Suicide by Sugar

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SkierElle
SkierElle Posts: 335
in Food and Nutrition
Yes, the title is a book that I am currently about halfway through. I was just wondering if anyone else has read it and what your thoughts are.

Seriously, sugar is the "wall" between me and losing weight. Any other sort of foods I don't have a problem avoiding (I don't even like pizza, or chips, or pasta! not even french fries!) but sugar, it's the evil culprit that gets me every time. On the front of the Sugar book, it says "A startling look at our #1 national addiction" for a reason.

Most of us are LITERALLY addicted to sugar.

So I have been reading this book in hopes to scare myself out of consuming sugar. I've been off it (at least, sweets and desserts) since October 30. But I am afraid I'll start "using" again and have had some pretty intense cravings. I thought I'd create this topic to see if anyone has the same *issue* and the things that work for them to stay away from sugar.

Nancy Appleton, the author, has a list of "140 Reasons why Sugar is Ruining your Health". This list scares me. I am only 21, so I don't have many of the long term affects on the list, besides being little overweight, but I'd like to share a few every so often that are the most scary to me.

1. Sugar can supress the immune system.
28. Sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
54. Sugar can make the skin wrinkle by changing the structure of collagen.

So any other sugar addicts out there?

Replies

  • mimere
    mimere Posts: 19
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    I'm 22 and definitely a sugar addict. I've been reading a book called "The Anatomy of a Food Addiction" and it says a lot of similar things that've helped me really put things into perspective. I'm still struggling on figuring out what triggers my cravings- which is a lot of what the book focuses on... desserts/chocolate/ice cream/candy etc. are my weakness too!
  • goingwithgrace
    goingwithgrace Posts: 109 Member
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    I've never heard of that book. Interesting. Do they talk about different kinds of sugars or is it any form of sugar? Because I was under the impression that cane sugar isn't the same as natural fruit sugar or brown sugar isn't the same as honey, etc. etc..

    I'm grateful I'm not addicted to sweets. I crave dark chocolate, but I'm a carb eater - bread and chips. I guess it's the salt factor for me.

    Thanks for sharing!
  • alisons7598
    alisons7598 Posts: 162 Member
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    I'd say I'm addicted to sugar too. I love sweets! Chocolate, cookies, ice cream, you name it! I have such a hard time controlling my craving and I can't just eat a little it seems. I have only been keeping track for about a week and seriously thinking about what I put in my mouth the last 3 or 4 days and it's amazing what I would eat just because. My family has diabetes in the family as well as other things. I should go out and get this book!
  • twistygirl
    twistygirl Posts: 517 Member
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    I feel your pain, When i was 11, I would run and faint the Dr's said my blood sugar keeps dropping and the cure for that problem was to put me on a can of HI-C orange drink a day. Oh yes they had grape flavor and over night I went from skinny minny to fatty waggy. I have been craving sugar every since. And all I needed was Iron pills. I still battle with severe anemic.

    I try the cinnamon with chromium pills they are in the Diabetic section at walmart they are suppose to help balance your blood sugar. Helps you to beat the sugar craving. I heard they really work it you take them. I also take the chromium pills alone and yes it does help. Today I had a bad craving and made oatmeal cookies they were awesome but as I type this too you I have the sugar blues. Some days I win the battle most days I lose. Now I have to ride my bike for an hour as hard as I can I refuse to let this sugar get the best of me. I keep exercising off the calories..........praying you do better than I do.
  • 123gonnareachit
    123gonnareachit Posts: 69
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    Me. I ate 130 grams of sugar today!
  • SkierElle
    SkierElle Posts: 335
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    I feel that right now, I can't just have a little bit. Not even one treat per week, because it always leads to more. The book includes almost all types of sugar, from honey to normal cane and beet sugar. Just because it's honey or pure maple syrup doesn't mean it's ok. And the fake stuff. aspartame, splenda, just makes you crave more. The only kind that's ok is the kind found in fruit. The book explains all of this and the mechanisms of each. I would really look into getting this or her other book "Lick the Sugar Habit, which teaches you less science and more of how to avoid sugar. but I think both are probably going to help you if you have this problem.

    I sometimes joke and say " i need to join something like AA, how bout sugaraholics anonymous" haha, I don't think anything exists like that in real life, but maybe if I found a few friends on MFP who are trying to totally avoid sugar, it would help.

    Here are a few things that have worked for me:
    -exercise, it lessens the craving
    -have some fruit or water
    -do something that is really distracting and entertaining, watch a movie/show, read a good book
    -call a friend and have a good chat till the craving goes away
    -you could just not keep it in your house but thats hard because there are still restaurants and other peoples houses and dinner get togethers and all that mess. you have to learn to say no even if you happen to have a freezer full of ice cream.
    -dont eat processed bread, pasta, and cereal, it just makes it worse
    -TONS of food has sugar that you dont think would, look at the label every time.fruit juices = BAD news
    -Also, obviously, alcohol makes cravings a million times as bad! if you must have some just have a lil red wine.

