Giving up sugar

paky

Has anyone ever experienced this. I'm trying to give it up at the moment but it is very difficult.

entropi

paky wrote: »

Has anyone ever experienced this. I'm trying to give it up at the moment but it is very difficult.

I done it successfully last year. I just flat out cut extrinsic sugar from my diet, somehow it worked. Some people might be able to slowly wean themselves off it, others can just cut it out.

paky

how long does thw withdrawal last? have u noticed any benefits?

im invisible

Jesus people, live a little!...

KingMonkey

im invisible wrote: »

Jesus people, live a little!...

do u actually know what damage granulated i.e "white sugar" does?

ive been trying to cut down myself but it just seems like tea and coffee taste awful without it

PurpleFistMixer

What exactly is the thinking behind giving up sugar? Also how does one intend to live without glucose? Or is this just "giving up pouring sugar on things"?

Mark Hamill

I assume people are talking about giving up added sugar in food (granulated sugar, glucose-fructose syrup etc.), so they still eat fruits, honey etc?

entropi

paky wrote: »

how long does thw withdrawal last? have u noticed any benefits?

Only lasted about two days for me, wasnt bad at all. The hardest part, is just cutting it out. You'll soon realise you dont really need it at all, and there you go, job done

Mark Hamill wrote: »

I assume people are talking about giving up added sugar in food (granulated sugar, glucose-fructose syrup etc.), so they still eat fruits, honey etc?

Aye, granulated sugar. Fruit sugars should be enough for most people anyway, and the amount that happens to be added to everyday processed foods.

paky

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

What exactly is the thinking behind giving up sugar? Also how does one intend to live without glucose? Or is this just "giving up pouring sugar on things"?

people consume processed sugar without even realising it. its pretty much in everything these days and has a bad reputation for causing many illnesses not to mention weight gain! had some sugar free dark chocolate today which tasted quite good!

christeb

I've been making concerted efforts to do this recently. I regularly fall off, but I also regularly go for days without it, so I've been partially successful so far. My skin suffers very badly when I OD on it, it's a nice little self-regulation mechanism I've developed!

There's a good article here which I found useful: http://www.stumptuous.com/how-to-dump-sugar

--LOS--

If you're talking about added sugar, I've given up that before, I think it's best to just cut it out completely, the cravings will stop really soon! when I havent had it for a while I just have zero craving for it. Must do it again soon ¬_¬

face1990

You soon grow to like tea and coffee without sugar. Years ago I stopped adding sugar to things like tea, coffee and cereals, mainly just cos it's better for your teeth.
Nowadays I think the sugar just drowns out the actual flavour of teas and coffees.

smeedyova

I gave up sugar about 9 months ago and feel much better for it. I don't miss it all, in fact, now I find fruit very sweet! Regular cereal was the biggest offender for me so now I buy sugarless cereal in the health food shop and add cranberries, etc., I found it very easy and wouldn't go back. Also, it's astounding when you pay attention to labels to find out the sugar levels in some foods. i was slim already but i also lost weight just by cutting out Cheerios and the like.

tigerblob

I'm currently in the process of cutting out sugar and I'm finding it very hard. I feel a hundred times better for it though. I have so much more energy, I've lost half a stone and I now sleep for two hours less at night. I'm prediabetic so it's not really a choice for me, I have to give it up, but I think if it weren't for my health I wouldn't be able to do it.

smeedyova

tigerblob: what are you finding hardest about giving up sugar?

tigerblob

smeedyova wrote: »

tigerblob: what are you finding hardest about giving up sugar?

Just constantly craving it. I've been 'off' it for about two months now but I find it so hard to resist when I'm out and somebody offers me a biscuit, which happens surprisingly often! I break the no-sugar rule about twice a week. I find that the longer I go, the harder it actually gets! I felt the same way about smoking when I quit. I didn't find it getting easier to say no, I just eventually got to the stage where I really, really want one but can resist.

smeedyova

That's not so bad, is it? I have the odd biscuit when I'm out as well. Mostly I eat at home and I don't buy anything like biscuits etc., so my diet is mostly sugar free. If it really bothers you why not bring your own sugar free snacks to have when others are offering you biscuits? Sometimes it's just the ritual of seeing others having something and you want to join them, no?

christeb

I'm 4 weeks off it now, finding it relatively easy I must say. I've cut out honey on porridge and all chocolate, which was the hardest part.

Some of the reasoning behind is that I get rashes / eczema when I eat too much, so it was a no-brainer really. So far so good !

smeedyova

Isn't it shocking to discover how much 'hidden' sugar is in products? What I find most surprising is that dried fruit, even from the health food shop, is often sweetened with sugar. Bizzare. I go for the apple sweetened every time.

After 9 months off sugar I find chocolate way too sweet now. Still have a piece every now and then (one a month or so) but I find after I've eaten it that it really wasn't that enjoyable.

My eczema was never bad but rarely flares up these days.

Jenneke87

smeedyova wrote: »

My eczema was never bad but rarely flares up these days.

I can't believe I never thought of this. I mainly went vegetarian to see if I had eczema because I was eating meat and even though it became less, it never went away but I never thought in a million years that also sugar could make it flare up again. I'm definately going to monitor my intake and see if it makes a difference.:)

Zombienosh

is this the reason for giving up sugar?
http://www.peta.org/about/faq/Are-animal-ingredients-included-in-white-sugar.aspx

I've read about this but im still somewhat confused, if Bonechar is used to filter pretty much all sugar wouldn't that also included the sugar already in products? therefore making avoiding animal related sugar almost impossible without cutting out sugar all together.

It does list some sugars that claim to be free from bonechar.

Whippersnapper

I don't eat fruit, add sugar to anything, don't eat cake, biscuits, sweets or chocolate. No fizzy drinks, diet or otherwise. I'll have the odd 85% dark chocolate but no way will I go back to all that sugar crap.

smeedyova

I gave it up for the sake of my teeth and skin!

tigerblob

smeedyova wrote: »

Isn't it shocking to discover how much 'hidden' sugar is in products? What I find most surprising is that dried fruit, even from the health food shop, is often sweetened with sugar. Bizzare. I go for the apple sweetened every time.

After 9 months off sugar I find chocolate way too sweet now. Still have a piece every now and then (one a month or so) but I find after I've eaten it that it really wasn't that enjoyable.
/QUOTE]

Yeah like I was thinking about a yoghurt this morning, looked at the ingredients and it had 27g of sugar! I nearly fell over. I'm starting to find chocolate way too sweet too. I still crave it but when I eat it, it actually hurts my teeth it's so sweet.