Anyone ever give up sugar?

B0jangles · 03-05-2018 10:50AM

Carry wrote: »

Yeah, I know....

But if you eat only one it's fine. The thing with boiled sweets is that it takes ages to dissolve in the mouth so you don't stuff your face with one after another. And they are not that delicious that you want more.
A piece of very dark chocolate melting in your mouth does the same trick, unless you continue eating the whole bar.

I don't drink any sugary stuff or put sugar in my coffee/tea, never did. I even don't drink fruit juices any more (unless freshly pressed). Recently a friend gave me a carton with pomegranate juice, very healthy she said. I looked at the packaging which said 70% sugar content. 70%!

This thread inspired me to give up sugar as completely as possible again. At least for some time. Recently I developed a worrying fondness of cake (and baking) and jeans are getting a bit tighter...

I've been working on this myself lately - things like trying to switch to having a single square of chocolate rather than just eating a whole bar and things like that.

It's surprisingly pleasant - I find I enjoy the little piece more because it's the only one, and because I've only had the one bit, I can have another bit later

I'm lucky in that I already don't like sugary drinks or take sugar in tea or coffee.

VampiricPadraig · 03-05-2018 10:52AM

Gave it up about 6 - 8 months ago in coffee when I was on WeightWatchers and never looked back. Now, I am getting more "less sugar" foods to try and keep myself on the straight and narrow.

WW didn't work for me personally, but I learned a few things

Graces7 · 03-05-2018 10:54AM

kunst nugget wrote: »

Aye, like those nicotine, caffeine and heroin cravings I do get all the time.

No , as you well know Sugar is not a drug . Period. It is a basic food.

kunst nugget · 03-05-2018 10:54AM

B0jangles wrote: »

So much for delicacy!

There was nothing delicate about it.

Graces7 · 03-05-2018 10:55AM

how.gareth wrote: »

Like nicotine???

No one needs nicotine.

sozbox · 03-05-2018 10:57AM

Greyfox wrote: »

going a day without a treat is so so hard.

Are you a puppy?

03-05-2018 11:17AM

Nettle Soup wrote: »

No but would you believe that I put my Kelloggs Fcuking Country Store through a sieve these days before I eat them. Yes, I sieve my muesli. I have to. You see, I have always loved Country Store but the bastards filled it with fcuking sugar sometime back and it gets disgustingly sweet about half way down the box. So I sieve the bloody muesli twice or three times, taking out loads of sugar, before I put it in the bowl.

FFS Kelloggs, why would you put so much sugar in the fcuking Country Store? Put more fcuking raisins in it if you want to sweeten it up...I love raisins!
If I want excess sugar, I will buy fcuking Coco Pops!

Nettle Soup, have you tried the no added sugar Alpen, in the blue packet? Or even the Tesco equivalent? Country Store is waaayyyyy too sweet.

03-05-2018 11:19AM

Cinnamon is supposed to be good for curbing the sugar cravings.

....which would be great, except the best form of cinnamon is on a cinnamon bun/danish..... *drool...

kunst nugget · 03-05-2018 11:22AM

Graces7 wrote: »

No , as you well know Sugar is not a drug . Period. It is a basic food.

But sugar can act like a drug in that it affects the dopamine reward system, which is what drugs like nicotine and cocaine do as well. The withdrawals you get from reducing the amount of sugar are from your dopamine system readjusting and a drop in your dopamine levels leading to cravings - much like the way it works with drugs.

DanC90 · 03-05-2018 11:23AM

Search YouTube for the Joe Rogan Podcast with Dr. Rhonda Patrick and listen to what she has to say about the effects of refined sugar and carbs to our bodies.

OP I recently gave up eating chocolate and cakes and all the other processed crap I'd been eating the last few years and went on the Keto Diet which really helped me lose all the excess fat on me especially the belly.
For the Sugar craving I have a sliced apple with Organic (Meridian) peanut butter and I'm good.
I found eating a really good lunch helps the most with staying away from the junk food too.

