Cutting Sugar Out! Help Please

Same problem here.. I got very sick so I had to eat something with sugar and I ended up over indulging. I can't give it up I am an addict. I just made my breakfast entry and I can't believe how much calories I put in my coffee by adding sugar. My plan is to slowly put less in my coffee each day. I don't want to give up anything on my diet, if I want it I will eat it, but I am trying to eat less so I don't end up cheating and giving up, like I always do. Try things slowly like I am and track everything you put in your mouth

As a suggestion, you might try a fast from fructose (no fruit either) for a couple of weeks to lower your levels of fructokinase (the enzyme our bodies use to assimilate fructose). New research is bringing understanding on how sugar damages the body. One of the problems of taking in a lot of table sugar (sucrose is the other name for it) is that it is 50% fructose and fructose in large amounts causes a derangement in metabolic processes. The relatively small amounts of fructose in a serving or two of fruit per day will not challenge the ability of the body to handle it but sugar consumption is a major challenge. A small orange has a little over 2 grams of fructose--a twelve ounce can of soda has about 27 grams of fructose (44 grams of sugar in total). Once your fructokinase levels drop, your cravings for sugar will disappear and you can go back to eating a serving or two of fruit every day. But if you go back to eating any kind of sugar in amounts over 25 grams of fructose per day, you risk getting the Sugar Monster on your back again.

I am currently on a two week fast from fructose and I cannot believe how much more energy I have! (It has to do with the production of ATP---adenosine triphosphate--for those of you who are into the bio-chemistry of sugar metabolism.) I look forward to eating a serving or two of fruit next week but I will NEVER eat sugar again (and I used to be a sugar/simple carb addict).

Same problem here.. I got very sick so I had to eat something with sugar and I ended up over indulging. I can't give it up I am an addict. I just made my breakfast entry and I can't believe how much calories I put in my coffee by adding sugar. My plan is to slowly put less in my coffee each day. I don't want to give up anything on my diet, if I want it I will eat it, but I am trying to eat less so I don't end up cheating and giving up, like I always do. Try things slowly like I am and track everything you put in your mouth

As a suggestion, you might try a fast from fructose (no fruit either) for a couple of weeks to lower your levels of fructokinase (the enzyme our bodies use to assimilate fructose). New research is bringing understanding on how sugar damages the body. One of the problems of taking in a lot of table sugar (sucrose is the other name for it) is that it is 50% fructose and fructose in large amounts causes a derangement in metabolic processes. The relatively small amounts of fructose in a serving or two of fruit per day will not challenge the ability of the body to handle it but sugar consumption is a major challenge. A small orange has a little over 2 grams of fructose--a twelve ounce can of soda has about 27 grams of fructose (44 grams of sugar in total). Once your fructokinase levels drop, your cravings for sugar will disappear and you can go back to eating a serving or two of fruit every day. But if you go back to eating any kind of sugar in amounts over 25 grams of fructose per day, you risk getting the Sugar Monster on your back again.

I am currently on a two week fast from fructose and I cannot believe how much more energy I have! (It has to do with the production of ATP---adenosine triphosphate--for those of you who are into the bio-chemistry of sugar metabolism.) I look forward to eating a serving or two of fruit next week but I will NEVER eat sugar again (and I used to be a sugar/simple carb addict).

thanks for this post! very informative.

Bump. I cannot really help you, unless you find it as a relief to know that there a re other people with the same problem.

Still I want to thank YOU and all the peopple who replied, for bringing up the question and gathering all this information in one place. I'm here since last March and I still keep on learning new things that may and that do affect my understanding about nutrition. A lot of what I read just now is so helpful.

For example, until now I was following the phylosophy of "cut down instead of cut out" and yes, it works in periods. Still I crave so much sugar, sweets and chocolate, that I eventually end up binging on either of those, or all of them. My best success has been 2 weeks with no chocolate, during a personal challenge with one of my pals here. I managed to do it and I felt ok. Yes, ok, but I was waiting for it to end...

