Thoughts on "Quiting Sugar"?

As someone who is insulin resistant due to a valid medical condition no it is not necessary to give it up and no it does not cause diabetes or cancer. Being overweight causes type 2 diabetes in certain people, usually because they have an underlying condition (like my PCOS) and when you gain weight it lowers your insulin resistance even more.

What my doctor told me is that what a normal person should do most days is keep there added sugar levels at the recommend daily in take of sugar. As in don't count the sugar in your fruit or veggies but count the sugar in that salad dressing you have or in that cookie.

IsaacHudson wrote: »

In contrast to many posters I believe there is a growing body of evidence that (refined) sugar is pretty nasty stuff. Cancer & diabetes type II being the major issues.

http://www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-and-screening/be-aware/cancer-myths-and-controversies/sugar-and-cancer/?region=on

From the cancer society of Canada. They say sugar has nothing to do with cancer however being overweight can. Get your facts straight please.

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nelliegirl6 wrote: »

I keep refined carbohydrates to a minimum but I do eat complex carbs. For me, the refined carbs tend to cause cravings... and up go the pounds. Call me weak, but I've done well and feel much better when I don't eat processed foods and keep refined carbs to a minimum.

Actually most refined carbs are complex Carbs.

neanderthin wrote: »

I like sugar, it tastes good and haven't found any logical reason to stop consuming it.

this.

If someone could promise me that quitting sugar would eliminate all anxiety, dental problems, and give me a perfect flat belly then heck yeah. Til then no way Jose.

I take a break from added sugar from time to time, mostly just to prove that it's not that hard, but also because at one point I was emotional eating with it as a crutch (mostly because it's available at my office, I'm also perfectly capable of doing it with popcorn or fries or cheese or some such), and I wanted to teach myself not to do that. Usually just being strict about snacking is enough, but if I find myself falling into a bad habit again I might take a break.

That said, I have zero interest in giving up either sugar or added sugar, which seems rather arbitrary to me. Lots of very nutrient dense foods have sugar and adding sugar to other foods doesn't add that many calories and the arguments that its bad for you in itself are weak. The mere fact that some of the foods I most enjoy in moderation, some of which I also enjoy preparing and associate strongly with special occasions like holidays (like ice cream, pie) have sugar is good enough reason for me not to quit it or think it's "bad."

Obviously, however, overeating high calorie desserts is going to be a challenge in meeting a calorie limit, and so cutting down on such foods is a sensible way to reduce calories, although for me--since sugar wasn't the main way I overate--there was a lot more to it.

I kind of think most people already know this, however, since you'd have to be really, really dumb not to know there are lots of calories in cake, and thus that advice to reduce high calorie sweets if you eat a lot of them really isn't necessary. It's certainly no reason to decide you must eliminate all sugar (or really anything) from your diet.

It is my goal to be able to eat any food I enjoy in moderation, which might mean a little most nights if calories permit or I worked out, and might mean twice a year, depending.

kmash32 wrote: »

IsaacHudson wrote: »

In contrast to many posters I believe there is a growing body of evidence that (refined) sugar is pretty nasty stuff. Cancer & diabetes type II being the major issues.

http://www.cancer.ca/en/prevention-and-screening/be-aware/cancer-myths-and-controversies/sugar-and-cancer/?region=on

From the cancer society of Canada. They say sugar has nothing to do with cancer however being overweight can. Get your facts straight please.

"I believe". Haven't had a chance to actually look for it.

Someone asked what I consider garbage food. I was eating a lot of pure glucose - hard candy, licorice, gummy bears etc. I was also eating chocolate and quite a bit of it. I replaced the pure glucose with more fruits and whole grains. I allow myself a treat of a Hershey bar every day. I am on maintenance, so I have some calories to use. I noticed that if I ate a bunch of sugar one day, I would wake up with a sore throat and end up with a respiratory virus. As I have asthma, these frequently end up in my lungs and require extra medicine and time off work. Since I changed my eating habits, I have not had to take antibiotics or extra steroids. I'm not trying to vilify food, but these experiences I've had are very real. My health has improved a lot since I exchanged low nutrient value foods for higher value ones - strawberries, blueberries, broccoli etc. Just my experience and not intended to force anyone else into a lifestyle they don't believe in.

shaddowstorm wrote: »

I have thought about lessening my sugar intake as in from possessed foods. Which yesterday I realized that my 2 coffees per day with half a sugar was what was putting me over my intake which I changed to a sweetener. I pretty much wanted to know how sugar free people lived such as Sarah Wilson.

I have no addictions to high sugar foods

The answer is that she isn't sugar-free, she avoids fructose, particularly in sucrose or HFCS form. She's ok with maltose and lactose, and suggests that up to 2 serves of fresh fruit a day are ok if you're not also having sucrose. She even promotes recipes with glucose. From an ease of adherence point, the recipes on the IQS site look pretty good to me. There's definitely plenty of sweet things in there if you want them.

Perhaps there is someone here who has cut a broader range of sugars from their diet who could fill you in a bit more with details on how they manage it.

So far as reducing sugar goes, in my opinion, coffee without sugar is an easy way to get more room for calories elsewhere. Same goes for soft drink, confectionery, and sweetened cereal. But that's because I have a preference for savoury foods over sweet ones. Go with whatever you can stick with long term.