The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

[friedabee]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Last weekend I was rather lazy about what I was eating and consumed relatively more sugar than usual Sat. and Sun. Even though it was from real food (medjool dates, dried apricots, dark choc. coconut and cashew balls, etc.), I ate quite a lot and noticed a return of this really strange 'ache' (that is not the right word but is the closest I've come up with) in the back of my throat and in my chest that my brain reads as "I want a glass of wine". It happened in the late afternoon/early evening both days. (Had some really delicious L-Gln instead of wine ).

I don't think this was completely a self-induced phenomenon because it wasn't until later, when I was trying to figure out why that feeling, which has been rare lately, had come back fairly strong, that I took note of what I had been eating. Since then, I've returned to a lower sugar intake and the weird feeling has not returned.

My experience is that when I'm eating truly low carb, if I do "treat" myself to something sweet, or even starchy, such as a little white rice, I feel a disturbing "rush," almost a high, as if I've taken a couple of shots of very strong coffee. My heart seems to beat more rapidly, and it takes a little while to come down. Not at all pleasant!

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

friedabee;1480899 wrote: And thank you to Doggygirl for the original sugar-free post! NS, I cringe today to think of what I ate as a child. I used to sprinkle sugar on white bread and eat it up. Loved the crunch of the sugar in my teeth, ugh. And jelly donuts! Don't get me started...! If you haven't read Gary Taubes's book "Why We Get Fat," it's a great read. Addresses sugar metabolism, and its role in weight gain and loss, which is what I'm after. The loss part. Great day to all!

Friedabee - "Free to Be!"

Well, fried bees would be VERY low carb :H:H:H !

PS I think I've read everything GT ever wrote .I'm not sure about all of his science but he has done a great job synthesizing the data and getting the message out to the public.

[friedabee]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Yes, fried bees would be low carb and crunchy! My experience is that when I'm eating truly low carb, if I do "treat" myself to something sweet, or even starchy, such as a little white rice, I feel a disturbing "rush," almost a high, as if I've taken a couple of shots of very strong coffee. My heart seems to beat more rapidly, and it takes a little while to come down. Not at all pleasant!

[FallenAngel]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Hi NoSugar-
I have been using Stevia as a sweetener... what is your opinion on Stevia? Is there something better to use??

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

FallenAngel;1480982 wrote: Hi NoSugar-
I have been using Stevia as a sweetener... what is your opinion on Stevia? Is there something better to use??

Hi, FA

My 'go to' guy for diet and health for quite awhile has been Chris Kresser. To me, and probably to most people who are interested in this particular thread, he is not an extremist or an alarmist. People who are too militant one way or the other are the ones who worry me. That said, many people who eat SAD (standard American diet) would consider him (and probably some of us) to be totally wacko :H !

Any way, this is what he says about sweeteners, making your choice seem the best of what is available:

Don’t eat sweets: avoid sugar, corn syrup, agave nectar, honey, maple syrup, and artificial sweeteners. If you must have some sweetener for a dish, you might try a bit of stevia. With time, your tastes will adjust: ordinary sweets will taste cloying, but formerly bland vegetables will seem delightfully sweet.


This quote is from How to Save Your Family’s Life: 30 Ways to Prevent Modern Disease, where he lists 10 of the dietary goals and refers you to Modern Paleo: Modern Paleo Principles, where there are more.

Glad to see you here!! NS

[FallenAngel]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Thanks for the info & links NS, I'll be checking out those links for sure. :l
I have a keen interest in nutrition; always have, even though I sabotaged my health with smoking & drinking for so many years. I no longer feel like a hypocrite when it comes to my health. I like to think that now I walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Current hullaballoo about sugary drinks

Sugar-laden pop/soda certainly is getting a lot of press lately, especially in the US. I think there are plenty of good reasons not to drink it (not quite as many as for not drinking AL but nevertheless, a long list! ). I agree with this comment in response to "180,000 deaths worldwide may be associated with sugary soft drinks" by an investigator in the field, that while decreasing sugar intake is desirable, it isn't the whole story, especially for people like me with dysregulated blood sugar metabolism:

"Linked to? in the Harvard School of Public Health can mean very weak association and may involve putting belief in statistics beyond common sense. Only last year they told us that white rice would give us diabetes but brown rice wouldn?t. A typical risk ratio considered significant is 1.5 (For comparison the risk ratio for cigarettes and lung disease is about 20). This current report is a very extreme new story for material that is not available and has not been peer-reviewed and which is inherently suspect, that is, diabetes is more closely tied to the glucose-insulin axis than fructose which distinguishes sugar from starch.

Prevention is different from treatment but in comparisons, removing starch has a better effect on treating diabetes than removing sugar. In fact, carbohydrate restriction across the boards is the likely best treatment and, in many cases, cure for type 2 diabetes.

My own observation is that low-carbohydrate diets have attained the status of the name of God in Hebrew ? never pronounced out loud. However, to ignore the successes of carbohydrate restriction and simply target sugary beverages seems odd if politically correct. Also, insofar as one can tell, this is a population comparison, that is, does not show that people who drank the soda are the ones who got diabetes.

Given that starch is probably worse for diabetes than sugar is it really appropriate to create such a story?