I hear now, JUST NOW, that it is POSSIBLE to quit sugar. I really start thinking about that idea, since I'm so frustrated about the amount fo sweet things I am capable of eating in a blink of an eye. Luckily I have no medical conditions sugar-wise, but maybe that's a miracle. I've eaten tons of chocolate since my early childhood. It explains why I am used to it I guess and why it's hard to live without it. But I'm going to read now the suggested articles and see what happens...

Recently I've had the common Christmas-NY-time syndrome of eating "unloggable" types and ammounts of food and I'm trying to get back on track now both with eating better & logging it and new series of working out. Working out really helps with any cravings, I don't know why but it does. Besides, it gets me more calories to eat

Keep up the good work everybody and have a great year!!

Remember that sugar from fruit and white sugar has the same effect on blood glucose (which is what you want to control). Your body doesn't know the difference.

A common misconception. If you took the sugar from fruit (fructose) and ate 50g of it, yes it would have the same effect on your blood glucose as 50g of white sugar does. But the amounts of sugars in fruit are so small per serving size that you would have to eat a massive amount of fruit to get that much sugar. I am diabetic, and a reasonable amount of fruit (a cup of sliced strawberries or cut pineapple, for instance) has very little impact on my readings.

Fruit has a high glycemic index (the number that compares the effect on blood glucose levels of a specified number of grams of carbohydrates in a food to the effect of the same number of grams of white sugar) but a low glycemic load (the number that compares the effect on blood glucose levels of a NORMAL SERVING SIZE of a food to the effect of a serving size of white sugar).

The difference is important. I bought the Low Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies and the Low Glycemic Cookbook for Dummies, and when I modified my eating around low glycemic choices, even though my actual calorie intake hadn't changed the weight started coming off again. I've lost 6.6 pounds this month in spite of Christmas indulgences. Best of all, after only three months of eating low glycemic, I've been able to discontinue one of my oral meds for diabetes, my blood sugar is in normal range (not diabetic range!) and I expect to discontinue the other med within the next month or so, and all my other lab results that were too high or low (including cholesterol, triglycerides, a kidney function indicator, and several other tests) are all well within normal range now.

A key part of this for me has been being able to enjoy fruit! I crave sweet things just like anyone else, and having healthy options that are sweet helps immensely. Another key moment was when I discovered to my surprise that lowfat frozen yogurt spiked my blood sugar way too high. Then I got to a part of the book that mentioned that regular, full-fat ice cream is low glycemic. Its higher protein and fat content slows down sugar absorption. I now enjoy a half cup or a cup of ice cream several times a week -- I just keep it within my calorie budget, for example by eating a lot of veggies earlier in the day so I'm full enough that the amount of ice cream I can have is satisfying.

Learning how to enjoy the things you enjoy in a way that doesn't derail your goals is how to make this a lifestyle change instead of a diet.

Bump.
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Still I crave so much sugar, sweets and chocolate, that I eventually end up binging on either of those, or all of them.
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If you crave chocolate, you are probably deficient in magnesium (most of us are, by the way. Experts have estimated that probably 80% of the people are). Some people (especially those who are heavily muscled and highly active) need a lot of magnesium. Unfortunately, because we eat practically NO vegetables that are high in magnesium (like spinach and kale for example) we are forced to rely on whole grain to get what meager supplies of magnesium we do get. Dairy products have magnesium but the calcium there competes for the magnesium receptor sites. Grain could be a source but we refine most of the magnesium away when we turn it into refined flour. In any case, the phytic acid in grain limits the amount of magnesium we absorb. We could take magnesium supplements but most people find that they create diarrhea (and that doesn't help the magnesium shortage and it also dumps other important nutrients from the gut).

