Sugar addiction and detox?

[MamaDee]

So I need to start a sensible diet. The problem is that I'm to the point where 75 percent of what I eat is junk. Mostly sugar. I eat a ton of sugar. I know I am addicted to it. My tolerance is amazing.

I am scared to start b/c I know I will have a hard time with sugar withdrawl. But I have to do it.....

For those who have gone from eating all junk and sugar to eating a well balanced diet.....

What happened? What kind of symptoms did you have? How long did it last?

Dee

[Pink_Carnation]

Well if you go on a no carb regimen expect to feel ill for 3-5 days. Nauseous, weak and tired are what DH experienced with eliminating carbs.

You migh be able to reduce the bad feeling by making sure you snack on good carbs throughout the day.

You might also have some digestion issues if you go suddenly high fiber etc. in your diet since your body isn't used to it.

[akhomesteader]

I used to eat lots and lots of sugar and other high carb foods. I found that I do much better with a high meat protein diet. When I started eating what worked for me (lots of wild meat --- moose, caribou and salmon), I didn't crave the carbs at all, and I felt great from day one.

Now we don't have as much meat as I'd like, and since we live in the bush, can't always get what we want. So, lately I've been back to craving sweets and high carb foods again. I posted some info on chickweed. That has been wonderful for me. I've been using it for a couple of months. After the first week, no more sugar cravings. I ate a bite (yes, just one bite ) of something sweet yesterday just because I was hungry and in a hurry, and it was there. I was really shocked to find that I didn't enjoy it at all. That is the first time in my life that I did not want to continue eating a sweet that normally I'd love to just sit and devour the whole thing. I take a tabespoon of chickweed tincture each day about an hour or so after breakfast. As soon as the chickweed starts in the garden, we'll eat lots of chickweed salads, and I'll use it for tea instead of the tincture.

Another herb I've read about, but have not tried is called Gymnema Sylvestre. According to Michael Tierra in his book "The Way of Herbs",

"Gymnema has the unique property of inhibitting the taste of sugar. Because it has molecular structure similar to that of sugar, it blocks up to 50% of the absorption of sugar. In doing so, it will not affect the taste of food but will suppress the desire for sweets. This makes it an ideal herb to use for the treatment of diabetes along with the Ayurvedic mineral compound called shilajit and/or in combination with GTF chromium to help stabalize blood sugar. . . As an antidiabetic herb, gymnema apparently works by enhancing the endogenous production of insulin. It is therefore a good herb to take after indulging in sweets to block sugar absoprtion in those with either type I or type II diabetes. As a result, gymnema can treat a wide variety of digestive diseases and diseases resulting from the use of sugar, such as hyperactivity, allergies, anemia, choesterol, diabetes, obesity, urinary tract infections, and hypoglycemia. Gymnema is a regulator and will exert its blood sugar-lowering effects only in cases of diabetes.
Dose: At least 400 milligrams of gymnema extract per day for those with either type I or type II diabetes.
Used for: Blocking sugar cravings, diabetes, obesity."

Jenny

[Terri]

Mama, I am a diabetic. I went from the low fat diet my first doctor put me on (which was unbelievably high in carbs) to a much lower carbohydrate diet.

My saving grace was crackers. Never very many: rarely more than 5 because they were not really on my diet. It helped LOADS, though.

There will be times when you will think about your next scheduled meal and think "I cannot make it". That is when you get out a few crackers, PUT THE BOX AWAY, eat the crackers, and drink while you eat them.

It gives you a fuller feeling, and a bit of a boost to your system. And, there really are not many calories to a cracker.

Also, think lean protien. If you MUST have an extra helping at a meal, meat is better for you!

[Wisconsin Ann]

Terri (and Mama) I have a diabetic friend who swears by those skinny dehydrated meat things. Dehydrated venison, or beef. Bison if she can get it. She'll pop one of those in her mouth when she's craving sweets. (She was VERY overweight) She says they keep her so busy chewing, and salivating because of the chewing, and the taste is so full in her mouth..that she loses the sugar craving.