Richard David Feinman, Professor of Cell Biology (Biochemistry)
SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Sugar - AL connection

Here are the results of an unplanned experiment.

I have not consumed added sugar or rapidly digested carbs or alcohol in 9 weeks (actually much longer than that for sugar).

Last night, bowing to social pressure, I ate a really crummy, carby meal topped off by an awful, sugar-laden dessert. (I swear I will not allow this re: AL!). I just caved in to the church ladies and ate their food. :durn:

I didn't feel very good afterwards but that wasn't unexpected. The way I feel now is what bothers me:

I get this achy weird feeling in the back of my throat and pressure in my chest. During the day, my brain interprets this as wanting a bunch of sugary, bready, carbs.

In the late afternoon, the signal is: a nice glass (read: bottle) of red wine.

I HATE THIS FEELING AND IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE FELT IT!!

I am now stuffing this 'want' feeling with every bit of high quality fat and protein I can put my hands on!! I want to be so full by 4 pm that if my brain interprets this signal as a reason to drink, THERE WILL BE NO ROOM.

Does anyone else here feel a physical link between these substances????

NS

[myhappyplace]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

NoSugar;1484139 wrote:
Does anyone else here feel a physical link between these substances????

NS

Yes, absolutely

When I did my "30 days" after starting here, I had a night out with some friends. I planned to drink moderately. I did, 2 glasses of wine from memory. But I mentioned on here that all I really felt like all night was dessert...go figure...

[Doggygirl]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Hey no sugar. I can identify with your feelings of eating carbs leading to cravings for carbs the next day.

I did not eat any sugarcarbies (was strict low carb) for the first two years or maybe a little more of my sobriety. (no cheats!!) It only took one bite of sugar to get me back on the roller coaster with sugarcarbies I've been riding ever since.

In my case I do not think of AL after eating sugarcarbies, but that might be due to having NOT eaten sugarcarbies for two years after stopping AL.

Will be interested in what others have experienced.

I caved (again) yesterday to the sugarcarbies. :durn:

Today is a new SF day. I HAVE to do this.

DG

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Hi, DG.

I like your new (to me) word: sugarcarbies. Well, my sugarcarbie festival last night that I didn't even enjoy seems to have set me up for the worst day I've had since I got past the first couple weeks AF. I think feeling that way again really panicked me late this afternoon - I've gotten so used to feeling so good. I didn't want to drink but I really wanted that awful feeling I get to go away and I do know how to do That. But I didn't and am so glad now.

I don't think relaxing the no sugar thing for what seemed at the time like a legitimate reason is something I can do again. I just am tired of being such a control freak about everything I ingest.

Since you are back to SF, let's enjoy NOT eating Peeps or waxy chocolate bunnies this weekend! :H

Take care, NS

Doggygirl;1484323 wrote: Hey no sugar. I can identify with your feelings of eating carbs leading to cravings for carbs the next day.

I did not eat any sugarcarbies (was strict low carb) for the first two years or maybe a little more of my sobriety. (no cheats!!) It only took one bite of sugar to get me back on the roller coaster with sugarcarbies I've been riding ever since.

In my case I do not think of AL after eating sugarcarbies, but that might be due to having NOT eaten sugarcarbies for two years after stopping AL.

Will be interested in what others have experienced.

I caved (again) yesterday to the sugarcarbies. :durn:

Today is a new SF day. I HAVE to do this.

DG

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Here is a post to remind/motivate people about why keeping the sugar down is a good thing -- it messes up your liver in much the same way that Bad AL does: How Sugar Messes up Your Liver and Gives You Diabetes.

Overall, I think Authority Nutrition is a great website for anyone new to the topic of reducing sugar intake and why. It is very clearly written for the general public with simple bullet points. I like Chris Kresser for more in depth information but he presents much more detail than most people want to even consider!

Hope Atkins is going well for you, DG!

xx - NS :h

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Bump for LC

Hi, LC

This thread is full of information.

Just be sure not to choose AL over sugar .

[lifechange]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

thank you!

[lifechange]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

I don't know if you're still around, Doggygirl, but this is a great thread-- haven't yet read it all, but I'm on my way. Thank you for bumping it, No Sugar!

So I'm on day 6 without AL. I noticed on Day 4, after having eaten most of a huge bag of mnm's, amongst other crap during the day, that I felt terrible, not just physically (as one would!), but mentally. Out of control, compulsive, obsessive. I actually pay very much attention to what I eat and how I feed my family. I work as a cook and am fortunate to be able to use solely organic vegetables and grains. I've always had a super sweet tooth-- when I was in the 4th grade I would ride to the circle K on my way to school and fill my pockets with candy-- when we were selling chocolate bars for little league, I'd eat them all and my parents would have to pay the difference. My ex husband is totally against sugar so I'd hide it and eat secretly. I definitely think there's a strong correlation to my sugar and alcohol consumption and, like others who have stopped smoking and drinking al at the same time, I think I would benefit from giving up sugar (and the super simple carbs) right now. I've never tried before-- and it is a change in habits. I've never been one for savoury breakfasts (doesn't go with coffee in my book!) but I'm starting now.

so Day 2.