Sugar’s Effect on your Health

[puddytat]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

new found sweet-tooth

Anytime I try to sober-up, I get intense sugar-cravings...Like now! Snickers Ice Cream bars are intensely pleasurable all of the sudden. "Normally" (i.e. when heavily drinking) don't have a sweet tooth.

I'm reading a really awesome book called "Potatoes not Prozac". (Hate the title! Must have been at the publisher's suggestion.) Because it really addresses the alcohol craving/sugar craving connection, and was tested on alcoholics, who the author realizes are in essence the worst-off of "sugar-sensitive people".

The author suggests an eating plan as DeeBee suggests, and described almost as well as DeeBee.

Kudos DeeBee for this thread -- it's important information for most to long-term sobriety.

[DeeBee]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Whilst in CT this weekend I was treated to a trip to a well known wellness centre. There are herbalists, Doctors, Homeopaths and ayurvedic Doctors all in one centre. I got chatting to a chap asking him if he knew where I could find Kudzu Root in SA.... I do this when ever I am in a health shop and I am always met with a blank stare -- well this chap, as it turns out is an ayurvedic practitioner who was addicted to AL and smoking and knew all about Kudzu. I had the most fascinating conversation with him (much of which I am still trying to digest).

I was complaining to him about my excessive eating. I have put on just over 15kgs over the last 5 months since I quit smoking. Bearing in mind I used to weigh 45kg's the extra weight is unwelcome and very uncomfortable. I am also craving AL more than ever
He then told me something which blew my mind a bit -- apparently there is loads of sugar in cigarrettes!!
The manufactures add it for the taste factor and because they KNOW just how addictive sugar is to our systems.

So really what I am craving is SUGAR in any form!!

So what the Doctor advises is that I flush out my androids (sp?) and for 4 weeks cut out ALL sugar from my diet -- everything that is sweet, from fruit to sauces!!! Then I must slowly introduce fruit back into my diet one piece a week which he says will taste like nothing I've ever tasted before.
Apparently I must clear the memory stored in my cells -- the memory of the sugar rush, the memory of the action of raising my arm and putting something in my mouth.... etc.

He then gave me a product called "Adaptogen" to take for a period of 3 months to help stabilise and clear my androids. And another product called "Manna" which I take with my meals to lower the GI of my food and therefore stabilising my blood sugar levels which in turn will reduce the cravings.

I am quite excited about this because this is really addressing the CAUSE of my problems as apposed to treating the symptoms.

I hope that I've explained all of this correctly. I have tried to google info on androids and their role in processing sugar but can't seem to find anything which I can understand..... has anyone else hear of this connection.

[Doggygirl]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Hi Dee Bee. Very VERY interesting post! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when you were talking to the practitioner. Sounds like he has some interesting knowledge as well as first hand experience dealing with some of the alcohol related physical fallout we deal with around here.

I couldn't find "androgen" (at least not a body part LOL!) on google either but my guess was that that the doc was talking about a gland in the endocrine (hormone) system or something like that. When I googled Adaptogen it seems that must be the case based on how that is described in Wiki anyway. Adaptogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Normalizing" the endocrine system is something I'm quite curious about and have been doing some reading about as my hormones and glands are a bit out of whack. (hypothyroid, parathyroid adenoma, and then the BHRT for low progesterone / estrogen) So to make a long story short, I'm interested in whatever additional information and experience you end up having with this "Adaptogen" stuff.

Mean time, I didn't know the dirty bastards oops I mean tobacco companies added sugar to cigarettes too! Makes sense though. When I quit smoking 2/26/07 my desire for AL went through the roof. That's when the serious drinking as early as 5AM started for me. So I surely do believe the dots all connect whether it's the addiction connection (AL / nic) or the sugar connection or maybe sugar belongs in that first () with AL and Nic!

I am a person who really must keep sugar and especially wheat flour (which turns to sugar inside) OUT of my system. As is often the case, I have been letting some sugar creep back in lately. (ice cream following sugery, etc., ever larger servings of "a little dark chocolate" etc.) So if you decide to do a 4 weeks no sugar thing, I might be inclined to do that with you just to clean out the pipes. Don't know that I will totally go off fruit though as for whatever reason, I seem to do better keeping some fruit in the picture. (this seems to be related to thyroid and the Armour, but I'm not sure how it's related. Or maybe I'm imagining things!)

Anyway, I'm glad you posted this and I will be quite interested to see Beatle's take. Please let us know how it goes! Sugar addiction, like all addiction sucks. I hate anything that grabs my mind and won't let go.

DG

[Grim]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

.....and the penny drops......

I wish I had had a look at other areas of MWO as I have enjoyed this discussion immensely. My sugar intake since going AF has been off the scale!

Deebee, when you say you are going to cut out anything sweet for 4 weeks are you referring to anything that tastes sweet or rather that which contains sugar?

[The New Me]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

How bad is honey?