I like the cracker idea. I'm needing to do something similar I think. Another thing that supposedly works for reducing the craving for sweets is orange juice. Now, diabetics have to be careful there, but a small glass of OJ may be an answer.

[MamaDee]

Terri (and Mama) I have a diabetic friend who swears by those skinny dehydrated meat things>>>

I'm guessing the kind you make yourself, right? The regular stuff you buy in Wal Mart or wherever is full of salt and probably sugar, too.

Now...can anyone tell me the good part about how I will feel after the initial shock of eating better?

I am not stretching the truth when I say I eat like C**P. Breakfast might be a piece of toast with peanut butter and coffee. Lunch is taking bites of kids leftovers. Dinner I actually eat a piece of meat and a cup or so of vegetables. Doesn't sound like much food right? It's not. But I maintain my weight by filling in the rest with junk. Chocolate mostly. But whatever else contains sugar is fair game. Chips if there's no sugar in the house. It's pathetic.

So for me to actually eat REAL food will be a HUGE change. This will be like giving up alcohol for me. Which I did 4 years ago. So I do know addiction. Food is my addiction.
I was going to start yesterday but chickened out. So today I'm eating all the junk left in the house to get rid of it.....hmmmm....sound like an alcoholic?

Anyone else out there make such a drastic change and changed their life like this?

This is not about losing the last 10 pounds of baby weight for me (have a 10 month old). Although I want to do that, too. The older I get (43 a couple of days ago) it's about improving my life.

Dee

[Terri]

You will feel more energetic and enjoy life more. You will sleep better at night (fewer bathroom trips) and wake up more easily. Your work will be easier and the kids will be more fun.

At least, this is how it was for me!

A word of advice? Bread and peanut butter in the AM is fine. Then, set out allowable snacks for the midmorning and the mid afternoon and decide on a real lunch so that you will not take what is handy (like the kids leftovers).

Fruit is good but watch the portions: one piece is good, 2 are bad!

And, you might set up a glass in the fridge with celery sticks and such in it. There are a few foods that you can eat all you want of, and celery is one of them! A generous hand full of celery sticks and 3-5 saltines migh ease that inner hunger!

[Terri]

Oh, yes.

I would never eat dried meat that did not have salt in it. Safety first!

[MamaDee]

Oh, yes.

I would never eat dried meat that did not have salt in it. Safety first!

Right. I just mean the jerky stuff they sell at gas stations, etc. I'm sure that stuff isn't so good for you.

Dee

[Maura]

It sounds like you may have low blood sugar. Get a fasting blood sugar test, your hospital will either do 3 hour, 5 hour, or 6 hour. What is happening is that your sugar is low, so you desire sweets, normal. You eat something sweet, your blood sugar spikes high, and your body puts out insulin to take care of the sugar. But, it puts out too much insulin and your blood sugar drops quickly and dramaticly and you now have low blood sugar again. Low blood sugar may be at the bottom of your alcoholism (chocolate and alcohol going hand in hand).

If you do have low blood sugar, you will have to eat like a diabetic. Snacking on protein in between meals (nuts are good, the fat is good fat), not going too long without eating, and watching your carbs. Honey and cinnamon are good for you. In the morning, you might want to try adding honey and cinnamon to your peanut butter toast. (honey takes longer to digest than fructose or sugar and does not break down at all in the mouth) Omit the coffee in the morning. Drink warm water instead.

[MamaDee]

I've done a glucose test with each pregnancy (I've got six kids, the youngest 10 months). They've all been fine. Is that the type of test you mean? I've never had to do a fasting, 3 hour one. I just had to drink that orange drink and do a blood test an hour later.