GreeBo · 03-05-2018 11:25AM

I switched to sweetener (Hermesetas) in my tea about a year ago and dont miss sugar at all.
I eat a lot of fruit (in smoothie form) and I dont avoid chocolate or biscuits, but for me the 4-5 cups of sugary tea were the problem.

silverharp · 03-05-2018 11:34AM

Graces7 wrote: »

No , as you well know Sugar is not a drug . Period. It is a basic food.

as far as I recall, sugar lights up the same parts of the brain as cocaine

Coffee Fulled Runner · 03-05-2018 11:52AM

There's a lot to be said for having a healthy diet. When I gave up processed sugar the first few weeks were very hard but when you get over that period it's great. I feel so much better and happy with positive out look on life since. Its a bit mad but I'd definitely recommend trying it for six months and see how it goes. I eat fruit and a small bit of dairy so technically I still have sugar in my diet just nothing with added sugars and sweeteners. I also cut out on all treats and try to keep processed food to a minimum. Yes I know most food is processed in some ways but you know what I mean.

goat2 · 03-05-2018 12:00PM

It is one of the hardest things to avoid in foods, It is added to most things, which is a bummer

Deise Vu · 03-05-2018 12:02PM

I gave up adding sugar to tea / coffee and breakfast cereals about 30 years ago. It was tough taste-wise for about two weeks but I can't honestly remember any physical side-effects if there were any. After the two weeks the taste thing flipped. If I accidentally taste tea or coffee with sugar in it since then I gag and spit it out immediately. When I think how many cups of coffee per day X two spoons of sugar X 365 X 30 years that I have declined to add sugar, the mind boggles at the health benefits of putting in two weeks of mild discomfort. Plus there are obviously the savings. My kids never even started getting sugar in this way so I am massively quids in.:p

silverharp · 03-05-2018 12:05PM

Deise Vu wrote: »

I gave up adding sugar to tea / coffee and breakfast cereals about 30 years ago. It was tough taste-wise for about two weeks but I can't honestly remember any physical side-effects if there were any. After the two weeks the taste thing flipped. If I accidentally taste tea or coffee with sugar in it since then I gag and spit it out immediately. When I think how many cups of coffee per day X two spoons of sugar X 365 X 30 years that I have declined to add sugar, the mind boggles at the health benefits of putting in two weeks of mild discomfort. Plus there are obviously the savings. My kids never even started getting sugar in this way so I am massively quids in.:p

depending on what breakfast cereals you get there can be lots of sugar in them, plus their info on portion size is very misleading, they often give a portion size of 30g when kids might often eat over 100g in one sitting. Kellogs and Nestle are evil

Macy0161 · 03-05-2018 12:06PM

Weaned myself off sugar in tea, via sweetners (now I don't have any sweetner). I just try to avoid refined sugar really - swapped my cereal bars for fruit by and large, honey or pure maple syrup instead of sugar where adding it (or even adding berries instead).

I do eat foods/ recipes with sweetners in them though, which if you believe the same whack jobs that are anti vaccines, will give me cancer so I might as well as stayed a fat smoker!

ginandtonicsky · 03-05-2018 12:22PM

B0jangles wrote: »

I've been working on this myself lately - things like trying to switch to having a single square of chocolate rather than just eating a whole bar and things like that.

I don't understand people who can do this and will absolutely never be one of them.

My mother used to buy those cadbury's fruit and nut bars, eat two squares and leave it in the fridge for two weeks, entirely forgetting about it. If it was me I'd lie in bed thinking about the chocolate in the fridge and probably end up sleepwalking into the kitchen to scoff the lot in the early hours. I had some wrestle over those malteasers last night. Ended up texting my flatmate telling her they were there for the taking, really hoping they're gone when I get back from work today.

Definitely NOT a "moderation" person when it comes to chocolate!

Deise Vu · 03-05-2018 12:39PM

silverharp wrote: »

depending on what breakfast cereals you get there can be lots of sugar in them, plus their info on portion size is very misleading, they often give a portion size of 30g when kids might often eat over 100g in one sitting. Kellogs and Nestle are evil

Absolutely no question there is sugar in everything. I was shocked at the levels in pasta sauces for example. I am not claiming I am sugar - free just that I am considerably sugar-less.

It is also handy that I am allergic to chocolate. Literally, it makes me sneeze.

B0jangles · 03-05-2018 01:17PM

ginandtonicsky wrote: »

I don't understand people who can do this and will absolutely never be one of them.

My mother used to buy those cadbury's fruit and nut bars, eat two squares and leave it in the fridge for two weeks, entirely forgetting about it. If it was me I'd lie in bed thinking about the chocolate in the fridge and probably end up sleepwalking into the kitchen to scoff the lot in the early hours. I had some wrestle over those malteasers last night. Ended up texting my flatmate telling her they were there for the taking, really hoping they're gone when I get back from work today.

Definitely NOT a "moderation" person when it comes to chocolate!

I 100% never used to be, it just sort of...happened over time and I've no idea why - not complaining though :P

sbsquarepants · 03-05-2018 01:32PM

I don't add sugar to anything, but I'd say I'm probably getting at least double or treble what I should be anyway from my diet - I eat tons of fruit and am overly fond of biscuits, chocolate, cake - anything sweet really(I'm actually eating biscuits typing this!)

