# Sugar



## jiggles (Mar 31, 2011)

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone has any information/knowledge regarding sugar addictions/dependence? I've really been noticing that in any attempt to eat healthy I can cut calories but cannot cut sugar. Affects my mood and focus... and leaves me with cravings everyday that unfortunately leaves me reaching for junk food. Beyond the more general information that can be found on google...can anyone reflect on their personal experience overcoming or even just dealing with such a dependence? Even if it doesn't result in weight loss I think learning to regulate my sugar intake would be beneficial to my over all health.

If this has been discussed elsewhere can someone please direct me there?

Thanks.


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## HottiMegan (Mar 31, 2011)

When i went on Eat To Live a few years ago (and fell off that wagon 8 months later when MIL died) I gave up all processed foods and therefore sugar. It is a hard habit to kick. Even white foods that turn so quickly to sugar in your blood stream is hard to give up. I do not have any advice per say but i will say it does get better. I felt like i had the flu for 2-3 weeks after quitting all that food. Then one morning i woke up and felt great. I felt better than i had in a long time. I know that was when the sugar was out of my system. 
While i was withdrawing, i was angry, grumpy and quick to yell. I was also tired as hell and had a lot of headaches. I sort of see it as kicking something like cigarettes or alcohol. Your body depends on that sugar and hates giving it up. I was also giving up most salt at the time and boy was that hard. Food felt flavorless. I remember noticing that if i'd go out to eat, food didn't taste as good, it was too sweet or too salty. Food tastes better when it's less adulterated with sugar and salt. 
God i wish i had the willpower to go back to eat to live. I crave that eating style, it's just so hard to get past the initial withdrawals and reactions.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Mar 31, 2011)

My experience is similar to Megan's but not quite so extreme; then, again, I was only giving up sugar, while she was making a much larger change in her eating habits! I craved sugar for about a week, but -- as Megan said -- the changeover to feeling good came all of a sudden. I also noticed that the headaches I had suffered since childhood went away! There's no doubt in my mind that sugar is a drug as well as a food, and although I eat it, I try to be sparing in my consumption.


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## jiggles (Mar 31, 2011)

Thank you for the responses! Treating it like an addiction... when giving it up did you gradually cut back or go cold turkey?


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## Hodson (Apr 1, 2011)

Hey jiggles always take the proper amount of every diet and foods in your meal time ... Sugar is also taken in the proper and small amount... I am also treating the cheese and sugar as a medicine and takes that kinds of the products in very low amount for the health benefits and keeping me fit.....


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## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 1, 2011)

jiggles said:


> Thank you for the responses! Treating it like an addiction... when giving it up did you gradually cut back or go cold turkey?



Cold turkey. Trying to cut back gradually is harder for me: I suppose you could say it encourages buyer's remorse.


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## Dolce (Apr 2, 2011)

When I gave up sugar for 3 months (I have since falling off that wagon but I am trying to get back on) I craved it terribly for a few days. What helped me was to eat a lot of fruit and not feel guilty about the sugar in the fruit. I found that I could eat an apple, banana, pear, and orange and feel satisfied whereas I can eat 2 pounds of M&M's and my body was still telling me I could find room for more. Anything with wheat also has this effect on me. 

I would say to eat a good portion of protein at every meal and fill up on fruits and veggies. It is better nutritionally to eat 10 bananas than 10 candy bars. Eventually my appetite got smaller and I was able to get by on less fruit. My body chemistry changed and I didn't need as much. Also, things like carrots began to taste very sweet to me. Then the holidays hit....


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## it's only me (Apr 2, 2011)

have any of you guys ever heard of or taken CHROMINUM PICOLINATE, their supplements, you can get them at the health food store, maybe wal-mart, or drug stores, i buy mine on line, they definitely cut my cravings, i've been taking them for a few yrs.
i was taking them to prevent diabetes, but i noticed i wasn't craving sweets,(i'm really not a sweet eater, but i'll kill for my salt,lol). so i was looking a DR OZ one day & they mentioned chronium & that 200 or 250mcg a day will cut sugar cravings. i just thought it was a preventive supplement not knowing it was cutting my sweet cravings. or maybe try cinnamon that'll also help.


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## lypeaches (Apr 2, 2011)

omg...this is soooo my issue. Ever since I quit smoking a couple years ago I have had such a hard time with sugar. Which is weird, because before that I was more of a savory/salty kind of person, not so much into sweets. 

Anyway, the best way I've found to break the sugar binge cycle is eat a few days like this.... Lean protein, legumes, vegetables (except potatoes) and fruit. Butter and olive oil ok, in reasonable quantities. No rice, bread or pasta, nothing processed. Eating that way really helps kill the sugar cravings for me. It lasts for awhile, then I find the craving creeping back again, so I have to repeat, but for me the craving is pretty much directly related to how much carbs I'm eating, especially if they're processed, white carbs. Whole wheat not as much.


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## Dolce (Apr 2, 2011)

Yes, chromium does help a lot. That and cinnamon can help to lower blood sugar levels, too! A great source of chromium is brewers yeast. It tastes bitter but it's full of trace minerals and b-vitamins. 

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW329/ItemDetail


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