Anyone else doing a sugar free diet?

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited July 2017
    So I made this weird topping for my chicken breast that involved a peach, a (small) tomato, and some mint. I put the leftovers in a tupperware with the chicken and a bunch of vegetables, and when all was eaten I had a little juice left over in the tupperware (mix of peach, tomato, and mint). Decided to drink it up to see how it tasted.

    Pretty weird, not bad, but full of sugar, of course. Is that supposed to be bad just because it leaked from the fruit? (I figured I logged it with the meal, so should finish it!) ;-)
  • paleojames40
    paleojames40 Posts: 2 Member
    Im on day 3. The fog is starting to clear.
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  • paulwatts747
    paulwatts747 Posts: 60 Member
    edited July 2017
    sijomial wrote: »

    Sugar consumption is falling - people are still getting fatter,

    [/quote]

    This assertion has now been completely discredited. The figures that appeared in a study (in Australia) that suggested sugar consumption was falling in fact came from an algorithm. It was found to be too difficult to quantify sugar consumption with it permeating so many foodstuffs so the measurement of it was curtailed late last century. They were made up figures, not real. That did not stop them being repeated ad nauseum for many years, right up until the present. Sugar consumption is not falling, not in Australia, the US or UK. It is in just about everything you can eat or drink, it is pretty much impossible to avoid. I've tried but I still find myself getting 50-60g a day of it, well above the WHO recommendation. How could it be falling?

    So why do you think people are getting fatter?

    Anyway, people need to make up their own minds. This argument has hijacked this discussion and I'm partly responsible for that. To those who are limiting their sugar consumption, I wish good luck and success to you.
    WinoGelato wrote: »

    Wait, we are supposed to be getting paid!? My check must have been lost in the mail. Grr, that darn accounting department at Big Sugar! They are so careless!
    No, you've been hoodwinked by those who are getting paid, most of them nutritionists and the like.
  • DietVanillaCoke
    DietVanillaCoke Posts: 259 Member
    I honestly don't know anyone who has lost and then maintained a "complete sugar free diet" as a "life style.". But then again the people I knew doing this where saying you can't eat fruit or vege and you can eat maple syrup because it's not really sugar XD. I think they were just trying to demonise food as a way to blame someone else for their obesity.

    If you find a way to do this that's sustainable and that you enjoy. Go for it. Though I really wouldn't cut out fruit and veg. I did low carb (Under 15gram) awhile back when my brother was doing it and I didn't eat much sugar at all. I actually enjoyed doing low carb but I don't know if I could sustain that... however many people can and they love it some eat 50gms, some eat more. Find a balance you enjoy so that it's sustainable. All the best =)
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    I'm with you! Seven months and determined to keep at it! I like to share my experience because someone might find it helpful, not because I'm giving advice, proving a point or preaching a certain way of eating. I have no interest in that.

    I have had success with sugar free diets. (My use of sugar free means nearly free of refined sugar and flour, starchy vegetables and grains.) I don't find I have to limit vegetables, but I do have to be careful not to eat too much dairy, fruit or too many carbs at one sitting. When I eat this way, I'm happier, more energetic, and healthier. My appetite is reasonable and easy to control. However, if I begin consuming high sugar and starchy foods again, I tend to progressively crave more and more of it until my appetite seems beyond my control and is very disordered.

    The most disturbing thing is, when I'm consuming sweets like cakes, candy, cookies, etc., I feel like I desperately need it in my life in order to be happy. On the other hand, when I go for periods of time not consuming sweets, I stop craving them and I feel so relieved to have regained my appetite control and my sense of personal power and self respect. I have not found a middle ground yet.

    I spoke with a self proclaimed "sugar addict specialist" who I met entirely by accident. She told me that some of her clients learned to moderate after a year or two of abstinence, and some never learned to moderate. She encouraged me stick to my plan longer before trying moderation (since all my previous attempts to reintroduce moderation have sent me into a binging tailspin.) She also advised that I seek professional help and support next time I try moderation - her's in particular!

    I felt intrigued, but a bit skeptical of her because of her unabashed sales pitch. Regardless of her credibility, it has stuck in the back of my mind that the longer I can abstain, the better my chances are at deeply ingraining new habits and good "food morals" that will assist me in reaching my goal and maintaining an ideal and healthy weight. Most importantly, I'm happy now eating the way I do, and trust it will continue to be sustainable.

