That's it, I'm giving up sugar. I've tried that twice in last 7 months and the effects are only positive. Most of the digestive problems are fading away and I'm starting to loose weight. Not that I'm fat but just starting to be and I'm not waiting till I turn into a lard ball. When I was young, I could eat the stuff with spoons and nothing would happen since I was gonna waste that energy in sports. Now however things are a little bit different with aging. Anyway, some benefits I notices cutting off sugar: - tea and coffee don't taste bad at all without sugar' - my senses like opened and now I can feel the taste of the food much better' - my belly started to shrink; - food craving significantly reduced; - digestive problems almost gone; - better sleep; - save a lot of money on sweets (no more sodas, chocolates, cakes, crystal sugar, etc.); - greatly reduces risk of type 2 diabetes; - healthier teeth; - saving the atmosphere form all that smoke they produce when they burn those sugar cane; - others that I can't think of right now; So, how do you feel about sugar? Got any health issues like obesity, diabetes, vascular problems and rotten teeth? Would you give up sugar and what would it take? Thanks. P.S. I find this short film to be spot on but there are plenty on YouTube.
Good for you! Sugar IS poison. I gave up almost all carbs over five years ago - no sugar products, potatoes, pasta, beans or starches, no bread... I lost 70 lbs and changed my life.
We need to define 'sugar'. If it is not pure protein or pure fat , and it is digestable and provides a single calorie, it is carbohydrate calorie and it is a sugar. Its not healthy to refuse to eat any carbohydrates. Instead we can decide which ones are better than others, and in which amounts. If you drink milk you consume sugar. If you eat an apple you consume sugar. If you eat wild rice, you eat sugar. If you eat a pea, or a lima bean, you eat sugar. If you have a slice of tomato on your salad, you eat carbs and sugar. When most of us are restricting 'sugar' we either mean refined sugar as in concentrated sweets, or specific starchy foods we think of as 'bad for us' as well as refined sugar.
Low-carb diets are highly successful. This one saved my life. And that means all carbs. At less than 100 grams of carbs a day you will start to enter ketosis - where you primarily metabolize fat instead of carbs. At a minimum of 25 grams of carbs a day you are into hard ketosis. You never want less than 25 grams of carbs a day [needed for the brain]. And if under 100 grams per day you have to follow the plan - lots of vegetables and water. But it can be done safely and you will experience dramatic weight loss.
It means you are RESTRICTING carbs a lot . I know about ketosis diets. This diet has been used to fight childhood epilepsy for decades but it is gaining favor for broader adult applications. Other than the obvious risk of constipation which those veggies and water solve, the chief concern for otherwise healthy people, discussed by dieticians, is the lack of resistant starch in the gut which impacts the amount of fatty acids the gut produces. I am more worried by folks that are not 'otherwise healthy' and jump the gun and do not talk to their doctors before they highly restrict their starchy carbs and try to intentionally produce ketosis for weight loss. There is a lot of room for ignorance based harm here especially in preteens, geriatric and those who also have chronic renal, heart conditions or diabetes. I am almost NEVER a fan of dramatic weight loss diets, if this means a lot of loss in a short period of time. I prefer slow and steady for that goal.
Yes, in ketosis you are running on fatty acids. The biggest problem seen is dehydration. Ketosis sucks up water like a sponge. And you need to keep your system flushed, I agree that consulting a doctor is good before making any radical lifestyle changes. I have a serious, unusual, and intractable variety of blood sugar problems. I was going down fast and jumped out of desperation. But as I say, the risk paid off and I would almost certainly be dead if I hadn't. I just had my bp checked - 118 / 78. That's the best its been in over 30 years.
was this recommended and monitored by your doctor or a dietician, or did you just dive in and get kind of lucky that you did not screw this up or go too far too fast?
I am convinced that we have a world constantly forcing far too many carbs on us. When you try to eliminate most carbs, it is quickly found to be quite difficult. Sugar is added to a vast majority of foods.
