The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

[sanchez]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Was online last night looking at the beginning of this thread and found a couple of interesting articles on sugar detoxing and how to help curb those sugar cravings. They were both good. My husband is an incredible sugar-holic. I never was until going AF and from everything I read, it's a replacement for the sugar missing from the wine. So, I accept that and now that I'm almost 60 days into this, I'm going to try again to detox on the sugar too. Husband is going to try to go off sugar too, so that may help.
So, here's what I'm doing:

Started back on the L-Glutamine today (Lav highly recommends this, but I don't think i was taking enough of it. I'd take one pill in the a.m. but everything I've read says to take two pills daily, so I'm going to try this again and space the doses out.

Now, the detox diet says no fruit for three days, but not sure I can do that just yet, plus I have a lot of fruit that I don't want to waste, so I'm gonna grab a plum instead of a cookie!

Oh, and by the way, there are little to no sweets left in the house, save the tub of ice cream which I'll put towards the back of the freezer so it's not staring me in the face when I open the drawer.

Stop drinking morning fruit juices - I read somewhere that OJ was a big liver detoxer after you quit al. Not sure if that's true, but I'm going to cut out OJ and other fruit juices in the morning - even buying the light versions, the sugar content is actually quite high.

I used to eat a lot of bread, but not so much anymore. But nonetheless, will eliminate breads and pastas of any kind for awhile.

Just like with AL, try to stay busy and active which isn't hard to do on a farm! There's always something that needs tending to. Read in one of the articles the sugar craving will pass in 20 minutes. That seems like an eternity and as I was watching TV last night, found myself racking my brain to remember what was in the cupboards that even remotely had some sugar content. How bad is that!

Going to give it a try anyway - first priority is and will remain to be AF with sugar a close second.

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Hi, Sanchez

I took L-glutamine only when I wanted sugar - it works well to put 1 or 2 capsules under your tongue and let them dissolve. (Or buy the powdered form in bulk and figure out a 0.5-1 g dose in terms of partial teaspoons). Luckily, it is one of the few amino acids that does not taste awful.

If your kidneys and liver are healthy and you don't have a proliferative disease such as cancer, a few grams of L-glutamine per day is ok. Some studies involve 10 g daily.

Like AL, once you don't consume sugar and other sweet compounds, you quit wanting them. Interestingly, some things become "too sweet". I used to love white chocolate peanut butter (really, who wouldn't???) and now I can't stand even normal Skippy or Jif because they taste too sweet. I used to think berries were sour and now I think they are sweet. Everything changes.

Good luck! :h NS

[Dottie Belle]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

"Going to give it a try anyway - first priority is and will remain to be AF with sugar a close second."
I agree with that too...need to give up the sugar. I dont want to substitute one addictive thing for another...trying to find someplace to donate the Halloween candy...
Dottie

[allankay]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Been doing research into this topic. Here are 146 reasons I found why Sugar is ruining your life


1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.
7. Sugar reduces high density lipoproteins.
8. Sugar leads to chromium deficiency.
9 Sugar leads to cancer of the ovaries.
10. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
11. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
12. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
13. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
14. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
15. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
16. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
17. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
18. Sugar malabsorption is frequent in patients with functional bowel disease.
19. Sugar can cause premature aging.
20. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
21. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
22. Sugar contributes to obesity
23. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
24. Sugar can cause changes frequently found in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
25. Sugar can cause arthritis.
26. Sugar can cause asthma.
27. Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
28. Sugar can cause gallstones.
29. Sugar can cause heart disease.
30. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
31. Sugar can cause multiple sclerosis.
32. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
33. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
34. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraceptive users.
35. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
36. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
37. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
38. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
39. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E (alpha-Tocopherol in the blood.
40. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
41. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
42. Sugar can increase the systolic blood pressure.
43. Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
44. High sugar intake increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs)(Sugar bound non-enzymatically to protein)
45. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
46. Sugar causes food allergies.
47. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
48. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
49. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
50. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
51. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
52. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
53. Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen.
54. Sugar can cause cataracts.
55. Sugar can cause emphysema.
56. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
57. Sugar can promote an elevation of low density lipoproteins (LDL).
58. High sugar intake can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
59. Sugar lowers the enzymes ability to function.
60. Sugar intake is higher in people with Parkinson’s disease.
61. Sugar can cause a permanent altering the way the proteins act in the body.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
67. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders..
74. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.
75. Sugar can cause depression.
76. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
77. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
78. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
79. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
80. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.
82. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
83. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
84. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
85. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
86. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
87. Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli.
88. Sugar can lead to dizziness.
89. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
90. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
91. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
92. Sugar feeds cancer.
93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
95. Sugar slows food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
100. Sugar is an addictive substance.
101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce.
104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
111.. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
116. In Intensive Care Units, limiting sugar saves lives.
117. Sugar may induce cell death.
118. Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
120. Sugar can lead to prostrate cancer.
121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
122. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.
123. Sugar can cause low birth weight babies.
124. Greater consumption of refined sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia
125. Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the blood stream.
126. Sweet food items increase the risk of breast cancer.
127. Sugar is a risk factor in cancer of the small intestine.
128. Sugar may cause laryngeal cancer.
129. Sugar induces salt and water retention.
130. Sugar may contribute to mild memory loss.
131. As sugar increases in the diet of 10 years olds, there is a linear decrease in the intake of many essential nutrients.
132. Sugar can increase the total amount of food consumed.
133. Exposing a newborn to sugar results in a heightened preference for sucrose relative to water at 6 months and 2 years of age.
134. Sugar causes constipation.
135. Sugar causes varicous veins.
136. Sugar can cause brain decay in prediabetic and diabetic women.
137. Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
138. Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
139. Sugar ingestion by pregnant women increases neural tube defects in embryos.
140. Sugar can be a factor in asthma.
141. The higher the sugar consumption the more chances of getting irritable bowel syndrome.
142. Sugar could affect central reward systems.
143. Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
144. Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
145. Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell carcinoma.
146. Sugar can cause liver tumors.

