Sugar

[bigknitwit]

I know this type of thread has come up before, but here I am on Hallowe'en night bringing it up again.

I am really, really in love with sugar, especially chocolate and sugar. I LOVE it. At various times over the past few years, I've tried getting off of sugar. I'm usually successful for a little while, and then I cheat once, twice, and soon I'm back to the beginning again. Right now I am wayyy back at the beginning again lol. In fact I love sweets so much it's difficult for me to give them away, to get them out of the house. I feel as though I am giving away my friends. I don't want to give away my friends, and I don't want to try to replace it with l-glutamine, or supplements, or whatever else. Where do I start with this to kick the habit permanently? Why can't I have this kind of connection to something like, say, liver? lol Or red meat, or something else other than sweets?

[BusyBee]

IF quitting "cold turkey" doesn't work, try a more gradual approach. Do baby steps first. For instance eat all the sweets you want but not high fructose corn syrup, or allow yourself all the alternative sweteners you want (like honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, sucanat) but not white sugar. We did this with cheese. We realized we were depending heavily on cheese as a major part of our diet, we wanted to cut down, but being cheese lovers didn't want to quit, so we decided to buy only those really yummy specialty cheeses and really enjoy them. You can only buy a small portion of sheep's milk Basque shepard's cheese for the money you could buy a huge brick of cheddar, so our consumption is self-limiting. Also, now it is not about denying ourselves, but actually treating ourselves. I know an elderly lady who would eat really well during the day, and in the evening would sit down with a good book and suck on a piece of hard candy. It was her "sacred" time to herself, so to speak.

[wagamama]

I'm right there with you. I'm eating TF in many ways, but have not been able to give up sugar ... yet. I think it's so hard in our culture, where we are surrounded by tempting treats all the time. And I really believe that sugar is more addictive than drugs or cigarettes ... As the pp said, cutting down is a good starter approach.

[HerbanGirl]

ITA with wagamama...I think sugar is more addictive than drugs. I just finished reading Sugar Blues and it was very eye-opening...to say the least!

Do you want to give up sugar? Or do you feel like you should? For me, the answer made all the difference. Until I actually wanted to give up sugar, it was incredibly difficult. Now I'm almost completely off of sugar, and let me tell you I can absolutely feel the addictive quality of it when I do have it. I usually end up craving more even though it makes me feel awful. It takes me anywhere from 2-5 days to get back to "normal". It's crazy! It was easiest for me when I just went cold turkey and willed myself through the days of intense craving with a reminder that I didn't really want it, but that the addiction was making me crave it.

Sorry I don't have a more upbeat answer, but HTH!

[quietserena]

For some reason in me protein cravings manifest as sugar cravings.

I saw that somewhere on these forums and it's really true! I crave sugar and I'd brown 1/4lb ground beef (only thing I had at the time!) and just have it by itself and all of a sudden that weird shaky thing you get when you don't get sugar on time was gone.

That's not a complete answer but I'm starting to think that it's part of it.

[Flowergirl~]

I agree with quietserena. If you'd like to try this out, go and buy a bottle of spirulina (lots of easily digestible protein that is assimilated quickly into the body) and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, you haven't lost anything because it is good for you anyway. Sally F says so too. Let us know what happened if you decide to try.

[bigknitwit]

Well, after eating candy last night all night long, I decided this morning to start taking the l-glutamine 3x/day to see if it will help. I took some this morning and didn't feel crazy for sweets, so I have high hopes. I will also try to increase my protein intake at each meal. I would ideally love to be able to eat candy in moderation - enjoy the piece at hand and then go back to my regular life without the cravings, etc. I used to love to have a "stash" for my occasional enjoyment, however, as I've gotten older, "occasional" has gone by the wayside lol Maybe once I get my consumption more moderate, I will be in a better position to just drop it out of my diet.

[pregomonster]

I've got a little bit of a different spin on this. As of April, I'm sugar-free with very little exception (some pasta sauce or other occasional condiments that I buy that have sugar in it). Rarely do I even use sugar sub like honey or agave nectar. Anyway, I did this by joining a 12step program because sugar is an addiction for me. That's all I can think about when I'm consuming it and I just know I can't do it in moderation. I would love to be able to use moderation but as an alcoholic, I would also love to drink moderately and I know I can't do that either. I say this with personal experience both as a sugar addict and alcoholic as well as a former addictions counselor. Not saying you have to go my route of complete abstinence but wanted to be forthright. Please don't blacklist me!

