets we would “die for” in that moment. She is nibbling on bite-size bell peppers and I am engulfing a bag of baby carrots.

After a long night of homework, we came back to our room with growling stomachs. As the tortilla chips we keep in the corner begged us to devour them and satisfy our hunger, we still opted for the vegetables. Why would we ever subject ourselves to such misery?

Usually, we are pretty health conscious and eat very well, but it’s finals week and we are stressed. The temperature is dropping and we are cold. It’s the holiday season and we are constantly surrounded by seasonal treats.

Our natural reaction? Binge.

Although being comforted by food is typical for me, I do fall victim to overindulging this time of year. Mindlessly snacking on pretzels while staying up working on a final paper. Grabbing a latte to help thaw hands that have frozen trekking from class to class. Saying, “I’ll just have one,” when offered peppermint bark by a friend and then finishing the entire box.

Always a proponent of self-betterment, I decided to research ways to curb these seemingly unavoidable tendencies during this time of year. Time and time again, Google led me to the theory of cutting out “refined sugar.”

According to Livestrong.com, these types of sugars are processed by companies and then placed in many products such as white breads, noodles and nearly anything else sweetened, including a majority of things that Melissa and I consume during our all-too-frequent binge eating sessions.

The problem with these sugars is that “they provide only empty calories lacking in other nutrients and minerals. In addition, they can drain the body of nutrients because of their demanding digestion requirements,” according to Livestrong.com.

My interest was piqued. I wondered if in a mere week I would be able to see a difference in my energy and my all around well-being if I limited or perhaps even gave up eating refined sugar.

Of course, I couldn’t embark on this journey alone, so Melissa agreed to attempt the challenge as well. As a vegetarian, her diet differs from mine so we decided it would be intriguing to compare how we each faired.

The first day was rough. Neither of us had really done enough research to know what we could or could not still eat, so the day ended with us having eaten way less than was necessary to satisfy natural human hunger. We ate some cheese and almost every fruit and vegetable known to mankind and were left with angry intestines.

The day ended with us lying in our beds screaming about carbs before turning to research.

Soon we discovered that in order to remain full and functioning we needed to eat more complex carbohydrates such as those found in whole-wheat products and proteins: meat and eggs for me and quinoa and beans for my vegetarian best friend. We also learned that many foods, ones we wouldn’t expect, included these refined sugars. Much to my dismay, even lunchmeat had refined sugars lurking in the ingredients.

When we started eating the correct things, it was much easier to maintain the new eating style.

Melissa remarked more than once that she felt much less bloated throughout the week and I honestly felt more energized. However, on the fifth day, Melissa lost her battle to Bruegger’s and consumed a garlic bagel.

In the end, we decided this type of lifestyle is not very conducive for living in a college dorm where we don’t have our own kitchen or a large fridge. It’s especially tough for a vegetarian. We both think following the restrictions would be easier at home, where we could ensure we get the proper nutrition. At home, we would be willing to try it again.

So, for now, I will stick to other ways of trying to stay healthy, such as exercising, during this demanding time of the year. Perhaps I’ll try limiting my refined sugar intake but not cutting it out completely. Because what’s the holiday season without a cup of hot chocolate?

Alex Archambault is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. You can email her at ararcham@syr.edu or follow her @Alex_And_Raa on Twitter.

Published on December 9, 2015 at 10:53 pm