Overcoming Sugar Addiction
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RadiantChange wrote: »One of the best things I ever did for myself was do a yeast and parasite cleanse for 95 days...I know, I know it sounds so extreme however it made such an amazing difference in any kind of cravings. I no longer have ANY cravings for sugar, the weight slipped off of me with no problems and I am now maintaining just fine. I now believe that because of eating processed and raw foods as well as living with pets for a huge part of my life it created a terrible imbalance in my system. I can't say enough about what a HUGE difference I feel. I saw a Naturopathic Dr. who helped me. All the best to you!
Please don't post things like this. Cleanses don't work and aren't necessary. The liver and kidneys perform the function of cleansing the blood and keeping the body healthy.
The cleanse you are promoting is a colon cleanse. The intestines are a major part of the body's immune system, and 'cleanses' that affect the gut flora can seriously damage this immune system. There are many benign bacteria in the gut and using this cleanse removes them from the body, leaving you vulnerable to many dangerous infections and viruses.0 -
RadiantChange wrote: »One of the best things I ever did for myself was do a yeast and parasite cleanse for 95 days...I know, I know it sounds so extreme however it made such an amazing difference in any kind of cravings. I no longer have ANY cravings for sugar, the weight slipped off of me with no problems and I am now maintaining just fine. I now believe that because of eating processed and raw foods as well as living with pets for a huge part of my life it created a terrible imbalance in my system. I can't say enough about what a HUGE difference I feel. I saw a Naturopathic Dr. who helped me. All the best to you!
Wow! You really should post more about this one day. I'm totally fascinated. Never heard of this until today. Thanks for sharing
It's especially helpful for people are full of...well, who are really backed up.0 -
Dude did not cleanse. Look what happened.RadiantChange wrote: »One of the best things I ever did for myself was do a yeast and parasite cleanse for 95 days...I know, I know it sounds so extreme however it made such an amazing difference in any kind of cravings. I no longer have ANY cravings for sugar, the weight slipped off of me with no problems and I am now maintaining just fine. I now believe that because of eating processed and raw foods as well as living with pets for a huge part of my life it created a terrible imbalance in my system. I can't say enough about what a HUGE difference I feel. I saw a Naturopathic Dr. who helped me. All the best to you!
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Lmao!!!!DisneyDude85 wrote: »Looks like somebody is...
"Fed up"
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Tinyhabits.com. com by BJ Fogg is worth exploring as a choice to eat can be driven by a need for something else. His university scientists explore ways that individuals can first recognise a habit ( ie morning cappucino or chocolate bar) then make a tiny replacement that is easy to move towards more positive habits. This can be used with addictive behaviour like smoking as well as non addictive behaviour.0
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Some websites folk may find useful:
http://growinghumankindness.com/10-steps-to-control-sugar-cravings/
Web site has a Lovely self worth start to their 10 steps to ditching sugar
** http://foodaddiction.com/step-0/
Has a genuine 12 step process for kicking any food addiction.
One last site for good measure.
** http://www.12step.com/sugar-addiction#sthash.RDWvCWzt.dpuf
If the addict label helps you and others find what they need to move into recovery then awesome. I am less in favour of a label if it is worn as a badge of honour that excludes others from helping and given the honour and being special it is even harder for an individual to change choices towards healthier ones that bring them into a former badge carrier category. Good luck.
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kommodevaran wrote: »I struggle with cravings, almost daily, to some extent. I can eat real food to satiety. Dried fruit is difficult to portion, but something goes very wrong in the refinery. I have eaten sugar by itself when I was young, the boring white stuff, and those sticks that are made to put into tea or coffee.
This is a difference, either in people or more likely developed taste, as I find this disgusting and hate sweetened coffee/tea. I know it's to some extent learned, as in the US an affinity for "sweet tea" or no is a north/south thing. I was recently in Mississippi and people were joking about it.
I ONLY like sweet foods with fat. Pretty much everything just sugar I hate (too bad, they have fewer calories). Foods that are supposed to be savory (like mustard) that are sweet, I hate.A balanced diet consisting of a variety of fresh tasty food, getting enough sleep and rest and exercise, and not keeping large amounts of trigger foods in the house, are my best weapons against cravings, "binges"/overeating. Lots of "tips and tricks" I read about are useless, or even insulting.
