Sugar Free

I don't do completely sugar free but I've tried to lower my sugar intake. I got low sugar oatmeal and no sugar pudding which those are delicious. sugar free boysenberry jelly was disgusting tho! so dont get that lol

People also need to be careful, because when sugar is removed, it is replaced with either artificial sweeteners, salt, or other flavorings to replace the taste (in some products). It's very important to read labels and research ingredient names so you know what you are getting isn't more harmful than the basically harmless sugar you are cutting out,

Don't get me wrong here, I keep my sugar intake to a sensible level (I have cancer and sugar can be inflammatory to cancer), but I try to be very careful about what sugar is replaced with that might be worse.

Yea too much refined sugars and what not cause some issues for my body which is why I've been trying to lower it, I loooove sweets (and still eat them in moderation).

I've heard that about "fat free" or "sugar free" stuff has chemicals and things put back in them, but what do you watch out for in the labels?

First off, read the nutrition and look at the amounts under "Sugars" and "carbs".

Nutrasweet, splenda, etc.. those would be "chemicals" by most people's judgement.

Agave nectar, honey.. those are just sugar with a prettier name, and some misbegotten belief that the same amount of calories in agave nectar is somehow "better' than the equivalent in sugar.

stevia is something else entirely, as it's not actually a sugar, it's a flavor. It has no glycemic response, and is 30 to 400 times sweeter tasting than sugar.

Thanks for the info!

I did about 17 days on the 21Day Sugar Detox before a head cold derailed me. However, in those 17 days, I lost 7lbs, upped my vegetable intake and ate some really great food. I gave myself a week to get off the cold and am now back on the 21 DSD and feeling great. You food does not have to be boring, just unprocessed. Tastes sooo much better. Google some 21DSD recipes.

BTW there are treats on the 21DSD and they are delicious!

Should have clarified - I mean to refined or added sugar. Fruit, veggies, etc are still a main component.

I've hear such positive things from friends who have taken it on as a lifestyle now - more energy, weight loss, better skin. Seems as though as long as I can hold out for the first 21 days, the addiction and reliance should be broken!

The sugar in fruit is exactly the same as refined sugar. What exactly do you expect to accomplish? It's like saying "I'm going to give up alcohol, so I'm only going to drink wine instead of rum." It makes no sense.

+1

Should have clarified - I mean to refined or added sugar. Fruit, veggies, etc are still a main component.

I've hear such positive things from friends who have taken it on as a lifestyle now - more energy, weight loss, better skin. Seems as though as long as I can hold out for the first 21 days, the addiction and reliance should be broken!

The sugar in fruit is exactly the same as refined sugar. What exactly do you expect to accomplish? It's like saying "I'm going to give up alcohol, so I'm only going to drink wine instead of rum." It makes no sense.

Volume? Total intake? Aiming for better macro and micronutrition within your daily calorie intake?

There's plenty of reasons.

There's zero dietary need for coke. If you enjoy it, great, go nuts. I thought I did, till I stopped it for a while. Now I realize it tastes like carbonated battery acid, and gives me an upset stomach.

Sure the "Exact same" (sorta) sugar may be in a glass of grape juice.. but that has micronutrition the coke doesn't, and doesn't taste like boiled azz.

There many reasons to eat, and some superlative need to meet some predefined nutrtional list doesn't have to be one of them. As long as you are well-rounded, and have met other nutrtitional needs (and like Coke), it's perfectly fine to still have Coke and the sugar contained therein. Or wine (my preference, personally).

From January 2nd - January 31st, I did my own 'take' on going 'sugar-free.' For me, that basically meant avoiding all processed "sweet" things - no cookies, cakes, jams, cereals, peanut butter, ice cream, yogurt, etc.... Basically trying to avoid all "refined" sugars. I still ate fruit occasionally, and complex carbs - like sprouted bread and on occasion, brown rice - but basically anything sweet other than a piece of fruit, I avoided. I did this with the goal of sticking to it for 30 days. Which I did.

I will say, the first few days were the hardest - I was a sugar ADDICT so it was massive headaches and cravings the first few days... After that though, it was much easier. My advice is to just keep anything you don't want to eat OUT of your home. If it's in your house, you WILL eat it - if it's not, you probably won't. So just make your home sugar-free friendly, if possible. I found that going without sugar helped with my energy levels (no more mid-afternoon tiredness, or sugar-coma sleepiness) and overall just made me feel better. Again, the first week or so I felt worse (craving sugar badly) but after that week, it was mostly smooth sailing.