[pampered_mom]

I just wanted to say "Yeah, that!" to wagamama, HerbanGirl, and quietserena.

I've always struggled with it (and many carbs) for a long time and know that I do better (especially with my PCOS) when I severely limit them in my diet. Now that I'm reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories" I'm even more convinced. I do think that has to play a role in it because it is so very prevalent in our "civilized" society. Maybe part of what might be a good place to start is to do some reading on the subject - either the book HerbanGirl suggests or the one I listed above.

And yes, for me a craving for sugar is often a craving for protein - especially in pregnancy. I've been trying to be very intentional in keeping track of that fact.

[bigknitwit]

Today is a new day The Hallowe'en candy is gone to dh's work (except the kids remaining 6ish pieces, but that's theirs), and I am cutting it out! I have decided to allow myself one honey based sweets serving and one maple syrup based sweets serving daily to help with my weaning. The maple syrup serving will be a custard/pudding (I'm already dreaming of it lol) that I will have after the kids go to bed, and the honey serving is TBD. I'm getting back on track, darn it! It's amazing how quick the fall off the wagon is for me...

[pampered_mom]

I just came across this in Taube's book (page 446) and thought you might find it helpful. :0)

The craving for carbohydrates is more closely akin to an addiction....It is the consequence of hyperinsulinemia, which in turn is caused initially by the presence of carbohydrates inthe diet, just as an addiction to nicotine or cocaine or any other addictive substance is caused by the use of these substances.

Sugar (sucrose) is a special case. Just like cocaine, alcohol, nicotine, and other additctive drugs, sugar appears to induce an exaggerated response in that region of the brain known as the reward center....This suggests that the relatively intense cravings for sugar...may be explained by the intensity of the dopamine scretion in the brain when we consume sugar.

Whether the addiction is in the brain or the body or both, the idea that sugar and other easily digestible carbohydrates are additve also implies that the addiction can be overcome with sufficient time, effort, and motivation....

[Rosie_Kate]

When I went cold-turkey, I made it into a "competition" of sorts (and as a PP said, I had to WANT to give it up). One day, I didn't eat any sugar all day. At the end of the day, I said, "wow, I didn't have any sugar at all today! Yay me. Lets see if I can do it again tomorow." And I would add one day onto another, racking up my count, one day at a time. And then I started to notice how good I felt!

I also found Sugar Blues to be a good motivator. What a great book!

Now, I need to do that again, because I'm finding myself "self-medicating" with sugar regularly. The thing is, if I gave up sugar, I'd probably feel better and not need to self-medicate. It's a vicious cycle.

I have a high level of control still over what my 2 1/2 year old eats. He gets just about no sugar. I'm not stict about it all the time, I let him have it as a treat when it is offered when we're at someone else's house. But I am noticing-- whenever he eats something with white sugar, he -who is normally laid-back, sweet and compliant- turns into that monster child from "super nanny".

White sugar is evil.

[WildIris]

For anyone wanting to give up sugar, you might want to check out the books by Kathleen DesMaisons (Potatoes Not Prozac, and Sugar Addicts Recovery Program), or check out her website called Radiant Recovery dot com. (All the basic info from the books can be found on the website--no need to buy the books.) She writes about "sugar sensitivity" and sugar addiction and has a 7-step program for helping people to gradually clean up their diets. While I don't agree with everything she advises, I do think DesMaisons does a good job of explaining the science behind sugar sensitivity/addiction.

I came across her website and writings several years ago, and that's what prompted me to clean up my diet--I gave up sugar, diet soda (I was very addicted to Diet Coke!), and changed from "white" (refined) grain products to complex carbs. I also started eating breakfast and regular meals, with consistent amounts of protein. All of this helped me a lot with health issues that had plagued me for many years, especially depression and anxiety.

One caveat about this recommendation: the forum there has a lot of nice, friendly, sincerely caring folks, but keep in mind it is a heavily managed (i.e., censored) forum--only the "approved" messages get posted. They heavily promote the use of protein powders for shakes, disapprove of the use of supplements like amino acids, and have some other quirky ideas. It also can get a little militant and "cult-like" over there, LOL, about "following the steps." For those reasons I don't participate in the forum there anymore, and I no longer do their "steps"--but I did it for several years, and many of the principles I incorporated into my life from that plan have stuck. I found it a very helpful foundation, especially for transitioning into the TF lifestyle.

Iris