Yes, much as I can't relate to the rest of it, this is sensible.
One of my problems with the addiction model is I think it discourages people from focusing on their own patterns and triggers, and that's key.0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »RadiantChange wrote: »One of the best things I ever did for myself was do a yeast and parasite cleanse for 95 days...I know, I know it sounds so extreme however it made such an amazing difference in any kind of cravings. I no longer have ANY cravings for sugar, the weight slipped off of me with no problems and I am now maintaining just fine. I now believe that because of eating processed and raw foods as well as living with pets for a huge part of my life it created a terrible imbalance in my system. I can't say enough about what a HUGE difference I feel. I saw a Naturopathic Dr. who helped me. All the best to you!
Wow! You really should post more about this one day. I'm totally fascinated. Never heard of this until today. Thanks for sharing
It's especially helpful for people are full of...well, who are really backed up.
Heh.0 -
Here's a handy infographic video from TED to get to know your brain on sugar!
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-nicole-avena#review
LOLs.
"Starches are a kind of sugar." "Sugar spikes dopamine". "Broccoli does not spike dopamine."
Therefore it can be concluded by logic that either broccoli does not contain starch or that video contains false premises.
Guess what I know about broccoli! Guess what I know about that video!
I didn't verify the data on the TED video, but TED generally uses reputable data sources and experts. Off the cuff, I imagine that the data is presented in a relational frame, maybe? As in: maybe broccoli doesn't have the same effect as x? Thank you for bringing that to light, though!
Depends on which part of TED. Actual TED talks are fairly vetted. I've seen TEDx talks that are utter rubbish and destroying TED's value. I don't know the vetting for TEDed.
Dopamine isn't the reward neurotransmitter, that's an old understanding that is too simple and falls apart. Dopamine is better viewed as reward anticipation transmitter, and possibly even better as the transmitter that arouses anticipation of all kinds - dopamine rises with painful things too, but we don't say the victim on America's Funniest home video is addicted to baseball bats to the crotch like drugs, yet people are ok with that comparison for sex, gambling, and eating ham sandwiches. Suddenly comparing events over just the presence of neurotransmitter seems to miss something.
Ah, yes, the readiness neurotransmitter, right?
LOL. Baseball bats. Yikes. But I love the point.
I really appreciate this point and I ask, could it shed some light into why cravings escalate in-process?
Meaning...
I get a spoonful of sugar, eat it, LOVE it and then in 10 minutes NEED another one....then 5 minutes later, another one...and another one...and as the time between spoonfuls diminishes, so too does the craving itself diminish.
Is it worth thinking that my eating behavior is causing a dopamine release which tells me that something is going to happen (I assume it will be GOOD!) but it doesn't really happen (because I've altered my thresholds over time), so I go back again and again in attempt to satisfy an outcome that the original spoonful suggested would happen?
I'm not an over-eater of anything else--at all. But I do know that the first bite of anything sugary is the most dangerous.
Maybe, isolated to this topic for our purposes, it's more appropriate to suggest escalating cravings are the result of trying to get that damn reward that we've convinced ourselves exists because we sense that dopamine "tells*" us that something might happen, then? That is the kind of conditioning I might buy.
*I know that's reaching a bit.0 -
SamandaIndia wrote: »Some websites folk may find useful:
http://growinghumankindness.com/10-steps-to-control-sugar-cravings/
Web site has a Lovely self worth start to their 10 steps to ditching sugar
** http://foodaddiction.com/step-0/
Has a genuine 12 step process for kicking any food addiction.
One last site for good measure.
** http://www.12step.com/sugar-addiction#sthash.RDWvCWzt.dpuf
If the addict label helps you and others find what they need to move into recovery then awesome. I am less in favour of a label if it is worn as a badge of honour that excludes others from helping and given the honour and being special it is even harder for an individual to change choices towards healthier ones that bring them into a former badge carrier category. Good luck.
Thanks @SamandaIndia for the posts. I've found that focused incremental changes don't necessarily help the big problem (coping mechanism) but they DO really develop resources for alternatives when I WANT something. For instance, I'm craving that morning capp like crazy! But, if I've changed it in the past successfully, and I'm trying to avoid the craving, I'm better able to make the healthy, alternative choice because I've had success with it in the past. That totally works in-the-moment. It's a handy tool.
