[misspixie]

http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/27/wha...w-about-sugar/

From Time: basically says carb calories are different from each other depending on the source of carb; fructose vs glucose; how the body uses different kinds of sugar and that sugar is irresistable.

Intersting, kind of what lowcarb books say. Dunno if its true or not. What does everyone think?

[AnnRue]

Certain types of sugar can put weight on me hand over foot. I cannot have candy and I cannot have most types of baked goods. I absolutely think that certain sugar foods can addict me.

I actually don't eat fruit at all because I have never liked it. I am going to have to presume that I can get the proper nutrients from multi vitamins / veggies.

I wish that some smart store would open that doesn't sell sugar based foods... how did the "bakery" become an indispensable part of every grocery store. I just walk on by now.

My diet program had a movie about sugar. They showed us a muffin and asked us how much calories and sugar was in it. We guessed about 500 calories and 22gs of sugar. The muffin was sold in a hospital cafeteria. It actually had 1100 cals and 35 gs of sugar.

[merilung]

I'm a sugar addict hardcore. Even too much fruit can throw me into a sugar frenzy, and I'm slowly learning what I can and cannot eat - I can eat a bowl of strawberries without going insane, for example, but not two bananas. Moderation in sugar for me does not work at all. One 'treat' can put me off plan for weeks and gives me withdrawal symptoms (shaking, nausea, trouble concentrating, mean mean mean mood swings, etc.)

[MadProfessor]

I had the same symptoms. After a few months of cleanse from all that fat and dairy-based snot blocking everything in my body I've got now a very sound relation with carbs. Two bananas? I eat them for breakfast. With a handful of dried dates. And 2 oranges. And some apples. Often a grapefruit comes along as well. Heartburn? Never happens anymore.

[merilung]

Originally Posted by MadProfessor

I had the same symptoms. After a few months of cleanse from all that fat and dairy-based snot blocking everything in my body I've got now a very sound relation with carbs. Two bananas? I eat them for breakfast. With a handful of dried dates. And 2 oranges. And some apples. Often a grapefruit comes along as well. Heartburn? Never happens anymore.

This really reinforces that totally different things work for different people - I totally did all of this and was still INSANE about sugar! I was vegan for 3+ years with a very low-fat diet, did 30 day green juice fasts - the works. The only thing that has ever quelled my intense, massive sugar cravings is decent compliance with a low carb, high fat, whole foods diet. Two bananas for breakfast turns me into an angry monster who will eat sugar directly out of the bag!

[GinnyCarinhas]

I'm a hard core sugar addict myself, but I am able to eat fruit and be ok, but don't send me into town alone. I did ok yesterday though. Ate an odwalla bar instead of candy or ice cream.

[the shiv]

I didn't cut sugar out, but I didn't cut anything out. I eat whatever I like now. Which, yesterday, was 3 donuts & 2 mars bars. Completely fell off the wagon with overwhelming stress & depression. Today though, I'm back to normal: cheese & onion omelette for breakfast, then whole wheat pasta with pesto for dinner. No sugar in my tea. Oh, and a mug of hot water with lemon first thing.

I'll say one thing about how I managed to get Intuitive Eating to work: I stopped putting sugar in my tea. Then in my coffee. The constant hunger I was having (I mean, constant as in "I had a meal 30 minutes ago... why do I want to pass out with hunger?!") went away. I can never say I cut it out, because I can't do the cutting out thing. But when I go through 10+ cups of tea/coffee a day, a spoonful of white sugar in each one just played havoc with my hunger signal.

I picked up New Scientist last month as they had an article that looked relevant. I think it was this article that basically said that past a certain point, chronic elevated intake of processed sugar messes with your hunger hormones. You have insulin, and processed sugar contributes to making you insulin resistant. You also have grehlin, the hormone that tells you to eat. When eating too much refined sugar, cells would let energy IN, but would continue to produce grehlin, keeping you hungry. Also, it suppressed the production of leptin, the hormone that tells you to stop eating. (ps: this is from memory so correct me if I've got that wrong! I did read studies on it, either a confirmed or suspected link). I'm no endocrinologist, but this is useful stuff for me to know, as in part, I can now pay attention to why my hunger signal is behaving the way it is on response to what I eat, instead of just assuming I have a "willpower problem" and losing my head over it.

Perhaps the more prolonged your access to refined sugar is, the more "addictive" it becomes? As in, over time you'll go through the stages right up to full blown diabetes and then your body has more trouble regulating its response to sugar? Being a possible reason why some can do "in moderation" and some can't, maybe it's as much a hormonal thing as a mental thing? It does seem like both healthy and unhealthy behaviours have a cumulative effect on the entire body.

Sorry for going on a bit, this is kind of my pet subject right now

[KittieKat]

"The one thing we can agree on is that our sugar consumption has skyrocketed, from 4 teaspoons a day in 1990 to 22 teaspoons today. It needs to go back to being a once-a-week treat—something for special occasions—instead of a once-a-meal diet staple."

I agree with the above statement that we should eat less sugar, but in 1990 people were eating just a much sugar as they do now. Maybe they meant to say 1970 or 1960?

one teaspoon of sugar has about 4 grams of sugar. One large apple as 23 grams of sugar = about 6 Teaspoons of sugar.

[marigrace]

the shiv:
"I can now pay attention to why my hunger signal is behaving the way it is on response to what I eat, instead of just assuming I have a "willpower problem" and losing my head over it."

This is true for me too. When I restrict starches and limit fruit, the cravings stop and I see that it wasn't about "will power" after all.