Eliminating Sugar From Your Diet

[joiedemode]

I do not know where to ask this so I guess I will ask it here...

How do you resist cravings and eat normally? I am thin but I eat so much food and most of it is sugar. I eat when I:

am bored
think about food
am mad
am sad
am happy
etc

So I have never been hungry because I eat all the time...I am not worried about weight gain but I do not want blood problems and things.

 

[lukewarm]

You should eat a diet based on balanced macronutrients, protein, carbs, fats. (good fats: peanut butter, nuts, flax seed oil, fish oil, olive oil) You should make sure you're eating enough fiber every day, if you at least regulate your fiber intake, you'll feel fuller throughout the day. Also a woman who exercises should drink at least 3.5 L of water per day, which will aid in the full feeling, and hopefully you get enough water anyways as this is the main ingredient to a healthy functioning system.

 

[tott]

This link might be of interest: Understanding food cravings

Bottom line is that keeping your blood sugar stable helps a lot. Eat fat, protein and slow carbs. Avoid pure sugars (of course!) and additives like MSG and sweeteners.

My blood sugar is incredibly stable because I eat very few carbs in general and everything all natural and organic if possible to avoid all potential "hidden" additives.

I would like to add eco butter and coconut oil to lukewarm's list of fats and also suggest a natural cod liver oil as your fish oil of choice. Please make sure you do eat enough fats. This is an essential food that you need to eat enough of, along with proteins.

Also a word of caution about fiber: You might want to focus on getting soluble fibers from vegetables instead of insoluble fibers from grains*, nuts and seeds if you have a sensitive stomach. I used to suffer from IBS (bloating, gas, irregularities... you name it!) for years until I finally excluded all grains and starchy foods like potatoes from my diet.

I used to wonder if I was a bit sensitive to gluten, but I've discovered that I can eat white wheat bread without problems, so it has to be the fibers from the whole grains that were disagreeing with me. And of course I used to eat everything whole because it's good for you!

I actually eat less fibers than ever now, and my digestion is better than it ever has been since I was a kid. Probably because I "lubricate" with plenty of fats!

*Oats and rye are the most gentle common grains since they have more soluble fibers than other grains. If you do have a sensitive stomach and want to eat bread, pick the white kind...

 

[SomethingElse]

I got used to being comfortable with being hungry for periods of time. I learned that among some people in Japan, fasting one day a week is rejuvenating and healthy.

As to eliminating sugar, I don't eat processed sugar but cane sugar molasses is marvelous and full of nutrients!

I keep a close watch on my carbohydrate intake, and dairy, instead.

 

[splatooey]

i really disagree with totts, white breads are not the way to go, nor is cutting out fiber. Everyone knows that a lack of fiber in one's diet is known to be associated with increased risk of developing colon cancer later on. it is recommended that we eat 35g of dietary fiber, which is found in whole grains, dark leaf vegetables, etc.

i think every body needs a balance of carbs, protein and fat. to cut something as important as carbs out of your diet completely is silly to me, you need complex carbs for fuel (not the short bursts of energy) but for long bursts of energy. the enemy really is refined carbs, like white sugar, white bread since your body breaks it down so quickly you only get a short burst of energy and then you feel fatigued. Its better to eat whole wheat pastas, breads b/c the body will take longer to completely break it down and thus, longer bouts of energy, leading to energy all day (or at least between meals). snacking frequently is good too b.c it reprograms your brain to go from "starvation" mode (a mode we inherited through evolution, when food was waaay more scarce) to "plentiful" mode, your brain will know that food is a-coming all the time and thus not try to retain every last fat or calorie for fear of starvation. Time magazine had a fascinating article about the relationship of food and humans. June 11,2007 edition:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1626795_1627112_1626457,00.html

 

[tott]

splatooey, I was offering an alternative view on fiber based on what I and others have experienced. If you take a second look at what I wrote, you may notice that I only suggested that you might want to avoid insoluble fibers if you have a sensitive stomach and concentrate on getting your fiber in the soluble form. And yes, eat white bread if you can't tolerate whole grains but still want bread!

Btw, everyone does not "know" that lack of fiber is associated with an increased risk of developing colon cancer: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fiber.html

But anyway... Whether you believe that lack of fiber cause cancer or not, I did not suggest that anyone should cut fiber entirely from their diet, merely that it could be a good idea to get them from gentler sources. I don't feel that you or anyone else should stop eating whole grains if it agrees with you.

FYI, carbs are not an essential food. Our bodies don't need them for fuel or for anything else. I get my energy mainly from natural fats like butter, heavy cream, macadamia oil, coconut oil, olive oil. Foods like nuts and cheeses also provide a lot of energy (my stomach can't handle more than a few nuts at a time, but still). It works very well for me, I feel fantastic and get great results at the gym.

And no, I'm not advocating that you or anyone else should cut back on carbs...

 

[Irene_A]

Have you taken any pH blood test, tott?

 

[gracey]

This thread is great. I have also quit sugar; it's been about 2 weeks. I can't say I still don't wish I could drink a Coke but I am just not doing it and I am so glad because I know that refined sugar is a drug that I have definitely been addicted to for years.

Fruit is helping a lot, when I just have to have something sweet. Peaches, nectarines, oranges, grapes... yum.