I bet my life on it after doing a lot of homework. No doctors. I was going to get my life back, or I was going to die. That was my state of mind. The doctors had failed me for years and I was desperate. My health was spinning out of control and I was running out of time. I now control my blood sugar without drugs.
I am very glad this worked for you and I am glad that you did all that homework and that you were able to fully understand that homework. But please remember that any person you recommend this to, or try to teach this homework to, may not do it quite as perfectly, as you intend. I see the potential for long term organ damage and acute metabolic episodes secondary to electrolyte imbalance with this depending on how drastically it is done. Professionally, I have seen the consequences of people who tried to sell and teach highly restricted or complex diets to people they love very dearly. that catch all phrase "remember to talk to your doctor' they all use, just gets lost as a petty detail to worry about at the next check up.
Well, I agree that can be true. And by all means this has to be taken seriously - extreme ketosis can kill you. You have to do your homework and understand what you are doing. But the fact is, going to 25 grams a day is fantastically difficult. Most people never get close to that. They buy ketosis test sticks to see if they are in ketosis. Let me tell you, when you enter hard ketosis, there is no missing it! You don't need a test stick to know. I also know that the majority of the medical community did not at that time support the diet that saved my life. If I had continued going to the doctor and doing as they said, I would probably be dead. So you can understand my mixed feelings on this. How many people have died from the professionally recommended, high carb, low fat diets? I was nearly one of them. And now, as it turns out, high carb, low fat, may be the perfect diet for cancer. Ketogenic diets are being used in cancer treatments. Ketones are toxic to some cancers. Insulin is needed for cancers to spread, and glucose for them to grow. High carb diets provide the perfect environment.
I get what you are saying, but I personally am glad that most people can't get enough discipline to maintain that 25-100 gram restriction. It makes me uncomfortable and if they don't have a history of ' serious, unusual, and intractable variety of blood sugar problems' that may require that dramatic a restriction, a lesser goal may provide a lot of benefit. I am a moderate soul about diets of all kinds
I can certainly appreciate that pov. In fact, when I undertook that diet, I believed I was taking a huge risk with my health. It was still highly controversial. However, the high carb, low fat diet is really just the Pritikin Diet, more or less. And without a diet plan, we tend to eat what is available where we shop. In the end it is best to follow some kind of plan. If left to our natural tendencies, the obesity epidemic will only get worse. What we are doing now is killing people. Consider this: Throughout most of human history, most humans lived on primarily ketogenic diets. Processed grains didn't enter the mainstream of human activities until about 5000 years ago. Only then were high carb diets generally possible. Before that we ate protein and fat for much of the year, So in fact, the natural human metabolic state may be primarily ketosis, and not glycolysis. The medical community has come a long way since I first started learning about this. It is surely worth consideration esp for diabetics, hypoglycemics, those with metabolic syndrome, and for the obese or overweight generally. The trending thought now seems to be that some people are better going low carb, and others are better going low fat. One thing is certain: Everyone should stop eating processed sugar. That's a no brainer.
In my cycle-camping days I CRAVED sweet sugary stuff on long rides like sweeties, bananas, jam donuts, sugary pop drinks etc. One evening after about 50 miles pedalling I felt the craving coming on but foolishly didn't stop for a snack because I wanted to be at a good camping place by nightfall and WHAM!- all my energy suddenly drained completely away in seconds and I had to stop and dismount and sit propped against a farm gate with hissing in the ears,black spots before the eyes, a cold sweat all over, and on the verge of fainting! My stomach was absolutely SCREAMING OUT for food and drink to be sent down, so I quickly devoured almost everything in my rucksack and was right as rain within 10 minutes. The phenomenon is called "Hunger Knock" or "The Bonk" in cycling circles. Lesson learnt, give your stomach what it asks for at the first sign of hunger pangs..