That is where the old remedy of bathing in Epsom salts baths can help. The ancients understood that bathing in warm mineral springs was helpful for a variety of conditions but they didn't know why. Now we do know why, in part. When one is deficient in magnesium, bathing in hot magnesium salt solution (Epsom salts are pure magnesium sulphate) will cause one to absorb the needed magnesium through the skin. I take two Epsom salts baths per week (with the water as hot as I can stand it so that absorption will be maximized) and it has been great for increasing my energy levels (a plentitude of magnesium ions in the blood are an essential part of the ATP transport system---ATP is part of the energy cycle of cells). My muscles feel great and I have the muscular stamina I used to have as a teenager. Adequate magnesium levels are also essential for producing serotonin--one of the neurotransmitters responsible for elevating mood. It is doubtful that we have a Prozac deficiency :frown: but we could well be suffering an epidemic of depression in this country because of widespread magnesium deficiency!

I have tried and tried to cut sugar out, but I seem to find that when I try to reduce I start shaking as though I need the sugar asap, and that is after 1 day, I am not sure that because I am trying to change my diet so quickly from eating rubbish to, eating as healthy as I can for me, as I don't eat much fruit or veg, I am not really sure what to do.

Any advice would be great. Thanks

Your body needs energy on which to operate--if your blood sugar goes too low, you will shake. Now, the next thing to determine is why your blood sugar level might be low. If you are used to eating a lot of sugar and other simple carbohydrates (and thus, running habitually high blood sugar levels) your insulin levels will also rise over time. If you suddenly pull that sugar away, your insulin levels will still stay high for as much as two weeks (typical) or even more, and your blood sugar levels will plummet--especially between meals (and the effect is exacerbated after taking in caffeine and nicotine).

If you are following a lower carb--no sugar plan, you cannot, at the same time, go on a low-fat plan. You must eat a bit more fat than is called for in the typical macros here if you are going with a lower-carb plan (and I'm only talking about reducing your carbs to around 100 grams per day--or 200 on heavy workout days). You must eat more fat than is called for in your macros (but stay within your calorie allotment---not hard to do). Just make sure that the fat increase is not all animal fat (although organic butter is a good fat because of the many benefits that it provides--things like vitamins A and K2 and substances like buytyric acid). You should plan to get some increased "good" fat from things like avocados, nuts and olives. I regularly go over in my fat allotment (but I stay under my calorie allotment because I am consistently at only about 1/3 to 1/2 of my carbohydrate allowance) and I'm still losing body fat. (It should be noted at this point that if you go too far under your carbohydrate allowance---60 grams or less---you will ultimately lose muscle mass over time because you need some carbohydrates to "spare" your muscles). That is why I like the term "lower carbohydrate" rather than "low carbohydrate".

Despite what you have been told, we have not suddenly (over the last few decades) become a nation of obese people because we eat much more fat than our slender ancestors (who ate a lot of fat). We have only increased our fat intake by about 1%. However, our total calorie consumption has increased a lot, and carbohydrates---particularly sugar--has been responsible for almost all of the increase. When one combines this type of diet with our generally more sedentary habits (our ancestors typically walked five miles a day) is it any wonder that obesity (and consequent Type II diabetes) is a major health problem in this nation? And the "low-fat" craze has only made the problem worse because the fat was replaced with sugar and other simple carbs in the "fat-free" versions of foods. Because of the metabolic derangement caused by eating sugar and other simple carbs (and a great deal of research has been done on the metabolic problems set off by sugar/simple carb diets---especially in the absence of vigorous exercise), we cannot control our appetites. That is why you see ridiculous amounts of food practically pushed on restaurant customers. Our national appetite and waistband has been expanded because of sugar and simple carbs. Sorry for the rant, I've probably given you much more information than you wanted to know. :blushing:

Regarding the I-stop-sugar thing. I am about to do it, starting today but I am not totally happy with the meal plan, because the author suggests mainly things that I cannot find in my country. besides, she doesn't actually suggest too detailed the process of slowly cutting out sugar, and I have a hard time understanding at what point (week one and two) it is ok to still eat some things while cutting out others. All I know is that week 3 is "quit totally".