Help with Sugar Withdrawals

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sclevenger1
sclevenger1 Posts: 12 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been having severe headaches & nausea since I completely cut sugar from my diet. Has anyone else experienced these and if so...do you have any advice? I was a major Sugar Addict before. Thanks
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  • ZiezieO
    ZiezieO Posts: 228 Member
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    I hear ya. I was in a lecture about sugar addiction funny enough! A woman is suppose to take in an average of 7 tsp of sugar per week… 1 glass of Orange juice has an average of 9 tsp of sugar… yikes.

    The dietitians advice was to NOT quit cold turkey, because withdrawals happen. Instead, go slow. If you have 10 sodas a day, cut down 2 per week. If you like 2 sugars in your coffee, cut down to 1. Refined sugar and other sugars are kind of like drugs. Your brain gets really excited just to see things with sugar because it makes your brain happy! So, go slow. Reward yourself with things like raspberries or blueberries instead of chocolate chips. (that's what I'm doing right now and it's a start).

    So, go have yourself a little juice or a cookie. It's not okay to quit sugar cold turkey or you're going to feel like death and fall right back into that nasty old trap.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I don't completely cut out sugar (or anything else) for weight loss. Lifestyle changes for me (this time). I don't plan on being sugar free (no medical issues) after the weight is gone so I need to deal with it now. "Managing" sugar is the lifestyle change....not getting rid of it.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Your body makes the sugar it needs from complex carbs
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    If cutting back on the sugar lowered your carbs enough you may need more salt. Or if you were drinking sugary/caffeine drinks it's likely to be the caffeine. Taking a caffeine pill or a pain killer with caffeine in it for a few days will help.

    And if nothing else works just know it'll pass soon -- 3 or 4 days tops. Best wishes.
  • sclevenger1
    sclevenger1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for the great advice!
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    Your body makes the sugar it needs from complex carbs

    Or protein if you are eating low carb. Carbs are not required by the human body and without carbs or <100 grams daily you will go into nutritional ketosis. Cutting out all forms of sugar may mean you are in a state of ketosis now.

    That can make you feel like you have the flu for a few days or longer but then you become keto adapted and are off sugar but with more energy typically.
  • LeslieTSUK
    LeslieTSUK Posts: 215 Member
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    I'm a diabetic so I had to cut out sugar, as my insulin resistance is extremely bad.

    I went from drinking tons of sugared pop and juices daily to absolutely nothing, and yes, the withdrawal was super bad.

    Took me 2 months to finally get off all forms of sugar, both natural and refined, but it was best thing I ever did.

    Nothing wrong with net carbs, I love my rice, potatoes, pita's, etc etc, but I limit them to between 100 to 150 net carbs per meal, and then don't eat nothing else for minimum 6 hours.

    All forms of sugar I limit to between 7 and 10 per meal.

    Proteins and fats I don't worry about.

    Saturated fat I keep a general eye on, but I never worry if I go a bit over.

    Sodium I try to keep under daily amount

    And calories I keep a general eye on, so I stick to around 1000 to 1200 per day, not because I counting them, but my mobility is poor so I not getting any extra to fall back on, and i'm trying to keep a happy balance and loose consistently.

    But if a meal goes over I not worry about it.

    Just plod along with the no sugar and all of a sudden you'll start to pick up and be fine.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
    edited November 2014
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    LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    Your body makes the sugar it needs from complex carbs

    Or protein if you are eating low carb. Carbs are not required by the human body and without carbs or <100 grams daily you will go into nutritional ketosis. Cutting out all forms of sugar may mean you are in a state of ketosis now.

    That can make you feel like you have the flu for a few days or longer but then you become keto adapted and are off sugar but with more energy typically.

    um, yes it does...lol...

    LiveLaughLoveEat1 if my statement was not true I would not have made the statement initially. I post with my real name to encourage myself to be helpful when on the web. I will not with intent post false information.

    Carbs are optionally as in "Not Essentially Required" for human life.

    Please stop posting otherwise.

    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/75/5/951.2.full

    http://www.carbohydratescankill.com/2717/there-essential-carbohydrates

    http://graemethomasonline.com/carbohydrate-daily-requirements/ This link is a good read about carbs. Carbs can be nice but they are not required and in excess they can be harmful to live.

    Folks we need to understand diet requirements and how food works inside our bodies if we are going to increase the success of Americans dieting to greater than the current 10% success rate of losing and keep the weight off for the rest of one's life.