I always laughed to myself when I drank "all that sugar" at once. Like that would affect me. I figured I was immune to it. The nurse even told me once that they sometimes have patients eat a giant size candy bar if they can't drink the drink--it has about as much sugar. "And," she said, "no one would eat that much sugar in one sitting." Yeah. Right.

The house is now free of chocolate, so I guess tomorrow is the day. I'm really not looking forward to this.

Dee

[PamB]

Dee, I saw your post this morning, after I had been to a yogurt making class at my naturopath's office, anyway the lady doing the class talked about how addictive sugar is and I know that for a fact. If you can hang in there for a few days, you will feel so much better! I have done this before and need to do it again. The best thing for me is to get all the junk out of the house, I am a junk food junkie!
I try to keep fresh veggies and salad fixings and when I am eating better I will eat huge salads with a bit of regular dressing on them, I use sunflower seeds, spinach, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, sometimes a little cheese or turkey/chicken even ham.
You can do this! take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute if you have to.
just don't give up.
You will feel so much better and the weight will come off. Don't expect it to just drop off, it took time to get where you are, give yourself time to take it off.
Pam

[MamaDee]

Pam,

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not enjoying this day at all. I'm afraid I'll gain weight b/c I can eat the regular "good for you meal" and I don't feel satisfied at all. It's not that I'm hungry physically. But I want junk. I don't feel like I've really eaten until I have my junk.

All the sugar that there is in the house today I found....two packs of fruit snacks and 3 chocolate fun size bars so I ate them. So I know I can't keep anything of that sort around. Period. Maybe if it's not there I can eat my meals and not a bunch of extra.

I had plenty to eat so far today, but I feel deprived. Deprived of MY food. Eating fruit for a snack just makes me mad.

Dee

[Maura]

The blood sugar test they did when you were pregnant is to rule out diabetes, HIGH blood sugar. It does not tell you if you have LOW blood sugar. Insist on a long test. Some people do not show low blood sugar on a fasting three hour, but will on a five hour. If you know what you are up against, you will have a better idea of what you need to do. If you have low blood sugar, you need to snack on protein. Fruit is good, but add nuts or cheese or your sugar will spike and drop.

The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet might work for you. She starts out with a quiz to see if the diet is right for you. One size does not fit all. And she lets you eat dessert.

[Terri]

Dee, everybody has their own reasons for changing their diet. My OWN mantra was, "Do you want to live? Eat your crackers!".

I told myself this because my bloodwork was BAD and there was a history of very early heart attacks in my family. If I did not want to join them, then I HAD to change my diet!

My bloodwork is normal for my age, now. SLIGHTLY elevated cholesterol only. I take pills for that.

Your reasons for changing your diet are your own, but, please remember the battles that you have fought and the victories that you have won. You have chosen this for reasons that are important to you. It DOES get easier!

In the mean time, are there treats that you CAN have? For a while I was eating smoked oysters on crackers: I loved them, but I ate so many of them that now I do not want them at ALL! But, smoked fish and a few crackers were treats that I had always enjoyed, and they DID help to stabilize my blood sugar!

Lastly, remember your snacks.

Eat them.

Really.

It keeps your blood sugar from bouncing up and down as your body adapts. You need a snack between breakfast and lunch, one between lunch and dinner, and one right before bed. Minimum.

[Freeholder]

Probably all already been said, but I don't have time to read the whole thread right now.

While you might feel yucky for a few days when you first start a low-carb diet, you WILL feel a TON better within a week or so! I had undiagnosed diabetes and was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to feel up to doing anything again. Within a few days of going on the low-carb diet, I started to feel like a human being again, and that was after losing only about five pounds.

If you have your blood sugar tested and they tell you it's normal and you don't have diabetes, find out if it was on the high end of normal. I think they have their 'normal' range too high, and the high end can include some people with diabetes symptoms.

Kathleen

[MamaDee]

I looked up the symptoms of low blood sugar and I don't have alot of the symptoms. Only....in the mid/late afternoon I do feel very tired and irritable.
And I have noticed I do not think as clearly then. I do feel better after dinner b/c I do eat a half decent dinner.

