Thoughts On Quitting Sugar...

[DManKee]

For the most part I eat very healthy. I get enough sleep and exercise 2+ hours a week. However I've been depressed for many years. As I work on myself one aspect of my diet that hasn't been dealt with is my sugar consumption.

I consume waaaaaay too much sugar... Usually I drink 2-4l of coke a week and every 2 and a half weeks consume a 1kg of sugar in tea. Apart from this I don't eat junk food and cook most of my healthy meals. I want to know wether this high sugar consumption could be fueling part of my depression? Which alternative to sugar is best and tastes most similar stevia, sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener?

Thank you!

[Fearless_Bum]

Maybe replacing the unhealthy sugary foods with fruits can help. 

Honey is also really good for you, make sure its raw and unfiltered.

[Michael569]

16 minutes ago, DManKee said:

I want to know wether this high sugar consumption could be fueling part of my depression?

Oh absolutely ! 

If you can quit cold turkey, do that. If not, then slowly wean yourself of. Half the dosage you drink and start diluting those drinks with water. 

Sweeteners are a better alternative on your way of cutting these things out completely./ They are not ideal either tho so don't stay at sweeteners. You want to get to a place where you only drink water and herbal teas and adding sugar to any liquid will become completely unnecessary. 

It may be a struggle and it may give you some headaches and withdrawal symptoms but it will be worth it, that's for sure. 

[flowboy]

@DManKee  It could contribute indirectly to depression in two ways (that I know of, @Michael569 correct me if I'm wrong)

• The crash that you get half an hour after consuming it, causes anxiety and negative feelings and thoughts, because the brain is deprived of fuel.
• The repeated consumption of sugar causes damage in arteries and overnutrition of cells, which causes low grade inflammation, low grade inflammation causes chronic low mood, brain fog, lack of energy and depression. Eventually this leads to diabetes, auto-immune disease or heart disease.

1 hour ago, DManKee said:

Which alternative to sugar is best and tastes most similar stevia, sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener?

According to Aubrey Marcus: monk fruit and stevia are best.

But to be honest, I never use any of that stuff because I don't miss sugar at all.

Quitting cold turkey is 2-3 weeks of suck, and then your taste buds recalibrate and everything tastes sweet again, even though you don't eat sugar.

Best to just take a deep breath and go through it, in my opinion.

Your body will thank you, and you'll never miss it anyway once you're on the other side.

Edited December 19, 2021 by flowboy

[DManKee]

@Michael569 @flowboy @Fearless_Bum Thank you all so much! I will make this my new year's resolution. I think at this point in my life my depression has gotten so bad every day and I'm constantly in such a bad mood that I'm willing to do anything to make it stop. I had no idea low level inflammation had the capacity to trigger bad mood & depression!

Thank you! ♥️

[Leo Gura]

Very easy to test by cutting out sugar for a month.

[Arcangelo]

Imagine your stomach!

Straight

up

poison.

[Danioover9000]

@DManKee

6 hours ago, DManKee said:

For the most part I eat very healthy. I get enough sleep and exercise 2+ hours a week. However I've been depressed for many years. As I work on myself one aspect of my diet that hasn't been dealt with is my sugar consumption.

I consume waaaaaay too much sugar... Usually I drink 2-4l of coke a week and every 2 and a half weeks consume a 1kg of sugar in tea. Apart from this I don't eat junk food and cook most of my healthy meals. I want to know wether this high sugar consumption could be fueling part of my depression? Which alternative to sugar is best and tastes most similar stevia, sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener?

Thank you!

   I was an avid coke drinker in the past for about a decade and a half, and what I did to weed out the addiction, was I had a glass of water, most meals I had with coke, almost always a glass of water. I then gradually replaced coke with a diet coke or diet Pepsi, and just got used to the watered down taste, until eventually, I was able to kill of that addiction, and lost a lot of weight. Doing meditation and building that self awareness over time helps a lot too, and the best part was I suffered far less sore throats and colds, once to twice a year, like there was a strong correlation to soda drinks and frequent colds.

   Best alternative sweet for me is, honey and/or nectar syrup, for mixing with certain foods and drinks. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Danioover9000

[Osaid]

8 hours ago, DManKee said:

Which alternative to sugar is best and tastes most similar stevia, sugar alcohols, monk fruit sweetener?

Do you have a problem with sugar alcohols? You can easily cut out refined sugar by switching to monk fruit/erythritol or some blend of the two, that's my favorite at least. It's very similar to actual sugar.

 

[Yarco]

4 hours ago, Arcangelo said:

Imagine your stomach!

Drinking Coke is bad, but saying the reason for that is because it can get rid of rust is a bad false equivalency. Same as people saying "omg, McDonalds meals can sit for years without breaking down" -- yeah, because the air doesn't contain stomach acid. 

Water is the universal solvent - It can cause wood to rot, rust to form, mold to grow, but we still put that into our bodies.

[DManKee]

@Danioover9000 You're totally right! I've noticed that whenever I've overbinged on soda I've gotten mucus buildup and sore throat! 

Thank you mate! ??

[DManKee]

@Osaid So far I've tried stevia and it was terrible. I'd like to explore these other alternatives and also give honey another try. I hadn't thought of mixing these other substances together...I'll try it all out!

Thank you! ♥️

[DManKee]

@Leo Gura @Arcangelo Thank you so much! ♥️

[Osaid]

Just now, DManKee said:

So far I've tried stevia and it was terrible

Yeah I don't like the aftertaste either. I think you'll like the sugar alcohols I mentioned, you can find formulas where they already mixed the two together which are pretty good. There's basically no aftertaste especially with erythritol, and you might even like it more than sugar, it has an interesting feel to it.

https://www.amazon.ca/Krisda-Fruit-Spoonable-Natural-Sweetener/dp/B07PGCBWZS/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=Cj0KCQiAzfuNBhCGARIsAD1nu-9sMY98Xj8t18zFMXilS8c_Qh4EkYKFf05tpcKITN0GClusVPNETB4aAiOLEALw_wcB&hvadid=325279736058&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9060756&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=10889896968636293764&hvtargid=kwd-611173042770&hydadcr=12394_10657180&keywords=krisda+monk+fruit+sweetener&qid=1639980153&sr=8-2

This is the one I use, its a blend of erythritol and monk fruit and as you can see on the back it says that the sweetness is of equal proportion to actual sugar, which is pretty accurate IME. You can probably find something similar in the organic/natural section of your supermarket or something. 

[Opo]

4 hours ago, Osaid said:

There's basically no aftertaste especially with erythritol, and you might even like it more than sugar, it has an interesting feel to it. 

It has a cold aftertaste. 

Stevia has a bitter feeling in the back of the throat if you put too much of it in. 

I used a mix of both and if you find the right balance you don't get the negative effects. 

[eggopm3]

I dislike most sugar alternatives and prefer just going without entirely. Nothing wrong with unsweetened things.

[Osaid]

8 hours ago, Opo said:

It has a cold aftertaste.

I don't mind it. It's more of just a sensation than taste, and also I only notice the cold feeling if I eat it raw without putting it in anything so it ends up not really mattering, probably because the drink itself is hot.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Osaid