    It's up to each of us individually to determine if a "sugar free" diet helps or hinders us in reaching our weight/health goals and being content with our eating. People post strong feelings on this subject about what others should and shouldn't do in regards to having sweet treats, giving strong warnings one way or another. Ignore all that and trust your own intuition.
  • paulwatts747
    paulwatts747 Posts: 60 Member
    I note that the World Health Organisation recommends a sugar intake of no more than 5% of calories. That would amount to 100 calories or 25 grams of sugar on a 2000 calorie intake.

    I note also that MFP's recommended maximum is 3 times this much. So while I've been getting down to half recommended maximum sugar intake, I'm still 50% over that of the WHO.

    Those trying to reduce sugar intake probably should be aware of this. I'm not one to cast aspersions on MFP, which is a tremendous resource but why would they recommend 3 times the WHO sugar recommendation? Maybe someone from the MFP organisation can give a logical answer to this.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    edited July 2017
    paulwatts747 wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    So why do you think people are getting fatter?

    Because they have a positive calorie balance.
    Too many people eat too much (of everything) and move too little.

    This is the long and short of it. Sugar is especially implicated because along with its derivative alcohol, it overrides the body's signals to stop eating. And it is completely empty calories in many instances.

    This is why we have a problem now that we didn't have half a century ago. Sugar consumption has exploded in that time. Junk food is not blameless either, but often it is loaded in sugar as well.

    It doesn't override my signals, I manage fine and I consume a lot of sugar if I am running double figure miles.

    We have an obesity problem because food is so convenient now. We don't need to go to a butchers, a green grocers and the local store to buy everything for tonights dinner. You can click and get it all delivered without moving.
    House work, normal work is much easier physically due to technological advances. Remember twin tub washing machines? How heavy it was to lift the wet washing from one side to the other?

    We don't move the way we used to.

    It is simply CICO. We put more in and less out.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    paulwatts747 wrote: »
    I note that the World Health Organisation recommends a sugar intake of no more than 5% of calories. That would amount to 100 calories or 25 grams of sugar on a 2000 calorie intake.

    I note also that MFP's recommended maximum is 3 times this much. So while I've been getting down to half recommended maximum sugar intake, I'm still 50% over that of the WHO.

    Those trying to reduce sugar intake probably should be aware of this. I'm not one to cast aspersions on MFP, which is a tremendous resource but why would they recommend 3 times the WHO sugar recommendation? Maybe someone from the MFP organisation can give a logical answer to this.

    Because the WHO recommendations are garbage?
  • paulwatts747
    paulwatts747 Posts: 60 Member
    edited July 2017
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Because the WHO recommendations are garbage?

    I'm assuming you have the necessary academic qualifications to make such a statement?

    Didn't think so. Maybe you should leave it to those from MFP who formulated their recommendations to justify them, because you aren't making much of a fist of it.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    TenderBlender667 wrote: »
    Story time! I managed to go 30 days without added/processed sugar last year. Eating out was impossible and shopping for groceries was a pain. Something as simple as marinara sauce, bacon or pickles contained sugar. I researched synonyms for sugar which was hidden in seemingly healthy products like dextrose, maltose.. anything that ended in "ose" was a no-go. I basically developed a fear of sugar and I was actually starting to crave it more than ever. I developed a serious infection during my sugar free journey which meant that taking liquid antibiotics containing sugar was a must. I refused to do so because it meant breaking my sugar free habit. Instead I ended up in the hospital with sepsis and it was the scariest week of my life all because of I refused to take even the tiniest amount of added sugar. In other words, don't let it become an obsession like it did for me. If you accidentally eat some sugar one day, just start over the next. You're only human and putting so many unnecessary restrictions on yourself can backfire. Goodluck!

    Just curious... I'm a diabetic, and I've never had to take antibiotics formulated with sugar. They couldn't find you another option?
  • paulwatts747
    paulwatts747 Posts: 60 Member
    edited July 2017
    OliveGirl128 wrote: »

    Nope, I gained weight because I ate excess calories mostly from salty/savory foods, with very low sugar content. For example-I'd sit down at night with a book and proceed to eat an entire bag of chili cheese fritos, which contain less than 1g of sugar per serving. One bag contains 1,600 calories. I was doing this on top of eating 3 meals and other snacks throughout the day. My weight gain had very little to do with sugar and everything to do with me consuming too many calories. I also didn't drink alcohol when I was overweight....