Your links were helpful, and I Liked this link-from-the-link: http://growinghumankindness.com/healing-sugar-habit/
I'll admit it is a bit saccharin for my taste
; but a good resource. 0 -
susan100df wrote: »@lshapard Thank you for the valiant effort.
They are just not going to let us have the thread. Other MFP members will not post now because it's too uncomfortable talking about this especially when you know people are going to say it's a lack of willpower or we want to be victims like the posts in the linked thread about another viewpoint.
Maybe after the first of the year we can sneak a thread in about this while they are making fun of all the new members.
You can have the thread ... you just can't have the fallacies in it go unchallenged.0 -
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Go as abstract as you like. It does not change the fact that the entire addiction premise is built upon fallacies and treating identical chemical compounds differently based on the source.
Fructose is fructose, sucrose is sucrose, glucose is glucose ... no matter if it comes from broccoli or a Twix. If you think you are truly addicted to sugar, then seek professional treatment and avoid ALL sugars.
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I'm glad you like the idea. I believe it might help some people to do that! It is impossible to say No when you cannot say Yes. That's what I think, anyway. People have to be able to choose between Yes and No. Choosing Yes will help someone to later choose No. IMO.annnastasia6776 wrote: »I know how you feel, I am highly addicted to sugar, I can't have any kind of candy or sweets in the house, if I get 1 bite I will eat it all, I can't help it no mater how hard I try. I am actually proud of myself, we have Halloween candy in the house right now and I haven't touched it, but I've been off sugar for almost 2 weeks now, if I hadn't already started purging it from my body all that chocolate would be gone. I also have to be careful of bread but for me it's mainly the candy, the pure sugar, that gets me.
I also can't have fruit as I have a sensitivity to citric acid, so I can't use that as a go to for sweets (though I really wish I could eat a strawberry or pineapple sometimes)
Strong work on the Halloween Candy!! My kids are so young I pilfered a chunk of their stashes out to the other kids in the group without them knowing! Once they're old enough to notice, I'll defer to respecting their property as a way to logically avoid the candy!
Can you have low citric acid fruits, like a banana or apple or mango in moderation? I know when I use fruit as a bandaid, its because I need something fast and easy.
Any ideas for fast, easy non-fruit alternatives out there?
@nvmomketo?
@anl90 , the headaches are crazy bad for a few days when you detox from sugar, but the caffeine as well! Motrin and loads of water always helped for me to get through it.
@BerttiBott, don't give up!! Look into net carbs and the glycemic index!! You won't feel so bad once you realize that you really AREN'T overdoing it with those great foods!!
@Kalikel , I really, really LOVE the suggestion to say out loud, "I choose to eat this," making accountability vocal. And resourcing mindful eating. I do think not everyone has the psycho-emotional resources to assign will power alone to kicking sugar, but your suggestion is right on. Thank you!
And I agree, that less than 5 grams of sugar a day (net or gross) is very unhealthy. We do need it for regular metabolic function and it is important to get the necessary amount for a healthy lifestyle.
I've always aimed for 25 and landed between 30-40 and my doctor was totally fine with that (MY doctor, yours might not be, I don't have any comorbidities). Personally, at 25g/day (net), I felt really, really bad. It could be a reflection of my always-on-the-move lifestyle too.
It was a suggestion and wasn't meant to criticize anyone or to say, "I'm right and you're wrong!" or any of that.
I understand what people mean when they say "addicted." They feel like their eating is out of control. I assume they're looking for others who feel the same or have been there as well as suggestions on how to end the cycle. So, a suggestion.
NOT a criticism. I hope everyone took it in the manner intended.
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Here's a handy infographic video from TED to get to know your brain on sugar!
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-nicole-avena#review
LOLs.
"Starches are a kind of sugar." "Sugar spikes dopamine". "Broccoli does not spike dopamine."
Therefore it can be concluded by logic that either broccoli does not contain starch or that video contains false premises.
Guess what I know about broccoli! Guess what I know about that video!
I didn't verify the data on the TED video, but TED generally uses reputable data sources and experts. Off the cuff, I imagine that the data is presented in a relational frame, maybe? As in: maybe broccoli doesn't have the same effect as x? Thank you for bringing that to light, though!
