Sugar should be a controlled substance....!

[Bigmack]

I've fought my weight my whole life. Always in good shape, but way too heavy. Very active... hiking and doing lots of physical type work.

My doc has always been after me to lose weight, of course. "Diet and exercise"....

Shit, I was watching what I ate.. diet pop and the whole thing.

I was in to see him in June, and he changed the script... he said that sugar should be a controlled substance... that it's addictive for most people.

He said to cut out sugar and white carbs and anything that tells your body it is sweet. He said that you'll have withdrawal symptoms for a couple of weeks, but then you'll be better.

I did it.

Cut all sugar out.... except honey in my coffee and one glass of wine about 5 nights a week.

The doc was right... withdrawal pains and amazing cravings. I stuck it out and after about two weeks I felt no cravings.

Since June of 2011, I have lost 35 lbs.

It's not a diet... I eat a LOT! Instead of a bagel, I have a whole wheat wrap. Instead of chips and salsa, I have cauliflower and salsa or apples and salsa. Big breakfast of fake egg omelet with lots of onion and real bacon bits on a wrap. Lunch is cottage cheese and fruit... lots of it... and some nuts. Dinner... lots of anything that isn't white (whole wheat is OK) and fruit for desert.

I don't suffer at all.

It does piss me off that sugar is in everything! You have to watch carefully. Yoghurt, for instance, has 25-30 grams of sugar... I think companies could sell horse shit in little containers if they put enough sugar in it.

I think that sugar made my body hungry and demanded more food. I don't feel those cravings anymore.

I'm not even worried about regaining the weight... I'm not on a diet.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Totally agree. I've experienced much the same....

Lost 50 since last Jan. Really increased veggies, and veggie based proteins....rarely hungry, feel great.
But sugar....just makes you want more and more and more.

[laundry_queen]

2. I had the same problem

I've gone low-carb and it's definitely changed how I feel. In fact, I think it reset my body in some form - I went off it around Christmas and didn't have my normal sugar highs and lows, and I felt full sooner and wasn't starving an hour later. After Christmas I went back on low-carb. I fall off the wagon from time to time but it's like eating low sugar so consistently means that when I DO have sugar, my body knows how to respond to it again. It's probably like any addictive substance - you build up tolerance over time. The weird thing is though, unlike other addictive substances, now when I eat sugar I want to puke instead of wanting more...

I don't own a scale but I've been asked recently if I've lost weight so I guess it's working. Congrats to you too and your new no sugar lifestyle!

[handmade34]

3. absolutely!

sugar and processed food are poisons and it is wonderful that you have done this! I have experienced the same... once I cut out all sugar and processed food, I lost all of the cravings I used to struggle with... initially, it is not an easy thing to do though and I understand how difficult it is for most people...

the key is to read labels and buy nothing with added sugar, HFCS, etc... it is time consuming but worth it

[Paulie]

4. I did the same

I cut fructose out (except for whole fruit). I still eat white carbs like pasta and bread. But nothing with sucrose or fructose.

And I'm down 100lbs in a year so far. Another 50 to go.

Dr. Lustig's talk which is on YouTube I found just after taking a basic biology course in community college. Seeing the actual metabolism process in the liver between glucose, alcohol and fructose really hit home. Fructose is a poison and should be a controlled substance just like alcohol.

[ginnyinWI]

10. I'm glad to hear this!

I watched Lustig's YouTube video, and then I bought his new book on kindle, "Fat Chance". I'm still reading it. I was wondering if I had to cut out all sugar and all refined carbs to lose weight, or would just cutting out the sugar do it.

I have been cutting way down on sugar, and getting over the addiction. I understand about refined carbs like bread or potatoes giving you a glucose spike and hunger, but they don't have fructose, so theoretically if I eat them with vegetables and things, wouldn't that slow it down?

How long did it take to lose the 100? I have lost 60 over the years and have a very stubborn 30 lbs to go!

Also, do you eat artificial sweeteners? Lustig wonders in his book whether they also cause insulin to rise and hunger.

[reeviint]

7. W/L

Sugar and the high calories foods direct caused to weight/fat and other health problems.I had addiction of sugar at some stage but now i pretty control myself.I fall off the wagon from time to time but it's like eating low sugar so consistently means that when I DO have sugar, my body knows how to respond to it again.It's probably like any addictive substance - you build up tolerance over time.

[hlthe2b]

8. Yes.. good on your doc for tossing the old dogma. I finally am losing weight again on just <70 carbs

per day... kept it up for 5 months now along with daily fitness walk of 4.5 miles (or more) daily. I finally feel good again, have lost steadily (albeit slowly) and I have had NO problem sticking to it, even with all the temptations of the holidays. AND, because I focus on getting these 70 (or less) carbs from the healthiest foods, I am eating a more balanced and nutritious diet than ever before--I always get my minimum of 5 fruits/veggies per day and usually at least one legume daily.

I kicked the diet soft drinks, several years ago and now drink lots of varieties of unsweetened teas--black, green, white--and both hot and iced. I reformulate my own milk with 1% milk, half and half, and water to be 30-40% less carbs (yet still no more fat than whole milk), so I can still have my lattes and because I eat less red meat and other saturated fat sources, I still keep my daily fats within the recommended range and primarily healthy fats.

So, yeah, sugar (of all kinds) is a problem. I'm grateful I finally wised up to that fact. This is a dietary life style change, but one I feel comfortable I can keep up with. I do still find I get lazy (on the daily work-outs), but so far, I've been able to keep up any missed work-outs by doubling up over the weekends. But, there are only so many hours in the day, so it is a challenge.

[spinbaby]

9. Totally agree

I think the disease we call obesity and blame on a lack of willpower is simply the result of "thrifty" genes that do poorly with the modern diet. I've never gone completely diabetic but I'm insulin resistant and have always found I do better on a low-carb diet. Trouble is that I can't seem to stay on a low-carb diet--the cravings become overwhelming. Hoping that a bit of surgery will fix that monkey on my back.

[bike man]

11. I believe everything one eats is 'a diet', not a fad diet, or a diet with a celebrity

or vegetable name, but a diet none the less.

The things a person puts down the neck, and the amount, are of great importance when determining whether/not that person's diet is healthy.

It is true that sugar is in many things, but that is controllable as well. The yogurt in your example has much more sugar than the yogurt that I use.

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-dannon-light-n-fit-nonfat-i83134

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
1 container (170.0 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 80
Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0.0g
Saturated Fat 0.0g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 3mg
Sodium 75mg
Total Carbohydrates 15.0g
Sugars 11.1g
Protein 4.9g

I mix mine in a blender w/ protein powder, or make a mix of yogurt and bran flakes, or with blueberries.

[ginnyinWI]

12. unsweetened yogurt still has "sugars"

My plain nonfat yogurt has "sugars 19g" But that is sugar from lactose, because there is no added sugar. The ingredients in this yogurt are: milk, whey protein, pectin, and calcium chloride. I wish they would list "added sugars" to make that clear. Sugar from lactose isn't bad for you--not like fructose.