    There's always an exception I suppose. SIXTEEN HUNDRED calories in a 28 gram bag of corn chips? They should be feeding those things to the starving in Africa. I hope it didn't take you too long to scour the net for a food high in calories but low in sugar.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited July 2017
    RedSierra wrote: »
    147Daneen wrote: »
    I'm writing about my sugar free process on my blog here at myfitnesspal. Was wondering if anyone is also doing sugar free - no sugar, and no processed food at all. (white bread, pasta, tortilla, white rice), basically I'm only eating what I cook myself.

    Thanks!

    FYI, your brain needs glucose to function (meaning sugar).

    You can certainly cut out processed foods and eat whatever you want, but (1) almost everything is "processed" to some degree and (2) some form of sugar is in all vegetables and fruit, plus dairy. You would have very little left to eat.

    I limit sugar in my diet because I have a medical problem -- and a control problem. It's easier for me to not eat sweets like donuts and candy than try to moderate them (more power to the people who have achieved moderation). If I want something sweet I will eat an apple or some strawberries -- the bulk in the fruit is good for me. However, I am still eating sugar.

    Your body can create glucose by breaking down fats. While your brain needs SUGAR to function, it doesn't need INGESTED sugar to function. Many people, including diabetics, do quite well on a ketogenic diet.

    Personally I don't eat keto, but I do eliminate most added sugars and refined grains, both because they are poor nutritionally and because they spike my blood glucose. (In different degrees - I can eat a surprisingly large amount of pasta - by which I mean half a recommended serving - without a spike, but this varies from person to person.)

    As an added bonus I've found that cutting sugar eliminates food cravings for me almost completely. I used to crave Coke icees so bad it almost hurt. Then I would crave a salty, greasy food such as chips, fries, or pizza to eat with it. Then I would crave something sweet to balance out the salty. And so on. Cutting sugar caused cravings for about two weeks, then no cravings at all. It's pleasant. If you have problems with food cravings, I recommend giving it a try.

    There's no need to make it into a religion - you're not getting banned from heaven if you eat a little ketchup, or eat healthy fruit. Don't kill yourself by skipping medication.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I have kept my free sugar consumption to a minimum for decades because of insulin resistance and then diabetes type 2. I am now in remission. I have never given up fruit. My remission and my weight loss is unrelated to sugar consumption. Frankly, white rice shot up my sugar numbers faster than anything.

    Something I learned on my job is that no problem is solved unless you get down to root cause. Chase the wrong bugaboo and you end up at the same place you started.

    Sugar and other refined foods are the wrong bugaboo.
  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
    edited July 2017
    paulwatts747 wrote: »
    OliveGirl128 wrote: »

    Nope, I gained weight because I ate excess calories mostly from salty/savory foods, with very low sugar content. For example-I'd sit down at night with a book and proceed to eat an entire bag of chili cheese fritos, which contain less than 1g of sugar per serving. One bag contains 1,600 calories. I was doing this on top of eating 3 meals and other snacks throughout the day. My weight gain had very little to do with sugar and everything to do with me consuming too many calories. I also didn't drink alcohol when I was overweight....



    There's always an exception I suppose. SIXTEEN HUNDRED calories in a 28 gram bag of corn chips? They should be feeding those things to the starving in Africa. I hope it didn't take you too long to scour the net for a food high in calories but low in sugar.

    Didn't need to scour the internet, I just pulled the bag out of my pantry :p

    eta: many kinds of chips and pretzels have very low sugar, or even no sugar. Those are the foods I ate too much of and that's mostly where my 50lb weight gain came from. Once I learned how CICO worked though, I was able to then move on and lose the extra weight with minimal fuss.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Here is a completely decadent dessert free of all refining except for the energetic use of your own blender.

    http://talesofakitchen.com/desserts/chocolate-banana-cake-with-caramel-layer-and-cacao-nibs/

    For this dessert, calories are king.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Here is a completely decadent dessert free of all refining except for the energetic use of your own blender.

    http://talesofakitchen.com/desserts/chocolate-banana-cake-with-caramel-layer-and-cacao-nibs/

    For this dessert, calories are king.

    That looks really good! Do you happen to know the carbs / slice off the top of your head? I can see the dates are going to have a fair number. I've been struggling with birthdays since becoming diabetic.
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