During that 30-day period, I lost 17 lbs. Mind you, at the same time, I incorporated calorie counting and exercise as well for January, so that loss probably isn't all sugar-related, but I honestly don't know if I would've been as committed to the calorie counting and exercise if I wasn't doing the no-sugar thing too.

Anyway... planning to keep sugar out of my diet from now on, but less stringently - figure 1 sweet "treat" on the weekend, and that's my thing. I tried that this weekend though - had a piece of cheesecake. But my tastes have changed, apparently. I normally LOVE the cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory, but this weekend, I could only finish half my piece and then felt sick after. A piece of cheesecake may have been the wrong choice for a treat though, after going 30 days without that kind of desserty stuff.

Yes. Here's my thread on what I learned about it. I don't eat any sugar now......except sugar alcohols.......which give me explosive diarrhea...but at least they don't have any calories.

www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1190193-guest-speaker-today-at-my-work-what-i-learned?

When you troll, you troll HARD!

Has anyone made the switch to a sugar free diet? I'm going to attempt it for a week (key word - attempt) but I'm worried about getting sick of the same repetitious meals! So many of my usual meals have sugar whether it be a salad dressing, or frozen chicken.

While it is impossible to eat a sugar free diet, it is easy to eat foods with no " added sugar ". Both my parents and one grandparent on each side were diabetics and I grew up with no added sugar. I have not developed diabetes so far ( and at 66 it is highly unlikely that I will ) and am not sure why, because sugar does not directly cause diabetes. In my family we ate 100s of recipes that were natural with no added sugar and the menu never was boring.
I also would like to point out that there are billions of people on this planet, who as a rule eat no-sugar-added diets and lots of them eat very interesting ( and often easy to prepare dishes ). There is no reason why you should think that you can only eat the same handful of meals if you go low sugar. I would opt for home made salad dressing ( takes five minutes to prepare for a whole week ) and buy chicken without sugar....is that an American thing ? I also would surf the internet a bit to find maybe a dozen interesting no-sugar-added recipes and start there.
Good Luck !

and bring forth the broscience that "Disproves" Food addiction, because people are all exactly the same.

Umm.. they aren't using "addiction" as an excuse for self abuse.

Would you say the same to an alcoholic? "Oh, you are just using addiction as an excuse for self abuse. You don't need to cut out alcohol, that's stupid. Just moderate."?

THey are using addiction as a reason TO eliminate the self abuse.

Again, good for you. You managed to kick all your nasty habits. I know people who smoked 2 packs a day for years, and then just.. stopped. I know others who have struggled to get below five cigarettes a day for years, and simply cannot do it.

Your experiences, and abilities, are true for you. That does not mean they are true for anyone else.

If someone is here commenting on their weight loss progress, and how cutting out "crap" that is just a method to get refined sugar into them, then they aren't using it as "an excuse" to stay obese.

They have identified an addiction in their life (whether physical or mental, it's still an addiction to that person), and have figured out how to beat it.

That's what I was pointing out.

if you can "stop at just one", more power to you.

Lots of people can't, so avoiding whatever it is works better for them.

Plenty of folks can stop at just one drink. A number of folks cannot. Chiding those who cannot over a lack of self control, or claiming it's "not really addictive, it's all in your head" does not one whit of good to help them with their problem, and if abstaining entirely from alcohol is their solution, more power to them.

Holey man - who knew this topic would start such a heated debate.
Added processed sugars are in more foods than I would've originally thought, so this process is simply getting me to think harder about what I'm putting in my body.
Comparing healthy eating to alcoholism is a far stretch. I can only imagine the reactions when someone posts about going gluten free or vegetarian!

Cutting out added sugars with no medical reason is not "healthy eating." Healthy eating is hitting all of your nutritional needs on a daily basis. If you are overeating foods that prevent you from hitting your macronutrient (and micronutrient) goals then cutting them out is certainly a good idea, but if you are already getting enough nutrition, then arbitrarily eliminating foods doesn't make you any healthier.