It sure is. I don't have tens of kilos to loose (73 kg at 173 cm height) but already feel the benefits of cutting off (well, no completely since many foods contain sugar) the poisonous stuff. Sugar as sucrose, the white or brown stuff you buy in the shop. The one that gets broken down to fructose and glucose. I'm not talking about blood sugar or starch. You are a cyclist? Perhaps that's the case you need some stored body fat as a "backup". In case you are one of those skinny cyclists we see on Eurosport, that is. I've got 2 bikes but I'm more of a casual rider, the dutch style rider if you wish. Greetings, colleague Dropship.
I have a rule in my house, when my kids crave sweets they must eat an apple or other fruit first... helps lift the blood sugar and often gets rid of the craving, other good ideas to control sugar cravings are proteins like cheese or yoghurt. I also ban all soft drinks, I do allow them to have fruit juice but limited to one glass as these are quite high in sugar. It's impossible to cut all sugar for kids because they go to other people's homes and eat it there. If they have chocolate at home on occasion I make sure it's either pure milk chocolate or filled with nuts, not sugary sweet centred fillings or rubbish like Crunchies and Mars Bars.
For those who are interested there is a lot of good material on YouTube A good start is dr Robert lustig "sugar:the bitter truth" And Gary taubes My story is similar to others posted here I was obese and diagnosed with diabetes II Was prescribed a cocktail of drugs The side effects were severe for me So I looked for an alternative Which is essentially dietary I started with dr Richard Bernstein diabetes solution Which I would highly recommend for anyone with diabetes I lost 7o pounds, no more drugs, normal bp, cholesterol, And I use heavy cream in my coffee every morning That said, I think everyone has to find their own path A path that works for YOU FOR ME, an immediate radical diet change was too difficult So i took an incremental approach... first stopping sugared drinks Cutting portion size, eliminating second helpings Ordering from the child menu or splitting entrees Not eating everything on my plate Then targeting refined carbs I have mostly eliminated potatoes (which have a surprisingly high glycemic index) I still do eat some carbs... like rolled oats (with cream) And truly whole wheat bread (with fresh ground peanut butter) From what I read, fiber is important and this is how I get it I eat not much meat anymore... although still some I try to focus on eating less of better quality food Not too concerned about organic unless it tastes better
I'm in my 60's and have always eaten exactly what I fancied throughout my entire life, including "junk food", and although I haven't cycled or done any exercise for some years, I'm still fit, healthy and slim. I don't pay the slightest attention to what's supposed to be bad for us, I eat it anyway because I believe my stomach knows best, so I always give it what it asks for..
We're all going to die one day anyway, so until then I'll continue eating and drinking everything there is, and die happy on a full satisfied stomach.. PS- just lately I've started using two teabags in my cup of tea instead of the usual one, because two give it more kick, even though it doubles my tea bill, dunno why I didn't think of it earlier.. And hey, here's a vid of me swigging a coke, how brave is that? Notice the surly, arrogant body language that says "I don't give a damn!"-
It's not the dieing, it 's the living that sugar makes problematic. Think about diabetes for example and the restrictions it puts over you. Don't get carried away, Dropship, Coke is dangerous. This guy here gained 23 pounds just in one month as he decided to drink 10 cans of Coke per day to see what happens.
The whole subject is complex, for example here in Britain our newspapers are fond of printing headlines saying "XXX IS BAD FOR YOU!", then a few months later a smaller article inside will say "Researchers have now discovered XXX is not as bad as at first thought, and now find our bodies need it". In short we Joe Public are caught in the middle and don't know what to believe! PS- re sugar, I used to like bucketfulls of it in my tea for many years, then suddenly decided I didn't like it in my tea any more and have drank sugarless tea ever since. Maybe my body was telling me it didn't want sugary tea any more, so like I said, I always listen to what my stomach and body tell me..
Here is the thing. We are all going to die. But the quality of the life you have depends greatly on your health. Once you lose your health, life as you know it ends. But life still goes on. Then you just wish you were dead. Eating well is the most important thing you can do to be healthy. Next is exercising regularly. All hail kale! I love the stuff.
