For those who have "eliminated" sugar

SnazzyTraveller
SnazzyTraveller Posts: 457 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Recently I've decided to cut basically a much refined sugar from my life as possible. I'm hoping to make this a lifestyle change but I'm taking it one day at a time. I've decided not to eat anything with over 1 gram of sugar (per serving) so I'm looking for a new kind of bread and substitutes for every day food.

So first, what kinds of benefits have you seen after eliminating sugar from your diet? I suffer from acne so I'm hoping to see some improvement in that area, as well as shed a few pounds and feel more energized.

And also are there any foods you were surprised had so much sugar that I should be aware of? I was wondering if you would say no to something like pizza... it has kind of a sweet taste to it. Condiments like ketchup and bbq sauce I've learned have a whole whack of sugar. Any other surprises?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Replies

  • Sboobs96
    Sboobs96 Posts: 10
    Acne? Are you allergic to gluten? Took gluten/wheat out of my diet, due to allergies, and BAM! Acne gone.
  • ngyoung
    ngyoung Posts: 311 Member
    Most off the shelf marinara/pizza sauce has 5-10 grams of sugar. I usually consider limiting refined sugar as eliminating candy, donuts, etc. I do pay attention to sauces since some can be just as bad as well as many fruits. Any daily intake under 25 grams you're on par with most strict low carbers.
  • cathdrew2
    cathdrew2 Posts: 136 Member
    My two little ones and I just started a sugar "free" and yeast free diet 10 days ago at our Chinese doctor's direction. The boys have allergies and one has exema (sp?) pretty bad. Those plus a couple other symptoms the doctor chalked up to a yeast overgrowth or candidiasis. My biggest surprise was sugar on french fries - yep: in the form of apple juice to promote browning. We are eliminating yeast *and* sugar (sugar feeds yeast) so okay breads include Manna breads without fruit (frozen food usually near gluten-free products) and Ezekiel 4:9, brown rice tortillas and sprouted grain tortillas. Mary's Gone Crackers crackers and pretzels. As for cereals, there are only a couple with 1 g per serving: purely os (Cascadian Farms, I think), Barbaras Shredded Wheat (big biscuits), and a puffed brown rice we just got yesterday (forgot the brand). Dairy is high in sugars (except a couple that are whole milk and tend to be higher in fat - be sure to mind the portion size if trying to watch calories) so our dairy consumption is limited to just a couple servings a week. Check out most yogurts - yikes! as much sugar as a candy bar in a tiny little cup. I spent 4 hours shopping across 2 grocery stores (Whole Foods was the best for selection) and was shocked what an adjustment it was to avoid sugar and yeast. The majority of processed meals / entrees have processed sugar or fruit (pizza, smoked meats, fish with a glaze) even if they are all natural or organic. Some gluten-free products tend to be a little cleaner but read every single label. Yeast in cheese substitute. Yeast in organic vegetable broth. Yeast in most breading. The easier thing is to focus on what you can have: whole grains (experiment with new ones), all veggies, beans and legumes and straight-from-the-animal meats and fish (not the mystery meat-lunchmeat type). There is a dessert (white chocolate cheesecake) made with agave syrup (low glycemic, natural sweetener) and nuts called zaza at whole foods that is my once a week cheat. I think I am craving the sugar way more than the kids: but my addiction is much longer and runs deeper.

    As for improvements, after 5 days of clean eating the 4 yo accidentally had 2 ounces of orange juice at school on Valentine's Day and 2 hours later they called me saying he was breaking out in hives. His exema on his hands (where it was the worst) was completely gone in 3-5 days and his torso has gone from fire-y red front and back to a red oval in the center of his chest. He's only 4 but he's only slipped up twice and has told grownups "no thank you; I am on a special diet". I think he "gets" it already.
  • MeganDominique
    MeganDominique Posts: 229 Member
    For me taking sugar out killed my acne! And I no longer have horrible cravings or headaches ... That's right headaches! Every time I have a really copious amount of sugar now ( Canadian Iced tea) instant headache I blame the sugar!

    My boyfriend cut out dairy after I told him and told him he was lactose , guess what? No more sever acne he's struggled with all his life nor sickly feeling .

    My biggest surprise I think was ketchup ! I couldn't believe it but honestly I'm not surprised , they put sugar in everything once you start looking for it :( the worst is energy drinks and bright juices did you know they put a flammable ingredient in them to keep them
    The fun colors they are!? Gross hey? But ya ketchup was the worst and actually seeing a demo about how much sugar is in a 2L of coke *shudders* .oh and dairy ! I forgot about milk and it's lovely dairy sugars !
  • YakovSmirnoff
    YakovSmirnoff Posts: 6
    I cut out sugar, but I'm unfortunately eating too much again now! When I did cut it out, I found that my skin became a lot clearer and that I generally felt a lot better.

    One of the biggest differences is my mood. I have been eating massive amounts of sugar as of lately and find that I am extremely quick to anger. I am not sure whether this is a by product of my sugar rich diet or not.

