Benefits of being sugar free?

[BeachGirly]

Hey NS - we love that you are a little "overly excited" about this. You have some fantastic information to share and have the experience as well.

Keep it coming!!

[Ginger999]

I need to look closer at the detox, BG, and see if it could be done vegan. I really need the support too.

NS, I like the idea of monitoring your blood for sugar levels. I may just buy myself a meter for my 1 year "birthday". You know how I like numbers! Thanks for all the links. You always have such great information.

Francis, do keep us posted! I'll be watching for posts here. I have one serving of my favorite vegan ice cream left. It needs to be my last!

[NoSugar]

I have one serving of my favorite vegan ice cream left. It needs to be my last!

Or, just dump it as kind of a statement of commitment - sort of like we encourage people to get the AL out of their homes. You just show that ice cream who's the boss :wink:!

[Ginger999]

Great idea, NS!

[YouKayBee]

I have a real problem with sweets, especially chocolate. I can eat so much chocolate, so quickly that feel drunk as a result of the sugar. I cannot moderate it so I avoid it most of the time. Even fruit can bring my sweet chasing on. I've eaten jam and sugar from the jar and wolfed down natural muesli for the raisins!

For this reason I try and stick to a plain, protein based, unprocessed diet.

[Ginger999]

Day 1 sugar free - done

[jane27]

NS,

What are your thoughts on Truvia?

[Turnagain]

I'm in on booting sugar out of my system. Just like al...once I start I really don't want to stop. I gave myself an excuse to indulge in the sweets on vacation. Now, momma is back on the straight and narrow! NS - can I keep my frozen blueberries on the menu or do they gotta go?

[NoSugar]

Hey, Jane. I've not tried Truvia. I tried Stevia a few years ago and thought it was ok. I've found it easier not to use added sweeteners of any kind. That has changed my sense of taste so much that things like blueberries or raspberries taste really sweet on their own (Hi, Turn :smile:!).

[Kairos]

You sound like you've researched the topic pretty throughly, Kairos. I'm pretty sure the wine (which can wreck havoc on your blood sugar) was a major contributer to my becoming insulin resistant and hyperglycemic.

I think you're probably right about wine NoSugar. There are also genetic predispositions- some families have a generational sweet tooth! My husband and I are quite different in this respect. He takes one sweet out a pack when he feels like it and then forgets about them. I have to eat the lot. I can see a major difference in my 2 granddaughters in this respect. One can leave it at one sweet and the other's hand is always out for more and more. They are very young and it makes me worry that I can already see a developing sugar addiction in one. Needless to say whenever I’m with her I don’t feed her sweets.

Ginger 999 – I like your description “white poison” –how can something that tastes so good be so damaging in its effects? The reason you feel so guilty about giving in to your sugar cravings is because you know you’re just swapping one poison for another.
Been there, got the teeshirt. :congratulatory: And now your'e one day ahead of me on your quit. Good for you.

I said yesterday that I was going to cut myself some slack since I’m early in the quit but I’ve changed my mind. I just don’t want to go down that road again. As of today I’m going to do my best to stay away from white sugar in all its forms but I am going to allow myself some natural sweetness in the form of pieces of fruit and a very little honey now and again. Thanks for this thread Frances because it really made me think of what a bad idea it is to swap one sabotaging behavior for another.

Being sugar & alcohol free has lifted the fog so to speak, and allowed me to tackle other anxiety causing behaviors. So, yes stopping sugar has been a worthwhile effort I plan to continue

Well done Eloise. I’m with you.

X Kairos

A useful article about why alcoholics crave sweets

http://www.thefix.com/content/spoonful-sugar-makes-sobriety-go-down?page=all

This blog contains 5 suggestions for balancing blood sugar. I think it’s good advice.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/02/04/stopping-addiction-to-sugar-willpower-or-genetics/#close

Number 1 talks about eating a protein breakfast. This is one of the crucial pieces of advice I received a few years ago to avoid blood sugar swings and I find it really works for me. For example if I have scrambled eggs for breakfast I feel satisfied and fuller for longer. But if you don’t like eggs it can be natural yogurt or a protein shake (sugar free!) or even cold meats.
Number 2 talks about how sugar cravings go away when you avoid sugar. In other words satisfying your cravings leads to more cravings. Doh!
Number 5 talks about optimising your nutrition. Again excellent advice and there’s plenty of articles on MWO to corroborate that.