  • Kenda2427
    Kenda2427 Posts: 1,592 Member
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    Sugar withdrawal is painful. I am a Pepsi addict and quit again as of July 20th, the first week was horrible, terrible headaches, extreme cravings, cranky had to take a lot of Advil to help manage the headaches but it does pass. The first week is the worst and then it gets better, hang in there!
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
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    GaleHawkins wrote: »

    Carbs are optionally as in "Not Essentially Required" for human life.




    Nor are saturated or monounsaturated fats.

    Nor are the majority of amino acids (protein is made up of 21 amino acids, only 8 of which are essential).

    Why don't you avoid these as well?



  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
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    Kenda2427 wrote: »
    Sugar withdrawal is painful. I am a Pepsi addict and quit again as of July 20th, the first week was horrible, terrible headaches, extreme cravings, cranky had to take a lot of Advil to help manage the headaches but it does pass. The first week is the worst and then it gets better, hang in there!

    Sugar is not physically addictive. Your symptoms sound like caffeine withdrawal, not sugar.

  • kevinsmithrn
    kevinsmithrn Posts: 70 Member
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    If you stay true - I assure this time next week you will feel great. Be careful posting about this topic, the sugar shills will target you and demand "carb is a carb" compliance. Good Luck in all your struggles.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    FunkyTobias wrote: »
    GaleHawkins wrote: »

    Carbs are optionally as in "Not Essentially Required" for human life.




    Nor are saturated or monounsaturated fats.

    Nor are the majority of amino acids (protein is made up of 21 amino acids, only 8 of which are essential).

    Why don't you avoid these as well?

    Funky one can not avoid eating carbs and eat from the food sources nature provides. Even grass feed beef which is a great source of fat and protein is going to drag along a Carb with the good fat and protein.

    It is the false statements some are making here that are harming people by trying to make them think the human body is dumb and stupid which it is not that I think needs to be cut out.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    herrspoons wrote: »
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    [Carbs can be nice but they are not required and in excess they can be harmful to live.

    Anything can be harmful in excess. For example, if you try to live on lean meat alone, then you stand a good chance of getting Rabbit Starvation - the symptom caused by lack of fat and/or carbohydrate in a diet.

    Whilst it's strictly true that carbohydrates are not necessary, cutting them out entirely is as dumb as a sack of rocks, because they are by far the best nutrient for quick release energy. In addition, they have other benefits, because carbs sources like grains include fibre, which you'll need to find from other sources unless you like trying to pass the Titanic when you're on the loo.

    http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/loseweight/pages/the-truth-about-carbs.aspx

    In addition, cutting out carbs does not mean you will lose fat - your calorie limit remains the same, although it may be slightly harder to consume those calories, due to bulk. Then again, eating a lot of cheese will pile on the calories nearly as much as eating a load of cake.

    Like all fad diets, which promote exclusion rather than moderation, low or non carb diets will ultimately have a low sustainability rate over five years or more, because they simply do not teach the basic premise of sensible dietary control. They are merely cash generating machines for diet book writers and DVD producers.

    Also there is no such thing as sugar addiction. Really, there isn't.

    There may be no Gambling Addiction either. We do not know where there is a physical addiction to sugar possibility yet because that research is still in progress and will need peer review. The emotional addiction to gambling, sugar, etc is not really in question any longer. How addictions work at a chemical level still is being researched.

    Since it is carbs that makes most people fat and not the Fat or Proteins yes cutting all carbs will lead to weight loss in most all humans based on today's research. Below is some lab results relating to physical sugar addiction.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907/
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
    edited November 2014
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    sclevenger1 wrote: »
    I have been having severe headaches & nausea since I completely cut sugar from my diet. Has anyone else experienced these and if so...do you have any advice? I was a major Sugar Addict before. Thanks
    I cut out most junk carbs from processed foods and went through a season of cravings and such.
    It passes.
    I obtain my sugars from a much healthier source: fruits and veggies. It's made a world of difference in my progress and results.
    Consider making fruit your staple when it comes to simple carbs.
    Good Luck!
    <3
  • Laura732
    Laura732 Posts: 244 Member
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    Oh yeah. The internet is the definitive source for correct information. You can find anything to support any argument by spending a few minutes with a search engine.

    When in doubt, moderation of whatever fuel mix you choose is a good place to start. Keep track of what you eat, make changes slowly, and create a calorie deficit. Unless your Doctor says otherwise.

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