03-05-2018 01:39PM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I don't add sugar to anything, but I'd say I'm probably getting at least double or treble what I should be anyway from my diet - I eat tons of fruit and am overly fond of biscuits, chocolate, cake - anything sweet really(I'm actually eating biscuits typing this!)

Me too.
A few years ago, I got into the habit of having coffee/tea on it's own, ie. without having the biscuits/cake/chocolate with it - it took a fair bit of re-training to get that habit kicked, but it's slowly crept back in, so this thread has me gearing up to get back off the treats.....

jimmycrackcorm · 03-05-2018 01:44PM

Giovanni Uneven Llama wrote:

Gave it up in tea and coffee 30 years ago. Can't use it now

I did the same. Basically I gradually cut down from two spoons per cup or cereal over a period of weeks to none. I just gradually lessened the effect it was having without going cold turkey

I also gradually cut down on chocolate bars, though I didn't give up completely.

sbsquarepants · 03-05-2018 01:58PM

GreeBo wrote: »

I eat a lot of fruit (in smoothie form) .

You'd really be better off eating it in it's natural form, because of the sugar. Blending it frees the sugar so it can be absorbed faster - you're eating the same amount of sugar one way or the other but the smoothies cause much bigger blood sugar spikes.

4068ac1elhodqr · 03-05-2018 02:16PM

sbsquarepants wrote: »

You'd really be better off eating it in it's natural form, because of the sugar. Blending it frees the sugar so it can be absorbed faster - you're eating the same amount of sugar one way or the other but the smoothies cause much bigger blood sugar spikes.

Probably better to eat natural fruit in any form, than not.

Some studies suggest having ripe bananas may even help control blood sugar levels (long chain, less sugar and resistant startch). The also have potassium and are low-ish GI index, so add them to the smoothie.

Anyone that adds white sugar to cereal/coffe/tea is most likely one of the '25%'. And if not clearly visable, chances are they have accumalted fat surrounding internal organs.

Gave up Coffee on Jan1 (best thing ever), and never take white cane sugar.

Avoiding it in shop bought foodstuffs can be difficult however. Switched some relatives over to Demera (brown) sugar as a last option, slight improvement.

DanC90 · 03-05-2018 02:32PM

Tinley Enough Stubbornness wrote:

Gave up Coffee on Jan1 (best thing ever), and never take white cane sugar.

What benefits have you noticed since giving up the coffee? What kind did you use to drink beforehand? (Instant or Fresh Ground)

4068ac1elhodqr · 03-05-2018 02:51PM

DanC90 wrote: »

What benefits have you noticed since giving up the coffee? What kind did you use to drink beforehand? (Instant or Fresh Ground)

Basically I would consider all those coffee (addicts) drinkers out there as having a form of a disability (mental). Can you imagine how they manage e.g. out on 'the Island' tv show? 50% less chance of making the 1st 3days than would otherwise be.

The time, expense and ritual of having to have several mugs of coffee per day is not only un-natural, but actually an inconvience. Add sugar to the equation, then further health issues arise.

In essence, being free from high caffine levels, improves not only sleep, energy and focus, but can also help in the fast attunement of alpha state (8-13hz).

ginandtonicsky · 03-05-2018 03:20PM

Tinley Enough Stubbornness wrote: »

Gave up Coffee on Jan1 (best thing ever), and never take white cane sugar.

The thought makes me shudder. Giving up coffee would be a step too far. Not a hope.

Dial Hard · 03-05-2018 03:27PM

Tinley Enough Stubbornness wrote: »

Anyone that adds white sugar to cereal/coffe/tea is most likely one of the '25%'.

never take white cane sugar.

Switched some relatives over to Demera (brown) sugar as a last option, slight improvement.

Sugar is sugar, it doesn't really matter whether it's white, brown, cane, honey, maple syrup, whatever. They're all processed by the body in the exact same way.

Likewise, there's no point in anyone feeling smug because they don't take sugar in their tea or coffee if they still eat some kind of sweet treat every day. Likewise if they eat pretty much any kind of sauce out of a jar/flavoured yoghurt/ready meals/store-bought bread/baked beans/condiments/pretty much any processed food.

Pretty much the only way to reduce sugar in your diet in any kind of meaningful way is to cook from scratch. And doing that will have a far bigger impact than not putting a spoonful of sugar into a cup of tea once a day.

03-05-2018 03:32PM

But it isn't just one spoon in tea once a day - mot people drink several cups of coffee and tea each day, so cutting out that sugar is a good step in the right direction.
Similar to cutting out fizzy drinks and swapping to sparkling water.
One step at a time.

Anyone ever give up sugar?

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