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

The video embedded here is maybe over-the-top and not completely scientifically accurate but should help convince anyone who is ambivalent about whether to give up sugar:
Why is Fructose Bad For You? The Bitter Truth

[gingerspice]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Hi ,can I join in too ? I have been reading a lot about sugar and diabetes lately ,and I know I have a sugar addiction as well as a AL addiction. Im 42 days AF now and I don't want to go back, I must kick the sugar problem ,as I think that my body picks up the sweetness in the Alcohol -the two are not good bedfellows for me !! I need some good education -you lot are awesome x

[free at last]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Sitting here eating my Oreos in tiny packets (junk food in the airport lounges I threw in my purse) and finished my potatoe chips. Tomorrow, Oct 1, I will try for one month to not eat sugar. Been going overboard since I stopped the AL. Now need to get this under control.

NS, would appreciate a quick primer on anything we should absolutely avoid. My internet connection doesn't allow me to look at too many of the sites you posted.

[sanchez]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

NoSugar;1562753 wrote: Hi, Sanchez

I took L-glutamine only when I wanted sugar - it works well to put 1 or 2 capsules under your tongue and let them dissolve. (Or buy the powdered form in bulk and figure out a 0.5-1 g dose in terms of partial teaspoons). Luckily, it is one of the few amino acids that does not taste awful.

If your kidneys and liver are healthy and you don't have a proliferative disease such as cancer, a few grams of L-glutamine per day is ok. Some studies involve 10 g daily.

Like AL, once you don't consume sugar and other sweet compounds, you quit wanting them. Interestingly, some things become "too sweet". I used to love white chocolate peanut butter (really, who wouldn't???) and now I can't stand even normal Skippy or Jif because they taste too sweet. I used to think berries were sour and now I think they are sweet. Everything changes.

Good luck! :h NS

Thanks NS! I am doing pretty good so far today. I'll have to find another form of the L Glutamine. The pills I have are horse pills and when I break in half, the rough edges make them hard to swallow. I don't know if my kidneys or liver are in fact healthy, so next trip to the doc will have to ask him to check. Guessing that's done by way of a CBC?

AllanK - that's quite a list - one that shouldstop anyone from reaching for anything with sugar in it. Thanks for posting that. Going to print that out as a reminder.

[allankay]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Sanchez, don't forget to highlight point No 20

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

free at last;1562844 wrote: Sitting here eating my Oreos in tiny packets (junk food in the airport lounges I threw in my purse) and finished my potatoe chips. Tomorrow, Oct 1, I will try for one month to not eat sugar. Been going overboard since I stopped the AL. Now need to get this under control.

NS, would appreciate a quick primer on anything we should absolutely avoid. My internet connection doesn't allow me to look at too many of the sites you posted.

Avoiding sugar means, at least in the US, avoiding so many commercial products including some condiments, salad dressings, easy packaged products like yogurt, etc. etc. It is a very tough thing to do when you eat out for many of your meals. However, there are some fairly simple changes that will make a big difference in sugar intake right off the bat.

Eat/ drink no:
sugar-sweetened beverages or juices
cookies, cakes, puddings, and other desserts
sweetened yogurts and cereals, syrups, honey, etc.
chocolate (unless a very high % purity - as high as you can stand)

Minimize:
dried fruits
very sweet fruits
premade sauces, salad dressings, etc.

When you're in full control of what you purchase and eat, just read the label. Anything ending in -ose is a sugar as are most things called syrups (e.g. corn syrup or HFCS) or juices (e.g. cane juice). Some manufacturers list all the sugars separately so that none of them are abundant and near the beginning of the list; e.g. sucrose, dextrose, maltose, etc.

Giving up sugar makes shopping so easy - I rarely go down the aisles but just buzz around the periphery where all the whole foods are. (I also eat a rather low carb diet but it seems like most people here are primarily interested in reducing sugar per se). In any case, reducing/ eliminating sugar is a great step to take for overall health.

Good luck to anyone who is up for giving it a try!

One thing, if you also reduce your overall carb intake substantially, you might feel like you have absolutely no energy. You might need to increase your salt intake because you lose more salt when you get your insulin levels down due to eating low carb. I didn't think I was going to be able to do it until I learned about that .

[free at last]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Thanks, NS. My goal is no cookies, cakes, ice cream, or other desserts, including chocolate. Will try to post daily on my progress.

[fickle]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

I've always found the Atkins diet to be a very helpful way to stay on track. I know it's had bad press in the past but I eat loads of fresh salad & steamed veg on it and it's only made me healthier.

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

This article was just posted today and is right on point:
10 Disturbing Reasons Why Sugar is Bad For You

[Dottie Belle]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

NoSugar that is very scary....guess that is my next challenge..
dottie

[NoSugar]

The Sugar Free Challenge - Who is in??

Dottie Belle;1563042 wrote: NoSugar that is very scary....guess that is my next challenge..
dottie

I think it is something for everyone to think about but please don't ever jeopardize all you've achieved the last 30 days! That is the most important thing for all of us here. Some people crave AL less when they also eliminate sugar. Others seem to need extra sugar in the early days. Do whatever works best for you. If you do need to substitute sugar for AL at the beginning, it can be dealt with later, like AllenKay is planning to do after more than a year AF.