 

[tott]

Have you taken any pH blood test, tott?

No, I haven't. May I ask why you're wondering?

If you're thinking my diet is dangerous because it turns my body acidic, I wouldn't worry about that. The body buffers the blood so it always has the right pH.

Anyway, your question made me curious enough to check what it is I really do eat. It seems like I actually consume less acidifying foods than I used to. But please note that the charts I found when I googled aren't exactly consistent.

Alkalizing: I eat different vegetables every day, raw or cooked. I often squeeze some lemon into my water or use it in salad dressing. I drink green tea.

Acidifying: I eat cheese, fish, seafood, meat, fats and drink coffe and alcohol.

Neutral: I also eat plenty of eggs (it's my main source of protein actually) and they seem to be fairly neutral. The yolk is slightly alkaline, the white is slightly acidic.

Some common acidifying foods I don't eat: Beans, legumes, grains, potatoes, artificial sweeteners, sugars, softdrinks like coca cola.

I would be more worried about people eating a "common diet" with breakfast cereals, bread, pasta, rice, beans, peanut butter, potatoes, softdrinks etc. as well as meat, fats and probably not enough vegetables/fruit... That's much more acidifying!

 

[laurette]

^sorry for ot
how can you eat vegetables but not legumes (which is -as far as I know- the French word for vegetablesblink:?

 

[tott]

laurette, legume doesn't have the same meaning in French and English.

Legume

 

[Irene_A]

The question was just mere curiosity, I studied that long-term synthesis of glucose from fatty acids it puts your body in a ketosis state and your blood can only buffer the pH in a very limited range. I have never known anyone who follows that kind of diet so I was curious to know about it.

 

[misssakura]

I've been bad recently - eating loads of biscuits. I know I shouldn't but my boyfriend got them in a sale, they're usually so expensive. Oh well. It's not like I ever have fizzy drinks or anything.

 

[laurette]

thanks tott, I should've googled before asking

 

[tott]

The question was just mere curiosity, I studied that long-term synthesis of glucose from fatty acids it puts your body in a ketosis state and your blood can only buffer the pH in a very limited range. I have never known anyone who follows that kind of diet so I was curious to know about it.

Ah, OK.

I have never heard about ketosis hurting anyone healthy on a low carb diet. Ketone bodies are simply an alternate fuel for the body. Ketones are produced when the body uses fat as fuel, something we all do to a certain extent. We burn fat during excersise, while we sleep etc. It's just that we use more fat for fuel, and therefore produce more ketones, if we cut down on carbs.

Ketoacidosis on the other hand, which is life threatening, causes the blood pH to drop. Usually occurs in type 1 diabetics (and more seldom in type 2 diabetics) in the absence of insulin. (It can also occur when alcohol is abused during [semi]starvation but this is not immediately life threatening.)

 

[Irene_A]

Yeah, I know about that, but ketoacidosis also occurs in long term starvation when your body depends on fat as the main source of energy, that's why I was asking. Not that I'm implying you're starving or like you're life is at risk or anything like that, I just remembered the nutrition lessons.

This site is quite good actually because I can enjoy myself and review things I learnt, I would have never thought that about a fashion site .

 

[tott]

Irene, I didn't even think about ketoacidosis during starvation, but of course you're right about that! And no, I'm not starving!

A healthy low carb diet has to be a relatively high fat one, with relatively normal amounts of protein. Not high protein, like many people think.

If I remember correctly, diet calories from proteins should be max 50% (preferably less!) or you will get sick... If you eat nothing but lean meat you will die quickly from "rabbit sickness".

We are a diverse bunch here at tFS, aren't we?

 

[Irene_A]

We are indeed, that's great.

 

[splatooey]

sorry totts i wasnt attacking you at all, its very difficult to talk about nutrition on the surface b/c a passerby might just pick out a sentence and follow it to heart so i didn't want that to happen. Your diet obviously works well for you. Also, even nutrition experts/doctors don't agree about whats best for us so how can we ever agree? Conventionally, what is taught in medical school and what 90% of US doctors will tell you is that fiber is pretty essential for prevention of colon cancer, and soluble fiber is better though insoluble fiber is still needed to prevent constipation/etc. Eating lots of fiber also can help you lose weight since they are pretty much undigestable and passes through your system but takes up lots of room, so you feel fuller. There are carbs in everything you eat, including fruits, milk, vegetables, cheeses, nuts. I think your body must need carbs b/c we do have mechanisms in our body to convert carbs to fuel, and i really feel that we wouldn't have this mechanism if it weren't part of our diet to begin with. or maybe we got this mechanism b.c our ancestors ate carbs? who knows?

 

[tott]

No problem, splatooey!

It's true that fiber will make you feel fuller, but there is an important distinction to be made between the feeling of fullness (as in being stuffed) and satiety (as in being satisfied, without necessarily being stuffed).

The fact that we can digest carbs does not mean that they're essential, with the exception being carb-rich mother's milk when we're babies. We can easily live on nothing but fatty meat (zero carbs) and be healthy. That could get pretty boring though, and I absolutely agree that things like dairy, vegetables, nuts, fruits, berries and grains can be tasty and add variety to our diets!

But anyway, to get back on topic: Keeping your blood sugar stable is key when it comes to fighting cravings.