Great discussion, thank you for all the info.
Like everyone, I have noticed craving for sugars go up after cutting AL intake.
I have repalced my wine with herbal teas with honey and in large quantities!
My instinct tells me honey is better than artificial sweetners. Anybody has any opinion on that?
Thanks

[Tiny]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Potatoes not Prozac

Folks,

I discovered the book a while back -- a great read for those of us who are sugar sensitive!
Which is a lot of us!

[LilBit]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Doggygirl;664778 wrote: I am a person who really must keep sugar and especially wheat flour (which turns to sugar inside) OUT of my system. As is often the case, I have been letting some sugar creep back in lately. (ice cream following sugery, etc., ever larger servings of "a little dark chocolate" etc.) So if you decide to do a 4 weeks no sugar thing, I might be inclined to do that with you just to clean out the pipes. DG

DoggyGirl and Deebee, I am in the same boat. This sounds logical to me, and I would like to try going off the sugar too. 'Will wait until my 90 days AF (Aug 3) though. Don't want to take on too much too soon and blow everything.

DG, have you had any luck with spelt or the gluten-free products? Do you know if they turn to sugar, as well? Thanks.

[startingover]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Wow Deebs, I had no idea that tobacco contained sugar. No wonder we are searching for it from other sources!
I cant wait to hear how you get on. I have been having less cravings since I have been back on the prozac, no idea why but I have lost some of the nicotine weight now. Not all of it, but about 7 pounds.
The less I eat sugar, the less I crave it too.

Grim, usually if something tastes sweet, it will contain some sort of sugar. That includes fruit I think in the form of fructose.

[DeeBee]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

DG, the Doctor gave me his business card and asked me to keep in touch with him about my progress, so I'm going to drop him a mail to get clarification on "androids" and their function. I thought adroids were robots

Grim, I'm so pleased you read this -- I saw your post yesterday about quitting the twaks -- maybe this will help and make sense to you?
And yes, apparently ANYTHING that tastes sweet is a no-no. So sweetcorn and butternut have to be removed from my diet as well as that slab of homemade nougart I bought from the organic market.:upset:

Starts "the less I eat sugar, the less I crave it" is so true of many of our addictions.

Tiny, thanks for the heads up. I had heard it mentioned once but didn't pay much attention. I'm going to see if the library has a copy for me to read.

TNM, I think anything in moderation is okay. When I went AF for 60 days I was drinking over a litre of iced green tea a day to compensate and now thinking back I realise that it is packed with sugar. Sugar has been the bane of my life since I was a young kid.

Thinking back, my father (who is now clinically obese with ME) would always make sure that we had BOXES of toffees and chocolates on top of the fridge to snack on. As a kid, I was very active so burnt all that sugar off but now it's caught up with me in the form of addictions I'm a bit mad with him.

I am not awfully excited about doing it but I think that it is definetly something that I have to do if I want to get rid of these cravings as well as stabilising my moods and lose this excess weight ... soooo... I would be super chuffed if you would join me in doing a "SUGAR-FREE AUGUST"?
I need the next two weeks to prepare myself, get rid of my stash of sweets in the cupboard and aslo to begin tapering down.

FYI, here are the links to the two products he recommended I take....

Manna (TM) Blood Sugar Support

Adaptogens

[Doggygirl]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

**warning** I am probably botching the use of technical terms in the stuff below!! I read a lot on this subject but can't always remember the correct terms.....so this is very unscientific!

Lilbit, technically ALL carbohydrates process into "sugar" (glucose) inside. Of course that is a very simplistic explanation of a complex process...but that's basically what happens as I understand it. The issue is that some foods process more quickly into glucose and at different places in the digestive system. So high amount of glucose that tent to hit the blood stream quickly cause the blood sugar "spikes" that tend to be problematic it several different ways. (insulin surges, moods, etc.)

Wheat and gluten fall into the category that cause these blood sugar / insulin for many people and then there is the addition of allergies that many people develop over time to gluten. So things with wheat flour can be a double wammy for some people.

I was reading something recently about sprouted grains and why there is such a big difference in the blood sugar impact (aka glycemic index or glycemic load) between sprouted and non-sprouted grains. It has to do with the highly concentrated "sugars" (might not be the right word) in the seed kernel that are available to create a "burst" of energy for the seed to actually sprout. So that sugar / carb content is significantly less once the energy has been released after the sprout.

Sorry for the long response to your simple question!!! And this of course is just my take on it - I'm no expert.

Dee Bee - I'm still pondering that gland question. Is it possible he was talking about adenoids? I'm not sure what exact role they play LOL - I just think that's a body part that sounds close to what you were looking for. My curiosity is UP now!!

That is cool that he wants to stay in touch with you. I hope you will keep sharing what you do, how it works for you, and any feedback / suggestions he gives!

DG

[DeeBee]

Sugar’s Effect on your Health

Whilst still on the topic of sugar, I came across this interesting study which states

A "sugar addiction" may even act as a "gateway" to later abuse of drugs such as alcohol, Hoebel said.

The stages of addiction, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, include bingeing, withdrawal and craving.

Here is the link to the whole article.
Study Suggests Sugar May Be Addictive - MSN Health & Fitness - Health Topics