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Giving up sugar. Have you done it?

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    #32
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    I don’t hold back on sugar because my health is already fooked so there’s no point. Kinda like dying people enjoying their cigs. Plus, it’s actually really helped keep my weight up at times when my appetite was practically non-existent. One of the few times sugar, as a calorie-dense food, is useful. Fat is more calorie-dense but I don’t like really greasy food.

    But I have a natural sugar-eating barrier. I get really grouchy and itchy when I eat too much of the stuff.


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    #33
    Wibbs
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,388 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Used to take it in my tea, but knocked that on the head a few years ago. Took about a week for me to go from murderous missing it, to grand without it and now I couldn't stomach the taste of it in tea. I'd drink a soft drink maybe four or five times a year(sugar free). Not a big fan of juices TBH(people can forget that cartoon juice can often be higher than some soft drinks). I'd drink a glass of Red vino a couple of times a week, the odd pint of beer. I'd add about a half teaspoon of sugar to a bowl of porridge. I tend to eat plain foods, meat veg, some fruit, mostly berries with no sauces so I'd say my sugar intake is fairly low?

    Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.



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    #34
    Trigger Happy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,291 ✭✭✭Trigger Happy


    New Year’s Day 2011. I decided to have a clean January and quit the booze, smoking and all sugar treats and sweets.
    The treats and sweets were the hardest oddly enough, would not be going cold turkey like that again.


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    #35
    Signore Fancy Pants
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,703 ✭✭✭Signore Fancy Pants


    Recently gave up added sugar and fizzy pop for 3 months. I didnt have any major withdrawals thankfully. Did feel a lot better at the time too. Coffee without 14 sugars was the hard bit.

    Slipped back into old habits though. Will be trying again soon.


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    #36
    beejee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,787 ✭✭✭beejee


    Like clockwork, I give up on sugarz during the colder monthzzz. Bz. It can be tough going, literally dying for a bit, and sometimez people offer me some of the fake stuff to keep me buzzzzing. But itzz no good for me really. Come summerzz time I start back on it, binging azz much azzzz I can. Bzzzz.


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    #37
    bitofabind
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭bitofabind


    Trigger Happy wrote: »
    New Year’s Day 2011. I decided to have a clean January and quit the booze, smoking and all sugar treats and sweets.
    The treats and sweets were the hardest oddly enough, would not be going cold turkey like that again.

    Woah. Fair play! Did you notice a big difference in your health and general wellbeing?


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    #38
    Trigger Happy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,291 ✭✭✭Trigger Happy


    bitofabind wrote: »
    Woah. Fair play! Did you notice a big difference in your health and general wellbeing?

    God yes. Was bouncing out of bed in the morning. But life was boring!


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    #39
    rossie1977
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,541 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    Giving up sugar is pretty easy. Even if you crave it fruit is filled with natural sugars anyway

    Now try giving up salt. 99% of all non fresh food has salt in it. Everything served in restaurants/fast food joints is filled with salt if it's not a salad that hasn't been dosed with some kind of dressing.


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    #40
    tamara25
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 416 ✭✭tamara25


    Another complete sugar addict here. I’m fairly ok for the first half of the day but it is the evening time where my willpower goes out the window... biscuits, chocolate buns mostly. I switched from black tea to green tea back in February & it was hard in the beginning now I love my cuppa of green tea. It’s so addictive that’s the problem. I think I’ll give it another shot & cut down on the carbs also.


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    #41
    tamara25
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 416 ✭✭tamara25


    Allforit what did you replace your starchy carbs with? Looking for tips!


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    #42
    wakka12
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,786 ✭✭✭wakka12


    What do people mean when they say theyre giving up 'sugar'? Just sweets and chocolate? Theres many healthy foods like whole grain carbohydrates and legume and starchy vegetables and fruits which have some amount of 'sugar' so does it include limiting these healthy foods for no reason too or what?


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    #43
    rossie1977
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,541 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    wakka12 wrote: »
    What do people mean when they say theyre giving up 'sugar'? Just sweets and chocolate? Theres many healthy foods like whole grain carbohydrates and legume and starchy vegetables and fruits which have some amount of 'sugar' so does it include limiting these healthy foods for no reason too or what?

    Giving up processed sugar and salt should be enough. Removing natural sugars from diet would limit your choice of food to very few items I would imagine.

    There are still tons of things with processed sugar in them but much easier to avoid those foods than the ones with processed salt in them outside your own kitchen.