[jane27]

Ginger, What did you eat yesterday, breakfast, lunch, dinner etc? xo

[frances]

Thanks for those articles NS and Kairos - they were enlightening. Also a bit worrying - I was such a sugar junkie when I was a kid - and I think I transferred that all to AL when I started drinking regularly (yes, unfortunately, in high school...) - then I pretty much curbed all the sweet stuff but substituted it with the AL. My diet has always been very good except for the AL part. Now that I've stopped drinking AL I have absolutely unequivocally substituted with sugary foods. OK. Now I need to change this. I'm going to start cutting down today.

Another part of all of this is my worry about my daughter. First, alcoholism is very common in my family on both my mother and my father's side. So I've always worried about my kids from that perspective. But my daughter is really addicted to sweets. Ice cream, cookies, sugary drinks (those sweetened coffee drinks), etc. - and now I'm wondering if this is an addictive trait and if (when?) she drinks alcohol she is at much greater risk of becoming an alcoholic. She's 14 years old. When I used to have wine all the time she would always want to smell it and she would say how much she loved the smell. Thankfully she doesn't have that around anymore. I guess I'm wondering what I should do - should I talk to her and just be full and open and honest about all of the risks of her becoming an alcoholic? I have mentioned it to her once or twice, but the tone of those discussions was not very heavy - I just wanted to put it out there so she is aware but I didn't really go into detail. Not to change the subject, but any thoughts or advice on this is welcome...

I have a son too, but he does not care at all about sweets. It's pretty interesting to see the differences. With our family alcoholics, I wonder if there is any history of childhood sweets addiction for those that eventually became alcoholics - I might just look into that!

[Ginger999]

Francis,
I was a sweetaholic as a child too. Once I started drinking in my 20's I thought I'd stopped craving sugar but now I know I just switched to AL instead. When I stopped AL the sweet cravings returned. I think NS has the right idea, just stop eating any of it and let your true taste of things return. As for your daughter, I think for knowledge is power. I'd be as honest and have as many facts compiled as possible and have a frank conversation about it with her. I know I skirted around AL and drugs with my boys and that DID NOT serve them well. Just my two cents for what it's worth.

Jane, Here's what I had for meals yesterday.
Breakfast:
Bowl of organic cereal (no added sugar)
Half a banana and handful of pecans
Unsweetened coconut milk

Lunch:
Two slices of organic Dave's Killer Bread
Vegan bologna, mustard, greens
Homemade coldslaw

Snack:
Handful of nuts and 1/2 apple

Dinner:
Bowl of blackeyed peas, chopped tomatoes, onion, grilled zuc
Homemade vegan cornbread (no sugar of any kind in mind)
Homemade cold slaw from lunch

Snack:
1/2 apple and almond butter for dipping

I'm always light on protein but I don't believe we need as much as the guidelines say. I take a B12 daily to cover my B needs.

Sorry this was a long post!

[Eloise]

Hey, Jane. I've not tried Truvia. I tried Stevia a few years ago and thought it was ok. I've found it easier not to use added sweeteners of any kind. That has changed my sense of taste so much that things like blueberries or raspberries taste really sweet on their own (Hi, Turn :smile:!).

Definitely agree with you NS.
Fruits taste sweeter to me these days. I made a honey cake last week and it was plenty sweet, even my students thought so.
I plan to make blueberry muffins sweetened w/honey soon.

It is really nice to see everyone talking about the danger zone of sugar/alcohol combination!

[NoSugar]

I agree with you on the sugar "addiction" tendency running in families, Kairos. I've seen several examples of it and you can pretty much sort the people into those who tend to prefer/overeat sugar and simple carbs and those who naturally consume modest amounts and never eat more than they'd planned. There's quite a bit of research suggesting that carb and alcohol addiction are linked. One author, Nora Gedgaudas goes so far as to write:

“Alcoholics are utterly dependent upon and regularly seek fast sources of sugar – alcohol being the fastest … the problem in alcoholism, in fact, really isn’t alcohol per se, but severe carbohydrate addiction … Once cravings for carbohydrates and dependence on carbohydrates as the primary source of fuel are eliminated, so are the alcohol cravings. Training the body to depend upon ketones rather than sugar for fuel is key to this equation.”

I don't entirely agree with her in that alcohol (other than e.g. beer) isn't really a source of sugar but it is a great source of energy, which is what the brain needs and is telling you when you crave alcohol or sugary-carbs. I know my drinking worsened after I quit sugar/carbs, just like several of you noticed the opposite. It really makes sense given that the mechanisms of action of both in the brain are very similar. Being deprived of one, our brains focus in on wanting the other in an attempt to get the neurochemicals is needs to feel good (or, as is the case as things get worse, feel 'not awful'). When I was in the early months of quitting, the couple times I had some sugar, it set up a craving the next day for alcohol. My experience has been that it is much much better to avoid both. That way, I want neither and don't miss them at all.