Also, false equivalency. I made the alcohol comparison because you said you were going sugar free, except for fruits and vegetables (so not sugar free at all.) You don't see someone with celiacs say, "I'm going gluten free, well, except for sourdough bread, I'll still eat that." You don't see vegetarians say, "I eat vegetarian, well except for the giant ribeye steak I eat every day."

Holey man - who knew this topic would start such a heated debate.
Added processed sugars are in more foods than I would've originally thought, so this process is simply getting me to think harder about what I'm putting in my body.
Comparing healthy eating to alcoholism is a far stretch. I can only imagine the reactions when someone posts about going gluten free or vegetarian!

Cutting out added sugars with no medical reason is not "healthy eating." Healthy eating is hitting all of your nutritional needs on a daily basis. If you are overeating foods that prevent you from hitting your macronutrient (and micronutrient) goals then cutting them out is certainly a good idea, but if you are already getting enough nutrition, then arbitrarily eliminating foods doesn't make you any healthier.

Also, false equivalency. I made the alcohol comparison because you said you were going sugar free, except for fruits and vegetables (so not sugar free at all.) You don't see someone with celiacs say, "I'm going gluten free, well, except for sourdough bread, I'll still eat that." You don't see vegetarians say, "I eat vegetarian, well except for the giant ribeye steak I eat every day."

Hi,
The sugar from fruit and vegetables is made of fructose and lot of fiber,minerals. This will help metabolize the sugar that you get from fruits/vegetables more easily and slowly. Just for information, we don't need sugar to survive body converts everything that we eat to glucose and store it as glycogen.
Sugar just adds taste and also it increases insulin level as blood sugar spikes. The are proof that increase in insulin will increase fat level in body. Also insulin will suppress leptin hormone which is the feedback system designed to tell brain that you stomach is full. If insulin suppress leptin then we will tend to eat more than what is required / feel hungry or worse increase carving for junk foods which intern has more sugar and produce more insulin.

Read the book 'Pure white and deadly' then you will understand more about how sugar is converted to LDL fat which causes various diseases like Type 2 , blood pressure, heart attack etc.

What about all the glucose, maltose, galactose, sucrose, and the thousands of other sugar molecules in fruit? To say that sugar in fruit is just made of fructose shows complete ignorance to the entire topic.

Of course, protein spikes insulin as much as sugar does, and insulin has nothing to do with fat storage, either. Insulin also happens to be the main hormone that suppresses appetite. Insulin works with leptin, not against it.

Then again, you're recommending a fear mongering book for your source, so I guess I shouldn't expect unbiased, true facts.

Should have clarified - I mean to refined or added sugar. Fruit, veggies, etc are still a main component.

I've hear such positive things from friends who have taken it on as a lifestyle now - more energy, weight loss, better skin. Seems as though as long as I can hold out for the first 21 days, the addiction and reliance should be broken!

A lot of the "energy" is all placebo. Anytime someone starts something new, they always feel revived and excited. So it's easy to contribute that to your new found lifestyle. Weight loss is simple, it's from a calorie deficit. What is probably happening is they are reducing calories through reduced sugar. Essentially cutting out foods that are hyperpalatable (which can be high in calories). In the end, it's about diet adherence. I personally saw worst results when I cut out foods I loved (like ice cream or other carb foods). So I eat in moderation. I hit my macro and micronutrient goals daily and that includes a klondike bar. So just follow an 80/20 rule if possible and you will be good.

There are more important things to monitor than sugar (like protein intake or fat intake). Both are great for satiety and protein helps with muscle retention.

Hi,
The sugar from fruit and vegetables is made of fructose and lot of fiber,minerals. This will help metabolize the sugar that you get from fruits/vegetables more easily and slowly. Just for information, we don't need sugar to survive body converts everything that we eat to glucose and store it as glycogen.
Sugar just adds taste and also it increases insulin level as blood sugar spikes. The are proof that increase in insulin will increase fat level in body. Also insulin will suppress leptin hormone which is the feedback system designed to tell brain that you stomach is full. If insulin suppress leptin then we will tend to eat more than what is required / feel hungry or worse increase carving for junk foods which intern has more sugar and produce more insulin.

Read the book 'Pure white and deadly' then you will understand more about how sugar is converted to LDL fat which causes various diseases like Type 2 , blood pressure, heart attack etc.

This seems like a good place to put this.