Depends on which part of TED. Actual TED talks are fairly vetted. I've seen TEDx talks that are utter rubbish and destroying TED's value. I don't know the vetting for TEDed.
Dopamine isn't the reward neurotransmitter, that's an old understanding that is too simple and falls apart. Dopamine is better viewed as reward anticipation transmitter, and possibly even better as the transmitter that arouses anticipation of all kinds - dopamine rises with painful things too, but we don't say the victim on America's Funniest home video is addicted to baseball bats to the crotch like drugs, yet people are ok with that comparison for sex, gambling, and eating ham sandwiches. Suddenly comparing events over just the presence of neurotransmitter seems to miss something.
Ah, yes, the readiness neurotransmitter, right?
LOL. Baseball bats. Yikes. But I love the point.
I really appreciate this point and I ask, could it shed some light into why cravings escalate in-process?
Meaning...
I get a spoonful of sugar, eat it, LOVE it and then in 10 minutes NEED another one....then 5 minutes later, another one...and another one...and as the time between spoonfuls diminishes, so too does the craving itself diminish.
Is it worth thinking that my eating behavior is causing a dopamine release which tells me that something is going to happen (I assume it will be GOOD!) but it doesn't really happen (because I've altered my thresholds over time), so I go back again and again in attempt to satisfy an outcome that the original spoonful suggested would happen?
I'm not an over-eater of anything else--at all. But I do know that the first bite of anything sugary is the most dangerous.
Maybe, isolated to this topic for our purposes, it's more appropriate to suggest escalating cravings are the result of trying to get that damn reward that we've convinced ourselves exists because we sense that dopamine "tells*" us that something might happen, then? That is the kind of conditioning I might buy.
*I know that's reaching a bit.
Ok, I don't necessarily have sugar cravings, but I do have binging problems, and while I used to think I had trigger foods, once I got those foods out of the house, I would just eat something else. And then I spent all day thinking about those foods. And all night. Then I'd buy them and eat it ALL in one sitting.
I've found addressing the behavioral issue far more effective, although I'm still a work in progress. Big one is keeping busy. If I feel like a binge is coming on (I start thinking about food, and it's all I can think of) I need to distract myself, and usually sitting around the house doesn't work. I go out for a walk or I go read a book in the park. Sometimes I'll get low blood sugar, and then it feeds into a mental binge; if that's the case, I eat a small snack, then get out of the house to try and let my blood sugar normalize (as opposed to eating everything constantly until I feel the symptoms go away).
But I agree, the behavior changes have been far more effective for me.0 -
Since it's hyper palatable, it's easy to over consume it on a daily basis. With all the people I've worked with over the years, people who have a love for sugar are usually the most challenging because usually they've habitually made it a part of their life for a long time. And many foods today are laced with added sugar to make it more palatable and likable.
What's seemed to worked best with them was just like weight loss. Small reductions at time. Where it was 10 candy bars in a week, it went to 9 and so on along with possibly substituting a better option in it's place.
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Nicole3043 wrote: »I am right there with you! It is especially hard that halloween just passed. I have a bowl of over million grams of sugar looking at me every day now.
Try these suggestions.
http://www.sportsnutritionminute.com/how-to-quit-sugar-like-a-bad-habit/
Thank you for that link. I like the use of dark chocolate mentioned in there . Raises endorphins without spiking sugar levels. Lol, exercise will do that too. I tend to keep a bar of dark chocolate in my lunch bag. just one or two small pieces savored slowly will get me past the urge. There are no taste buds in my stomach. I've already learned that binging on dark chocolate gives me heartburn and keeps me awake at night. So, I truly enjoy and feel rewarded with a small delectable portion. That said, Halloween was my downfall. I'm tossing the remaining candy corn today.
Also keeping protein, food and water balanced throughout the day makes a huge difference.
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I had a problem with over consuming sugar and stopped eating sugary and starchy foods. You know what happened?
I grossly overate things like cheese, chicken legs, nuts, nut butters, and egg salad.
I was using food to cope with stress, depression, and to celebrate. Even after realizing that, I still had a habit of simply reaching for it at certain times just from boredom or because I thought it was time to eat. I really had no concept of hunger.
Becoming mindful of the idea that want and need are two different concepts helped me a lot. I used to repeat to myself that a certain amount of food was all that my body needed and that I would be content with it. I slowed down when I was eating, taking smaller bites and chewing my food thoroughly so that my body could learn to feel full on less and that I could learn true hunger signals.