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    #44
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 21,559 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    rossie1977 wrote: »
    Giving up sugar is pretty easy. Even if you crave it fruit is filled with natural sugars anyway.
    All sugar is natural.


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    #45
    wakka12
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,786 ✭✭✭wakka12


    rossie1977 wrote: »
    Giving up processed sugar and salt should be enough. Removing natural sugars from diet would limit your choice of food to very few items I would imagine.

    There are still tons of things with processed sugar in them but much easier to avoid those foods than the ones with processed salt in them outside your own kitchen.

    Yeh salts hard to avoid. As far as I know, the main health issue with salt is that it raises your blood pressure, but if your blood pressure is normal then it shouldnt be too big an issue??


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    #46
    ArchXStanton
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,912 ✭✭✭ArchXStanton


    Mr.S wrote: »
    You can still have sugar in moderation without the fear of diabetes...

    Yeah but I was taking 3 spoons in a cup of tea or coffee... And about 6-7 cups a day, I actually prefer the sweetener now, not much of a difference


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    #47
    rossie1977
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,541 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    Alun wrote: »
    All sugar is natural.

    Naturally occurring in food. Sucrose is naturally found in some food. Refined sugar from cane and beet is processed and added to stuff like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sold in packets.
    wakka12 wrote: »
    Yeh salts hard to avoid. As far as I know, the main health issue with salt is that it raises your blood pressure, but if your blood pressure is normal then it shouldnt be too big an issue??

    Salt kills my skin. Any consumption of food with salt seems to badly irritate my eczema.


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    #48
    ILoveYourVibes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,596 ✭✭✭✭ILoveYourVibes


    I did once for about 3 months. I did have natural sugar though and i didn't go mad about reading what was in a yoghurt.

    I gave up cakes sweets etc all junk though. I felt fantastic.

    Then old habits crept in.


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    #49
    bitofabind
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 938 ✭✭✭bitofabind


    wakka12 wrote: »
    What do people mean when they say theyre giving up 'sugar'? Just sweets and chocolate? Theres many healthy foods like whole grain carbohydrates and legume and starchy vegetables and fruits which have some amount of 'sugar' so does it include limiting these healthy foods for no reason too or what?

    What I mean is the processed stuff. Junk food and crap and adding it to my coffee. I don't eat much fruit anyway and I've been mostly eating lean protein, eggs and vegetables this last week, which I think will be sustainable for the foreseeable. Once I stop daydreaming about pain au chocolat and frothy lattes!


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    #50
    Shybride2016
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 460 ✭✭Shybride2016


    Another one here who gave up sugar a few months ago.

    I was a complete sweet tooth sugar addict, chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cake etc etc.

    First three weeks were tough, my head was lifting most days from the banging headaches and the cravings for sugar were unreal. Now though I’ve more energy, I’m sleeping better and my jeans actually fit me properly for once.

    I occasionally have one of those Jacobs chocolate wafer biscuits which does me, whereas before I’d need to eat the whole packet. I definitely believe sugar is totally addictive and for a complete sugar fiend I’m actually surprised at my willpower to avoid it as much as possible.


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    #51
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 21,559 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    rossie1977 wrote: »
    Naturally occurring in food. Sucrose is naturally found in some food. Refined sugar from cane and beet is processed and added to stuff like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sold in packets.
    True, but the point I was making was that it's exactly the same stuff, i.e sucrose. Refined sugar is as natural as the sugar found in sugar beet, or indeed most root vegetables, the "processing" is minimal, just extraction really.


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    #52
    AllForIt
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,861 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    tamara25 wrote: »
    Allforit what did you replace your starchy carbs with? Looking for tips!

    Less starchy veg. I discovered frozen diced turnips in Dunnes that I think of as a kind of spud alternative. I mix that with other green veg though usually.
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=111620718&postcount=4580...is an example of my typical main meal but I'd usually have additional veg than I describe there without the sauce. I generally eat lots of veg with full fat butter.


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    #53
    igCorcaigh
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 14,003 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    Gave up sugar in coffee ages back. Found it difficult to adjust initially.

    I never eat sweet things though, don't like them.
    I very rarely buy jarred sauces. I make tomato sauce from canned tomatoes with no added sugar, just slowly cook for longer.

    No sugar in the cupboard.


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    #54
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    rossie1977 wrote: »
    Giving up sugar is pretty easy. Even if you crave it fruit is filled with natural sugars anyway

    Now try giving up salt. 99% of all non fresh food has salt in it. Everything served in restaurants/fast food joints is filled with salt if it's not a salad that hasn't been dosed with some kind of dressing.