    I havent really found the THING that works for me yet. but I am on the way there. And for the record, I feel WONDERFUL when I haven't had sugar for awhile. like I feel now :)
  • SkierElle
    SkierElle Posts: 335
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    Oh yeah I wanted to add, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP =THE DEVIL

    Also, the gov recommends, i think , 25 g per day, but I am trying to stick to less than 15, not including fruit. THis 15g would consist of the sugar found in sauces (which I try to stay away from too) and other random occurrences of sugar that are hard to avoid. I am also TRYING to follow a Paleo diet, which I think will help immensely.
  • Bermudabarbie
    Bermudabarbie Posts: 568 Member
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    I'm not 100% sure of your daily goals, etc. Hidden sugars are everywhere -- milk being one of the most obvious offenders. Although fruit is supposed to contain "good sugars," it is still sugar. Try to keep sugar as one of the elements in your MFP diet and watch it like a hawk. I think if you stick to the recommended grams (for your total sugar intake including fruits, vegies and so forth), you will be just fine. Don't believe the commercials about Yoplait Light yogurt. They are loaded with sugar grams.

    I know you are not supposed to eat too many artificial sweeteners either; but a couple of sugar free hard candies usually fill those cravings for me.

    Let me know if you want to be MFP friends. Lots of luck on your journey!
  • SkierElle
    SkierElle Posts: 335
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    Thanks, I added ya :) Yeah I could have a few hard candies but I just want to try to avoid artificial sweeteners all together. Not to mention I don't like how they taste.

    I usually only have less than one cup of milk per day and 2 servings of fruits. I need to start getting better at recording everything so I can watch all that stuff! And I don't really like Yoplait yogurt anyway, nor do I watch tv! :) So when people talk about commercials, I usually haven't seen them.
  • weaklink109
    weaklink109 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    Since I started using MFP almost 18 months ago, I have learned plenty about what sets off my cravings. SPLENDA is the DEVIL. :devil: .for me anyway. And drinking alcohol makes me crave carbs the next day. If I can tough it out for a couple of days, I can get over the hump and the cravings go away, but I find the cravings from artificial sweeteners to be stronger for me than those caused by consuming sugar and processed carbs.

    My saving grace has been discovering Stevia. It can be used in baking, as well as to sweeten coffee, and it is NOT artificial--comes from a plant source.

    Thank you for mentioning the book. I will have to check it out.
  • hyenagirl
    hyenagirl Posts: 206 Member
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    I try and use pure cane molasses as a sugar substitute. It doesn't has as many detrimental affects- even though it's a byproduct of making sugar. All the bad sweet crap formulated sugar. The healthier stuff became molasses. I hear stevia is pretty good too, doesn't cause blood sugar problems.
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    So any other sugar addicts out there?

    I was totally addicted to sweets, chocolates and sugar before I started this weightloss. It got so bad, I was getting seriously concerned to be honest.

    Then things took a strange turn and after being told about MFP from somebody at work, I downloaded the app on my phone and started a serious attempt at weightloss. Cutting out sweets and choccie was the first thing - the rest is history. I do not look back and I will never return to those ways.

    I found, that by eating lots of protein, it seemed to stop my cravings for sweet stuff and the longer I went without sweets and choccie, the easier it got and the cravings got less and less until I no longer craved them at all. It took about two weeks all in all.

    Sugar is a thorn in the side when it comes to weightloss, actually, I think it is a thorn in the side. period.
  • lucy65
    lucy65 Posts: 22
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    I am following the eating rules from Jackie Warner's book," This is Why Your're Fat". I was at the point where blood testing had become necessary and, boy, did I hate that. It was shocking when I went thru my cabinets and read the grams of sugar in the things I thought were healthy. So, decided to give the book a try. Lost 9lbs in two weeks. She advocates 5 grams or under 9 if possible for a meal and it tells how many servings of grains,protein,veg and fruits to have to be healthy.

    Now I am eating 5 times a day sometimes six ( feels like I am always eating LOL) Nasty blood testing is almost never needed and my last tests came back normal. Yea! I don't know if this is for everyone , but it works for me:)

    Good luck to you!
  • BodyRockerVT
    BodyRockerVT Posts: 323 Member
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    I have serious sugar issues as well. It is CRAZY.

    I just found this water (via another MFPer) called MetroMint that I think might help, they even have a chocolate mint flavor. No calories, no sweeteners, just mint and flavor. I had been drinking vitamin water between regular water (because I admit that just water gets boring for me, real quick) and I am hoping this new stuff will help and it is also "Sweet" in the way that mint is sweet.

    I try to keep my sugar to yogurts or something with fiber and/or protien (instant oatmeal, frosted mini wheats) so at least when I am having sugar, the rebound won't hit as hard.

    For me if I start the day out with sweets of any kind, that is all I crave all day so I really have to watch what I eat first thing in the day.

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