I had already done a lot of work on the personal issues that had led to me using food to cope in the first place, so using mindfulness to establish new habits was an easier process for me. For someone who hasn't acknowledged underlying causes, I realize a two-step process might be in order. (Caveat: Sometimes, it's not necessary to dig for reasons, sometimes it's okay to simply leave baggage behind and move forward. Unraveling the past, or acknowledging that it's causing problems in the present might only be a necessary step if it's holding you back.)
I eat sugary and starchy foods now. In moderation. I've learned that my issues with food (and trust me, I went through the pounding headaches and "withdrawals" back in the day) were always about my behavior with it, and not about the food itself. It was a long process, but truly dealing with it has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.
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Here's a handy infographic video from TED to get to know your brain on sugar!
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-sugar-affects-the-brain-nicole-avena#review
LOLs.
"Starches are a kind of sugar." "Sugar spikes dopamine". "Broccoli does not spike dopamine."
Therefore it can be concluded by logic that either broccoli does not contain starch or that video contains false premises.
Guess what I know about broccoli! Guess what I know about that video!
I didn't verify the data on the TED video, but TED generally uses reputable data sources and experts. Off the cuff, I imagine that the data is presented in a relational frame, maybe? As in: maybe broccoli doesn't have the same effect as x? Thank you for bringing that to light, though!
Depends on which part of TED. Actual TED talks are fairly vetted. I've seen TEDx talks that are utter rubbish and destroying TED's value. I don't know the vetting for TEDed.
Dopamine isn't the reward neurotransmitter, that's an old understanding that is too simple and falls apart. Dopamine is better viewed as reward anticipation transmitter, and possibly even better as the transmitter that arouses anticipation of all kinds - dopamine rises with painful things too, but we don't say the victim on America's Funniest home video is addicted to baseball bats to the crotch like drugs, yet people are ok with that comparison for sex, gambling, and eating ham sandwiches. Suddenly comparing events over just the presence of neurotransmitter seems to miss something.
Ah, yes, the readiness neurotransmitter, right?
LOL. Baseball bats. Yikes. But I love the point.
I really appreciate this point and I ask, could it shed some light into why cravings escalate in-process?
Meaning...
I get a spoonful of sugar, eat it, LOVE it and then in 10 minutes NEED another one....then 5 minutes later, another one...and another one...and as the time between spoonfuls diminishes, so too does the craving itself diminish.
Is it worth thinking that my eating behavior is causing a dopamine release which tells me that something is going to happen (I assume it will be GOOD!) but it doesn't really happen (because I've altered my thresholds over time), so I go back again and again in attempt to satisfy an outcome that the original spoonful suggested would happen?
I'm not an over-eater of anything else--at all. But I do know that the first bite of anything sugary is the most dangerous.
Maybe, isolated to this topic for our purposes, it's more appropriate to suggest escalating cravings are the result of trying to get that damn reward that we've convinced ourselves exists because we sense that dopamine "tells*" us that something might happen, then? That is the kind of conditioning I might buy.
*I know that's reaching a bit.
Lots of things cause a dopamine release, and in studies sugar doesn't do so more than, say, fat, for example.
I've had this experience with something I liked and was trying to cut down on, and for me it could be something sweet, but also something not (honestly it sounds most like how I'd snack on good cheese, although I've done it with sweet things at work especially). I think a lot of it is about the perception of whatever it is as a treat or reward that leads to these kinds of circles, and it is why I tend to control the manner of my eating, because old habits are so hard not to have come up again.
A lot of women (probably men too, but it's a dynamic I notice more with women) seem to put sweets in a category of both highly desirable and sinful, which I think really lends itself to some of these patterns.0 -
Nvmomketo can you please advise how you manage to have enough fibre in your diet to be regular AND eat less than 10 grams of sugar. Me, for medical reasons I have to minimise sugar but struggle to eat enough fibre,. Doctor has me not eating grains nor beans nor any fruit except max 1 handful of berries. Leafy greens are great, even with hundred of grams of greens consumed. 0.2 g sugar vs 2.2g fibre in spinach but after 250g grams I really struggle and need to get to 30 grams of fibre. Thoughts?
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