    I don’t see the point in that. Nicely seasoned home-cooked food needs salt and in small amounts, it’s needed by the body.


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    #55
    igCorcaigh
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 14,003 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    I don’t see the point in that. Nicely seasoned home-cooked food needs salt and in small amounts, it’s needed by the body.

    True.
    Too little is as bad as too much.


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    #56
    wakka12
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,786 ✭✭✭wakka12


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    I don’t see the point in that. Nicely seasoned home-cooked food needs salt and in small amounts, it’s needed by the body.

    But all natural foods have some sodium naturally occurring.When I calculate all my foods on cronometer on days Im just eating completely whole foods its still not that far off the 1500 mg advised by medical professionals for optimal heart health. Sodium is a necessary micro nutrient like any others, we just talk about it more and consider it as different because its one you can taste and it tastes good. The whole issue is that sodium is one micro nutrient most of us get wayyy too much of. So saying its necessary so dont bother too much about amounts is almost meaningless to say, there is absolutely nobody on earth who doesnt get enough sodium unless they are fasting and doing huge amounts of sweaty exercise daily and not replenishing at all, but several billion probably get so much it damages their health, to some extent. So sodium should definitely be watched, it is ridiculously easy to ingest very unhealthy quanitities. Simply being aware and cutting back will just bring you down to the baseline level representative of amounts foods in nature , there is literally zero chance of you getting too little sodium in your diet, especially the modern western one


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    #57
    HugsiePie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,160 ✭✭✭✭HugsiePie


    I've done it twice. Gave up everything with sugar as an ingredient (sandwiches, sushi, etc, things you wouldn't expect to have sugar) and it was sooooooo rough. I did cheat the second time tho with no added sugar biscuits/bars etc. Still rough. Very addicted to sugar. I did veganuary before I did sugar free February. Veganism was 20 times easier.


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    #58
    igCorcaigh
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 14,003 Mod ✭✭✭✭igCorcaigh


    I don't think there be a need, for most people, to ditch sugar completely.

    It's the excess sugar that comes along with fizzy drinks etc that causes the health issues.

    Despite my previous posts, I do drink beer a lot.
    I bet that has loads of sugar. And I'm not going to give up the occasional baked beans.


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    #59
    enfant terrible
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,797 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    Bought these and they are delicious if you like coconuts
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075RCCD7J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Or these if like Snickers
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075RBMQ21/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B075RBMQ21&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQjVPVzVDUzU5RDVWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDkxODU1MzRQR0w3TE5CUDFaJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwMzc4ODdYSkZGT1RHTUMyMjUmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

    Use this in my coffee
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003VJQNWG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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    #60
    AllForIt
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,861 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »
    I don’t see the point in that. Nicely seasoned home-cooked food needs salt and in small amounts, it’s needed by the body.

    I read some time ago that giving up salt has caused some ppl to be sodium deficient and is causing health issues in some ppl.

    I think if one's diet is good then there is absolutely no reason to give up seasoning one's food with salt, as you say ODB. If one is eating crap food regularly then that is much more of a problem than the extra salt.


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    #61
    wakka12
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,786 ✭✭✭wakka12


    AllForIt wrote: »
    I read some time ago that giving up salt has caused some ppl to be sodium deficient and is causing health issues in some ppl.

    I think if one's diet is good then there is absolutely no reason to give up seasoning one's food with salt, as you say ODB. If one is eating crap food regularly then that is much more of a problem than the extra salt.

    Much more health issues are caused by the opposite, people getting too much sodium. Sodium in the form of seasoning, or any amounts used for taste purposes is literally excess. Sodium is a naturally occurring micro nutrient that we get more than enough of in whole foods which dont necessarily taste 'salty'.

    A cup of cooked plain old swiss chard straight the soils of mother earth has 300 mg of sodium, 20% of the what is considered the ideal daily sodium intake.Some salt is of course fine but its important to at leats be conscious of the amount youre using. Medical professionals issue advice on the amounts of sodium we should consume for very good reason.

    And its a bit like spreading misinformation really, sodium tastes great and and itd be lovely if we could eat as much as we want but lets not pretend theres no issue with it or that sugar is way worse, its just not. Sodium deficiencies are extremely uncommon except in people taking diuretic medication tor athletes who are sweating huge amounts daily. And I find it funny youre talking about crap and processed food but salting is just another form of food 'processing' just like any other, salted food is not natural, theres no naturally occuring foods with the levels of salt in them that we find palatable


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