But....this would be true of anyone, I think, who didn't eat anything in between breakfast and dinner but chocolate or potato chips, right? It doesn't mean one has low blood sugar, per se....although b/c of what I eat and don't eat the symptoms of low blood sugar happen?

Does that make sense?

Would a dr. test for low blood sugar just based on the fact that I'm clearly addicted to sugar?

Dee

[Terri]

Originally Posted by MamaDee

But....this would be true of anyone, I think, who didn't eat anything in between breakfast and dinner but chocolate or potato chips, right? It doesn't mean one has low blood sugar, per se....although b/c of what I eat and don't eat the symptoms of low blood sugar happen?

No, most people would not.

Most people have bodies that will store any extra sugar and then release it, that way taking the lows out of the lows and the highs out of the highs.

They *MIGHT* has a loss of energy, but, irritability, not thinking as clearly, and lethargy are classic symptomes of low blood sugar.

To make things even MORE confusing, a sudden drop in blood sugar can cause the symptoms even if your blood sugar is still in the normal range: the human body does NOT! like to be yanked around and does not work well when it is! Most peopl, of course, do not have a sudden drop in blood sugar because their bodies are better at regulating it: they have SLOOW drops in blood sugar and so they never have they symptoms that we do!!!!!

Are we having fun, yet? Sigh.

Make sure you eat your snacks, by the way. A frequent intake of food (HEALTHY food) prevents those nasty sudden drops that we both suffer from!

[wyld thang]

you might try changing your activity level(be more active--walking would be good, something with a sustained elevated cardio effort--"chores" don't cut it, you're used to them) along with drinking water instead of soda or juice(a huge source of sugar). Just do whatever else you eat. The exercise will help your body handle the sugar better, burn more calories, and will release happy chemicals. Stick with it and as you feel more powerful you will naturally want to fuel your body with better fuel.

I know it's hard to carve out an hour or even 30 minutes a day with six kids, but if you possibly can it will be so worth it. You will feel better in so many ways.

Once you get on track you can research how to focus on your goals through diet and work out techniques, but simply burning more calories and finding a bearable way to cut out at least some bad foods will help a lot. You will get on track faster if you commit each day to burning more calories and taking less in. Even a small amount helps!

[MamaDee]

Thanks, everyone.

I know exercise would help. I bought myself a Wii Fit after Christmas, but with homeschooling in high gear after the holidays and then goat kidding season that stopped. School is officially out (for most things anyway) after next week and we're down to 3 bottle fed babies soon to be weaned....so I'm hoping to get back to it.

My Mom and I were talking about the "sugar addiction" thing. She found out a few months ago that she is Diabetic and has been struggling with not eating sugar. I told her that I'd read two basic schools of thought.....one being that if you're a sugar addict you cannot have sugar in ANY form or that will trigger your addiction. Period. The other is that if you deprive yourself of what you really like it will set you up to binge on it later.

So which is it? I've never been able to go completely sugar free to know. I know part of my problem is that I don't allow myself to eat a whole, full meal b/c I'm afraid I'll still eat the sweet stuff along with it and just gain weight. So I just eat the junk to maintain. I've always gotten by that way and lost my pregnancy weight, but at age 43 that isn't happening this time.

AND....I know it isn't healthy. That's the more important aspect. But when I go past the chocolate aisle I don't seem to care so much about that. It feels just like quitting alcohol. But at least with alcohol you quit all forms of alcohol. So that leads me back to the first school of thought on quitting sugar. That you must quit all sugar. You wouldn't ask an alcoholic to just drink rum and think they could stay healthy doing that.

I don't know. Part of me thinks that if you just ate some sugar you wouldn't feel so deprived. But I think that's me trying to justify it so I won't have to give it up. I know I can't really eat just SOME sugar.

What do you guys think about the two opposing views?

Dee