Eliminating Sugar From Your Diet

[shoexgal]

its all in your mind

Do you ladies know what should be the correct amount of grams of sugar to take in each day?

We need sugar for two things, one is for the brain and other is male testes, eww. But as humans living in the modern world we don't need processed sugar because the food we take in turns into sugar in our bodies after we eat them. There is no daily dose of sugar needed, we could live without processed sugar and never feel it, except for the cravings

 

[tott]

^
Yep, shoe...

Proteins and fats are essential foods, sugar (carbs) is not.

If you don't eat any carbs at all your liver will produce the glucose your body needs.

 

[Organic]

^
Yep, shoe...

Proteins and fats are essential foods, sugar (carbs) is not.

If you don't eat any carbs at all your liver will produce the glucose your body needs.

excuse me, but your brain functions on carbohydrates.

and the liver produces bile...not glucose.

 

[Whitelinen]

^ Ditto.

 

[tott]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenesis

My apologies, it was late and I didn't get my facts straight. The liver does produce fuel from fats, but it's not glucose of course...

My point about carbs not being an essential food still stands.

 

[Organic]

it can stand all you like, but it's the only food source your brain functions on.

 

[MorganaLestrange]

oh i want to eliminate sugar too! i have succeeded a few times, but like today when i had an utterly stressful day and a friend gave me chocolate...i ate it *doh* it is doing nothing good for my skin, i get spots very easily...

often my problem is that mostly my mum does the shopping and no matter how often i tell her, she always brings home some sweet stuff and not the variety of fruit i'd want...
but i will resist from today on! i hope i can do it...

oh and i hope it is okay to ask this here. as i am still a student i am often hungry when i come home from school, but not in the mood to stand in the kitchen for too long...do you know fast recipes for dinner, where you don't need "exotic" ingredients?

 

[tott]

it can stand all you like, but it's the only food source your brain functions on.

The brain certainly needs fuel, but it doesn't have to come from dietary carbs. No-one needs to eat them, it's a proven fact whether you agree or not...

I am not suggesting that anyone stop eating any or all carbs. I am just stating that carbs aren't essential.

("Essential" in this context means that the human body needs something in order to survive and can't synthesize it from other foods.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhjalmur_Stefansson

"Stefansson is also a figure of considerable interest in dietary circles, especially those with an interest in very low-carbohydrate diets. Stefansson documented the fact that most Inuit lived on a diet of about 90% meat and fish, often going 6-9 months a year on nothing but meat and fish--essentially, a zero-carbohydrate diet. He found that he and his fellow European-descent explorers were also perfectly healthy on such a diet.

When medical authorities questioned him on this, he and a fellow explorer agreed to undertake a study under the auspices of the Journal of the American Medical Association to demonstrate that they could eat a 100% meat diet in a closely-observed laboratory setting for the first several weeks, with paid observers for the rest of an entire year.

The results were published in the Journal of the AMA, and both men were perfectly healthy on such a diet, without vitamin supplementation or anything else in their diet except meat."

 

[Whitelinen]

Well, the Atkins diet was though to be good at first, and now it is scientifically proved that it is dangerous. Just because some scientist has proved something doesn't mean it is indifferently the truth. I don't think Stefansson's view and studies are in any way dietary suggestions that are usually applied. Why don't dietitians and doctors suggest non-carbohydrate diet then? Why do they suggest a balanced diet instead?

 

[Organic]

first and foremost ANYONE can enter information on wikipedia, it's useless. i can say that elephants have wings, and it would be entered there.

secondly....you want sources ok, i'm game.

http://www.fi.edu/brain/carbs.htm

http://www.essentialnutrition.org/carbs.php

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/els/01956663/2003/00000040/00000003/art00010

i'm a nutrition student...i'm not making this up to be contrary.

 

[tott]

WhiteLinen, I'm not really in the mood to argue...

Low-carb diets have been shown to be good or bad in different research. The fact is that people have been eating and living well off low-carb diets during human history. A lot of dietary research are epidemiological studies; these are generally not that reliable. It's not that hard to "prove" a point by pointing at statistics and claim something that may or may not really be relevant.

I wouldn't say that Stefansson's diet is generally applied, no. It's just a bit too extreme for most people, myself included. I didn't paste it in as inspiration or to make a suggestion though, but to prove a point.

Some doctors and dieticians do recommend low-carb diets, btw.

 

[Organic]

what's to argue? it's a proven FACT that brains function on carbohydrates only.

too much protein(i.e. low carb diets) screw with calcium storage in bones, cause osteoporosis, and kidney stones. awesome.

no argument. you can't argue fact.

 

[Whitelinen]

I was not arguing I am just agreeing with what Organic says.

 

[tott]

first and foremost ANYONE can enter information on wikipedia, it's useless. i can say that elephants have wings, and it would be entered there.

i'm a nutrition student...i'm not making this up to be contrary.

It's true that anyone can enter information on Wikipedia, but I wouldn't say that this makes it useless...

Carbs is absolutely the most readily available source of energy for the brain and the body, you get no arguments from me on that point. However, that does not mean that other energy sources can't be used. If you're studying nutrition, you should already know and be aware of this...

If someone who is used to eating a lot of carbs suddenly switches to a diet which is very low on carbs, they will often feel faint, maybe nauseous, get headaches, feel all fogged up like the brain isn't working properly, and so on. That's because the body isn't used to using an alternative to carbs as fuel. After a few days or weeks your body will have adjusted and work just as well without carbs as it did with them. You should know this too.

The brain basically needs blood sugar. If you don't eat carbs the body will use proteins and fats to keep up the blood sugar.

I have to say that I'm surprised by your lack of knowledge on the subject, and I'm only a layman.

 

[Organic]

no, you're only refusing to admit in the face of multiple sources, that you're incorrect.

for god's sake, you even tried to claim that the liver produced glucose. it's cool. it doesn't need to go on endlessly...

 

[tott]

no, you're only refusing to admit in the face of multiple sources, that you're incorrect.

for god's sake, you even tried to claim that the liver produced glucose. it's cool. it doesn't need to go on endlessly...

I made a false claim which I apologised about. I should've double-checked first.

You won't admit that people can live without eating carbs, despite the obvious fact that - for instance - eskimos have managed to survive for millenia on practically zero carbs.

Anyway, if you need carbs in order to survive (if the brain shuts down you die, right?) I've been dead since January.

 

[miu_miu]

I've been reading this thread and found some very useful advice. I don't know if I can eliminate sugar completely from my diet (ie. the refined kind) although I will make serious steps to lower it.
It seems to me the best thing to do is substitute processed snacks, for fruits, berries etc. And whilst I make nearly all my food from scratch, this inspires me to do more. Then you really know exactly what goes into your food, and this should apply to any diet, not just sugar free.
Thanks for all the great advice

 

[Whitelinen]

I've been reading this thread and found some very useful advice. I don't know if I can eliminate sugar completely from my diet (ie. the refined kind) although I will make serious steps to lower it.
It seems to me the best thing to do is substitute processed snacks, for fruits, berries etc. And whilst I make nearly all my food from scratch, this inspires me to do more. Then you really know exactly what goes into your food, and this should apply to any diet, not just sugar free.
Thanks for all the great advice

That's exactly what I think. This is a great thread.

 

[Anastasia]

Be careful subbing in dried fruits (apple rings, figs, prunes, banana chips, raisins, and the worst but oh so tasty offender, dates). They may not be processed, refined sugar, but they are LOADED with natural sugars and cause quite a spike. I really messed myself up, and made my blood sugar problems worse, thinking I was being healthy.

 

[shellze_07]

Sugar is my alcohol, lol