Sugar free vegetarian?

[ceeveg]

Is anyone sugar free and vegetarian or vegan?  Can you point me in the direction of some resources?  Thanks!

[SundayCrepes]

How do you define "sugar?" For example, my daughter can't eat cane sugar, but she can have beet sugar, honey, agave, etc. Do you mean no added sweeteners?

[ceeveg]

That's a good question.  I want to eliminate processed sugar completely, and try to obtain any sweetness in my diet from fruit.  I'm also trying to reduce the amount of processed food I eat, but that has proven difficult as well.  Thanks!

[Ygle]

We do use some sugar, maple syrup and honey, but very rarely.  We gave up added sweeteners about 8 years ago and that pretty much meant giving up all packaged and restaurant foods... now we are a little more lax in our choices.  I don't know what sort of resources you would need for this?  We just made our own meals without adding any sweeteners.  Now that we do use the occasional sweeteners when I make recipes I use about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount called for and it's still very sweet to us. 

When we first gave up sugar I remember we were going through food in the pantry we had that included sugar trying to use it all up and I was so shocked that spaghetti sauce had sugar in it... I told my family, "why would they put sugar in this when you can't even taste it?"  A few years later we were desperate for a quick meal and resorted to some store bought sauce and we could not even eat it, it was so unpalatably sweet to us and just tasted all wrong, like tomato flavored candy, blech! 

[heatherr30]

Have you read Dr Fuhrman?  my Dh and I decided to give up sweeteners, processed foods, meat and dairy after reading him.  He has a diet book called Eat to Live which explains his philosophy, but I have found the recipes in "Disease Proofing Your Child" more appropriate for myself and kids who do not need to lose weight.  The desserts are out of this world, made with nuts, soy milk, and dried fruit.  He also has a web site, you can subscribe and get access to more recipes. 

I technically do not consider myself a vegetarian as when we go out I do the best I can without going hungry.  If  a host has cooked a meat-based meal or a cake I eat a little bit (and enjoy it!) so as not to be rude.  I have not been to McDonalds since making the change, but if I found myself there for whatever reason I would probably just do the best I could with the menu offered.  At home, we really try to limit these products.  Dr Fuhrman recommends eating 90% whole plant products so there is room for a little cheating, you still get the health benefits.  I have to say though, for the first few weeks I gave up animal products, salt and sugar completely and it totally changed my taste buds. 

[illiterati]

We're vegetarian and for the first few months of DS's life I was also sugar-free due to battling the evil thrush. While the reason for it sucked, I have to say I'm glad for the forced sugar detox. My taste buds changed so much that I actually considered grapefruit a dessert. I've since allowed back some sugar- well really sweetener like honey or maple syrup. But I'm much more satisfied with less and usually just replace sugar with a much smaller fraction of maple syrup when baking. I'm also much more attuned to how sugary stuff makes me feel, namely bloated ;)

 I don't have any specific resources so I'll definitely be following this thread for recipes and advice. Thanks for starting it!

[teegan db]

I've tried sugar-free off and on, and now that I'm pregnant I'm hoping to stick to it.  
This blog (http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/) has helped, as have a few lifesaving recipes.
Google raw desserts (raw brownies, raw pies, etc): most raw foodists have the BEST desserts made with fruit, nuts, and a very few other ingredients.  
Other than that? Whole foods. Bake your own goodies. Bake your own bread if you can. Splurge on berries and snazzy fruits (since you're not buying anything with sugar any more).