    My biggest surprise was the amount of sugar in some low fat yoghurts! Those little guys can pack a lot of sugar!
  • AuntieMC
    AuntieMC Posts: 346 Member
    Congratulations to you on your efforts to eliminate, or at least drastically reduce, your sugar consumption! It is difficult to avoid in our society -- you pretty much have to stop processed foods to get rid of it! Sugar abounds in flavored yogurts, for instance -- check the grams, some yogurts have more sugar in them than kids' sugar-bomb breakfast cereals! Some fruit juices promoted as being healthy are largely water and sugar. Sugar is in most breads, including pizza dough. Sugar is in most brands of tomato sauce. It is just about everywhere!

    I got completely off of refined sugar a year and a half ago. It was not the only drastic change I made to my eating habits, so it is difficult to know which changes have caused which benficial effects. However, since then, I have lost `175 pounds. My constant "allergies" have greatly subsided. My skin has cleared up! I no longer have terrible cravings for junk food. My tastes have changed, and I now actually LIKE a wide variety of vegetables!

    Good luck to you! And again, congratulations for taking this step! Your health will thank you for it!
  • martinakallan
    martinakallan Posts: 2 Member
    No sugar is the way to go for me. I just stopped again 3 days ago and the cravings gone already and I feel so much better. Its very addictive , so if I have a little bit, I just want to have more and more. Read the labels as almost everything pre packed has some kind of sugar in it. And also beware of artificial sweetness as they make you crave sugar too. When I feel like something sweet I eat fruit, I know they are high in calories, but the satisfy my sugar cravings.
    Good luck!
    :)
  • Peanutbutterx
    Peanutbutterx Posts: 332
    i cut out sugar and fried foods a couple months ago and lost 15 pounds from that alone
  • juliedor
    juliedor Posts: 72 Member
    There is a great book called sweet poison and it explains so well what a huge addiction sugar is and how much it affects your overall health and well being.Cancer feeds on sugar which is why they inject it when you have some scans, the cancer sucks it up and can then be highlighted.It is a poison and is put into everything.The more natural and unprocessed your food is the better off you are.
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
    I cut out sugar 2 years ago & lost 50 lbs in about 5 months. As soon as i started eating it again the weight crept back and then some. I'm starting over again. its not easy at first but its so worth it.

    If you use sugar substitutes stay away from the artificial ones. I only use Stevia.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    There is a great book called sweet poison and it explains so well what a huge addiction sugar is and how much it affects your overall health and well being.Cancer feeds on sugar which is why they inject it when you have some scans, the cancer sucks it up and can then be highlighted.It is a poison and is put into everything.The more natural and unprocessed your food is the better off you are.
    I think I've heard of that book, I might have to pull it out again as I'd really like to cut sugars WAY back again. As an earlier poster mentioned eat a small bit of it and the cravings are huge. That's exactly how I am, so it's best for me to really cut back on refined completely or as close to that as I can. Reading labels carefully is never a bad thing, sometimes I'm shocked at the ingredients, but as time goes on not much shocks me in the food industry anymore. Scary stuff..
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    anything that is high carb that you eat, your body instantly turns to sugar in your body, like your body doesn't really tell any difference between high carbs and high sugar, so if you're avoiding sugar, you need to avoid carbs as well, which isn't healthy. If you eat a normal healthy balanced diet, (put sugar as one of your nutrients to watch) then you shouldn't have any problems.
    Someone else mentioned gluten, I had the same thing i'm gluten intolerant and stopped eating it because i found that out, and i lost a bunch of weight (cause I was bloated from the allergy) and then also my skin cleared up a lot. so you could try that for a little while, but if you don't see any real noticeable change then i wouldn't stick to it because it's not healthier if you don't need to follow that diet. Also the gluten free versions of like breads, cookies, etc. are usually worse for you (often in nutrtion and calories) than their gluten-y counterparts
  • 366to266
    366to266 Posts: 473 Member
    anything that is high carb that you eat, your body instantly turns to sugar in your body, like your body doesn't really tell any difference between high carbs and high sugar, so if you're avoiding sugar, you need to avoid carbs as well, which isn't healthy.

    First part correct.
    Emboldened part - utter nonsense! There is nothing healthy about refined carbs, and humans lived without them for 99% of our history.
  • 366to266
    366to266 Posts: 473 Member
    what kinds of benefits have you seen after eliminating sugar from your diet?
    Any advice would be appreciated!

    I gave up ALL sugar, and that includes pickles, ketchup, salad cream, honey, alcohol, ANYTHING with the slightest bit of sugar or artificial sweeteners.

    One unexpected benefit is sensitivity: I can taste all flavours much more intensely. For example, in the UK we have fruit teas and to me they tasted like hot water. Now I can taste the full flavour of them - strawberry, apple and ginger. So, my palate is more refined. Also, items that never tasted sweet before now taste very sweet, like full fat milk, cream. Carrots, tomatoes and capsicums taste very sweet to me. A sip of orange juice on my tastebuds now makes me wince.
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  • Peanutbutterx
    Peanutbutterx Posts: 332
    carbs - 4 cal for every gram
    protein - 4 cal for every gram
    fat - 9 cal for every gram
    sugar turns to fat, minus sugar and low fat diet to me seems to work to loose weight, carbs are your friend
  • Peanutbutterx
    Peanutbutterx Posts: 332
    i like your little taco bell dog!!

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