Addicted to sugar

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

nvsmomketo, this is not directed at you, since I know your issues are with carbs in general!

However, for those who assert that they have a sugar addiction and that makes things harder, I wonder what you think of my comments above about mostly having fruit when craving sugar. If the problem with the "addiction" is that you tend to overeat or eat less healthful foods, wouldn't doing that, and otherwise eating enough protein and fat (which should not be too hard) make the "addiction" harmless?

I am always curious about this when people insist they are struggling with sugar or carb cravings or have difficulty because of a sugar addiction.

I happen to think it's good to learn to consume even other kinds of sweet treats in moderation if you can, but if the desire is simply for sugar this seems like a good way to satisfy it.

I've never labeled myself a sugar addict but I definitely struggled. Eating fruit was the first thing I tried. Fruit was a tremendous help in kicking my junk food habit in the beginning and it worked to control my calories (most of the time) but it was a bandage, not a solution. The cravings were more manageable but almost every day was a struggle even six months after I started - I was hanging on by sheer willpower alone.

I know others have had success using fruit as substitute but it wasn't sustainable for me.

P.S. I actually went back to 2012 in my diary when I started just to make sure I was remembering this correctly and I am.

Out of curiosity, what were you craving? Carbs, food, specific foods? I find that what I eat tends to affect whether I am tempted by tasty treats that are available (by this I mean things like overall macros, how much protein I am eating, and how healthfully I am eating -- and I have a particular idea about this based in part on what helps me, that includes a certain amount of healthy fats and a lot of and large variety of veg). Also, WHEN I eat makes a big difference. That's one reason I think to be helpful we need more specific information about what OP is struggling with and has tried.

If one tends to crave carbs as well as sugar, my idea would be subbing higher nutrient carbs in general, not going way over the carb goal with all the excess fruit. I don't have the hugest sweet tooth anyway, but for example when I first started I tended to sub some fruit for grains -- the diet you listed would have been tough for me, but if instead of just adding the fruit you'd subbed them for the pretzels and so on, I wonder if that would have worked better.

Perhaps not, and I'm assuming that for you the answer to the cravings was cutting carbs down and getting through the transitional period?

Mine when I started was just cutting out added sugar for a while and getting lots of veg and enough protein. But if I had missed sweetness to the point that I felt bad or kept blowing it (as OP seemed to be talking about), I think I would have tried, then, having more fruit.

I suppose if "always craving more and more fruit" started happening, and it was making me have trouble hitting calories, that would have been an issue, but I get the sense that's reasonably rare. Lots of people find fruit easy to moderate.

Sugar addiction is real, it uses similar chemical pathways to class A drugs. I learned this in university. I had the same problem, and I combat it by eating fruit, especially if it's in smoothies. Sometimes I'm just desperate for a chocolate biscuit or something so I'll have one, but also have some fruit or something fibrous and healthy with it even if I really don't wanna eat the healthy thing. It stops your insulin levels going as crazy and helps your body build a positive association with the healthy food while giving you some sugar. Don't go cold turkey, just progressively limit your sugar intake and increase the percentage of natural unprocessed sugars in that intake. Another trick is to learn to make raw vegan treat - they're made with mostly dried fruits, seeds, nuts and natural sugars and spices. This will give you a sugar hit (they are not low cal) but it is quite hard to overeat them because they're so rich.