Sugar addiction

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  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    Jabbarwocky wrote: »
    Just found this article and thought it was interesting. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/ I must admit, at this point I'm beginning to wonder if its the artificial sweetener as much as the person.

    " Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. The San Antonio Heart Study examined 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period in the 1980s [18]. When matched for initial body mass index (BMI), gender, ethnicity, and diet, drinkers of artificially sweetened beverages consistently had higher BMIs at the follow-up, with dose dependence on the amount of consumption. Average BMI gain was +1.01 kg/m2 for control and 1.78 kg/m2 for people in the third quartile for artificially sweetened beverage consumption."
    This is from the link above and if you think about it, those who are choosing artificial sweeteners are trying to lose weight. They are trying to lead healthier lives compared to those with lower BMI's who, presumably, are already doing so. Obviously not an earth shattering truth but at least food for thought.

    I wonder if people who are trying to lose weight switch to diet soda because it's pounded into us that soda with sugar causes weight gain. So they switch to diet without changing anything else, and continue to gain unless all their calorie surplus was in the soda. That would be one way to account for correlation.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    ekim2016 wrote: »
    just focus on what you want more. Lose weight or have sugar. That works for me. Sweet and simple..

    But I'm having sugar and losing weight without having to make that choice...
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    NikkiiBaby68 wrote: »
    Diet soda can actually cause you to gain weight...just fyi. Studies on this...This is why i eat healthy carbs including white potatoes and bananas. Sugar cravings could be cause by a deficiency etc. I have never been a huge chocolate person but i love my peppermint candy. lol. I really at this point dont crave sugar anymore...I have been without it for so long. I would request your doc do a complete blood draw and check for mineral and vitamin deficiency. Just some thoughts.

    I've dropped close to 40 lbs in 4 months having at least a litre of diet soda daily. Just saying.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    ekim2016 wrote: »
    just focus on what you want more. Lose weight or have sugar. That works for me. Sweet and simple..

    But I'm having sugar and losing weight without having to make that choice...

    Me too. Had two meringue treat things yesterday. Still pretty sure the 61.5lbs will still be lost tomorrow.
  • jpcampbell74
    jpcampbell74 Posts: 41 Member
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    hayleyf6051 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm a massive sugar addict. I can't go several hours without sugar or diet soda. I want to get some control back. Any ideas? Is cold turkey best?

    YES! Cut out sugar in ALL forms, including fruit. Also stay away from artificial sweeteners. No more bread, pasta, rice, potato corn ect. Protein, Fat, Green Veggies. And PLENTY of water. You will have the low carb 'flu' for a few days. After that you will not miss sugar at all.

    Good luck!
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    jpcampbell74 wrote: »
    hayleyf6051 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm a massive sugar addict. I can't go several hours without sugar or diet soda. I want to get some control back. Any ideas? Is cold turkey best?

    YES! Cut out sugar in ALL forms, including fruit. Also stay away from artificial sweeteners. No more bread, pasta, rice, potato corn ect. Protein, Fat, Green Veggies. And PLENTY of water. You will have the low carb 'flu' for a few days. After that you will not miss sugar at all.

    Good luck!

    I get the whole 'cold turkey' approach, but the OP asked for how to get back in control of her sugar cravings, not necessarily how to completely cut it out. It's a route they can go, it's not necessarily the only route. And I know plenty of people that are keto/low carb that love sugar, they just have it in acceptable amounts.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    Jabbarwocky wrote: »
    Just found this article and thought it was interesting. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/ I must admit, at this point I'm beginning to wonder if its the artificial sweetener as much as the person.

    " Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. The San Antonio Heart Study examined 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period in the 1980s [18]. When matched for initial body mass index (BMI), gender, ethnicity, and diet, drinkers of artificially sweetened beverages consistently had higher BMIs at the follow-up, with dose dependence on the amount of consumption. Average BMI gain was +1.01 kg/m2 for control and 1.78 kg/m2 for people in the third quartile for artificially sweetened beverage consumption."
    This is from the link above and if you think about it, those who are choosing artificial sweeteners are trying to lose weight. They are trying to lead healthier lives compared to those with lower BMI's who, presumably, are already doing so. Obviously not an earth shattering truth but at least food for thought.

    The clipped out piece you have pasted does not give us any indicators of what these people were also consuming outside of the soda. On a page back i made a post about me at 252 pounds ordering 3 double big mac meals... i know from context that a lot of people might of thought i was being sarcastic but i actually used to order 3 double big mac meals, large fries with each and 2 chocolate shakes and then order a large diet soda... The diet soda was not the reason my BMI was up in the 40's.. It was the calories i was consuming, that one meal.. and that wouldn't of been all i ate that day was probably a good 5000 calories.

    If diet drinks do have a correlation with weight gain, my hunch is that it's because of a "health halo" effect that encourages those who drink it to eat more other stuff because "I'm being good, I deserve it".

    I would agree. It's definitely correlation not causation as if you ever visit an eating disorder clinic or interact with ED people you'll discover that diet soda is also the drink of choice for very underweight people.
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
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    jpcampbell74 wrote: »
    hayleyf6051 wrote: »
    Hi,

    I'm a massive sugar addict. I can't go several hours without sugar or diet soda. I want to get some control back. Any ideas? Is cold turkey best?

    YES! Cut out sugar in ALL forms, including fruit. Also stay away from artificial sweeteners. No more bread, pasta, rice, potato corn ect. Protein, Fat, Green Veggies. And PLENTY of water. You will have the low carb 'flu' for a few days. After that you will not miss sugar at all.

    Good luck!

    And then enjoy your binge 3 days later!
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
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    I'm leery of all the ingredients in sodas and many other drinks; so I drink water, unsweetened fresh made teas, lemon water, and black coffee. I stopped sugars and refined grains 6 weeks ago and picked up an exercise habit along with portion control. I can finally go into a convenience store without drooling over the candy bars, and my hand stayed out of the jar of peanut butter filled pretzels at work. I'm down 12 lbs and my sugar cravings have gone away. So it can be done. I think that research is showing that artificial sweeteners are safe within the limits set by the FDA. Unfortunately, those limits are hard to locate and are not posted on the product packaging. My source there is the new 2017 ADA Diabetes Guideline. There was a little article on the National Kidney Foundation site years ago that linked diet sodas of more than one a day with reduced kidney function, but I haven't seen any recent research on that. So, I'm not convinced that it's healthy to guzzle sodas of any variety regularly or in large amounts.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    If anyone is interested in the science behind aspartame there is a very useful thread in the Food & Nutrition subforum posted by a scientist.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    I'm going with 'picked your logic'. The problem I have with studies done is it states that with diet soda that there's an increase of "insert here". I haven't seen a study that says "These random mix of ethnicity people from age 30-50 who ate food at no more than a max of 100 calories above their maintenance level per day have had "insert issue here". It's all 'they drank diet soda, bad things happened.'.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    If anyone is interested in the science behind aspartame there is a very useful thread in the Food & Nutrition subforum posted by a scientist.

    This one? - Why aspartame isn't scary
  • BrunetteRunner87
    BrunetteRunner87 Posts: 591 Member
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    Basically the OP wants to know how to beat cravings for sweets, and everyone's getting caught up in arguing about whether one can lose weight if he or she drinks diet pop or whether it's actually an addiction, etc. Basically I think the important thing is to have a plan for when the cravings hit. I absolutely love sweets and when the cravings hit I drink some water or have a healthy snack or gum on hand, or I go for a walk, but I plan this before the urge hits.

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