Please help me...sugar issue

[Galyna]

So...I am exercising three times a week in a gym with a trainer, sweating like a pig, and meditating twice a day, quit alcohol. 

I eat healthy food, doing intermittent fasting, eat twice a day at 12 pm and 6 pm, no snacks or any food between meals.

EXCEPT every meal should include some type of desert with sugar: like dates, dry fruits or chocolate bar (lately bought with stevia) 

I cannot get myself out from this sugar needle. Yesterday my girlfriend brought me a piece of pie, I regret I did not throw it, I think I will start doing that. 

Guys, do you know a real method to drop this drug for the rest of my life? I am on it on and off. Like freaking alcoholic, can quit for a while, only to return to it later in life. I have tried everything, bought a book even. They do not have a sugar rehab clinic in USA. My mother is a sweet tooth, and I have this bad habit since I remember myself. 

The only thing that helped me was golden teacher mushroom. After taking 1g I did not want to eat sugar for the whole entire week. 

Maybe I should fast three days in a row, just water. It helped to lower sugar levels in the past. I read that sugar is more addictive than a cocaine. 

 

"Is Sugar Addictive?

Yes, sugar can be as addictive as drugs and alcohol and is very difficult to avoid due to its presence and addition to many food items. Consuming, or even just thinking about it, can stimulate the brain and release dopamine into the system.

Sugar not only tastes good but is also potentially addictive. Consuming or even thinking about caramel can trigger a dopamine release, a neurotransmitter that controls pleasure and reward-motivated behavior, into the system. Studies have shown that this substance can be as addictive as drugs and alcohol. However, it is more difficult to avoid caramel as there are thousands of packaged food items in grocery stores today, with about 80 percent of them containing added sugars."

 

https://addictionresource.com/addiction/sugar/

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Galyna

[Osaid]

Intermittent fasting + low carb to break the fast. Your body will adapt it's reliance on sugar to however many carbs you consume while breaking your fast. It doesn't happen immediately, it's gradual.

There was some sort of switch that flipped in my body a while ago, I think it was about a year into following this intermittent fasting diet, where I can confidently say I'm not really addicted to sugar at all anymore. At the very least, healthy foods taste about as good as unhealthy foods to me now. I'm literally at the point now where I have allocated cheat days, but I won't even cheat because I genuinely don't feel like it.

Initially, a month or a few months in you will see a noticeable decline in cravings. I thought I was completely adapted after a few months, but the change gets really deep if you stick through it for a year or so.

I did have a phase where I allowed myself to binge on certain candies and foods just to burn through that karma and curiosity, and it's mostly boring to me now. I wouldn't recommend this when you're just starting out though, maybe when you're like 6 months - 1 year in.

Also, if you drink something like coffee in the morning it helps curb your appetite. Make sure to give yourself enough fat and protein to accommodate for the lack of carbs. 

Basically, your body is constantly adapting. If you eat a slice of pie when you break your fast everyday, gradually, your body will adapt to craving carbs equivalent to a slice of pie during your eating time.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Osaid

[Asayake]

I'll give you an alternative view that I'll expand on here later, it's late night here and I'm getting some overdue work done so I don't have a lot of time to respond in full length right now, but I'll expand on this later.

The idea is simple, sugar is not a drug, it's a nutrient. It's the most readily available form of energy for the body and every cell runs on it. Our body has become very well adapted to make use of sugar because our early ancestors lived and thrived off of it. Animals that thrive off of eating grass ate grass back in the days and so their bodies adapted to make use of the fiber in grass for energy. Our bodies are not so well adapted for eating big volumes of fiber dense foods, like grass, or broccoli.

But our bodies will make use of sugar rich foods like fruits, sugar cane, rice and potatoes. It is our natural form of energy being deprived off it puts the body in a starvation mode, especially when we are putting the body in a caloric deficit. This can make us lose motivation and energy and make us suffer more psychologically than necessary. Start your morning with a banana, date & water smoothie with 800 calories of carbs and take note of how your drive to get things done and energy levels will improve significantly. Starting the day fasting will put you in a fasting state, you will have energy but it's a different kind of energy fueled by increased cortisol levels. To recover optimally after training you want carbs/sugar because the sugar spike crashes the cortisol levels so the body can exist fight or flight mode and go into recovery & rest mode.

We dont have teeth to easily crack open 1000s of nuts. We dont have a biology designed for hunting animals. Before we were able to create tools we did not have much hope for eating high amounts of protein, we were simply not designed to gather those foods. We were designed to walk around gathering sweet fruits all day. Moving into less forgiving terrain forced us to become smarter to survive but for the longest time we thrived off of high sugar plant foods. We have a craving for sugar for a reason, it is natural so why bother surpressing it. I ate a high protein omnivore diet for 1 1/2 years while training and I believe it was a big part of why I became sick. For the past few months I have been battling a myriad of symptoms that I had acquired on what I used to believe was a healthy diet. Now I believe sugar deficiency is one major cause of a bunch of illness and mental suffering. Most people I know try to restrict sugar intake and most people I know rely on caffeine or other stimulants(chocolate, weed) to cope with the lack of energy.

I am currently eating less than 10g of fat, no oils. Whole food plant based with a heavy emphasis on fruits, rice, potatoes, sugar. Fat + sugar combined leads to insulin resistance, diabetes type 2. So if you want to try something similar it's important to know that just upping your sugar/carb intake can be bad if you don't cut down the fats big time. If you want to look into this further I recommend the Youtuber Durianrider. I am on his protocol currently and the benefits are undeniable, even though I'm just a couple of weeks in still. I will write more here later.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Asayake

[Michael569]

Why don't you cut the IF and eat 3 meals instead. Sugar cravings are most likely a sign of hunger and general caloric deficiency.

If you restrict your food too much, your metabolism may slow down and crave more sugar.

No need to change composition of food, I'd keep it relatively high carb moderate protein and fat just add one additional meal and those cravings may go. Ideally make that meal a breakfast and then have small dinner.

Also sometimes i found that sugar cravings is boredom in disguise l. Perhaps consider if that could be the case sometimes.

May work well for you

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Michael569

[LSD-Rumi]

@Galyna Quit it completely until you stop craving it and you will do. Then you can introduce it "consciously" into your diet.

Sugar include bread, rice, potatoes,,,etc. 

Edited December 1, 2022 by LSD-Rumi

[Galyna]

@Galyna @Asayake @Michael569 @LSD-Rumi thanks for your wonderful advises. I do appreciate your time and energy.

[RobertZ]

I intentionally take 200 grams of dextrose when I lift weights to spike my insulin when my muscles are more sensitive than other tissues (like fat). Sugar cravings satisfied. 

[Leo Gura]

In my experience sugar craving doesn't really go away.

I've gone 3+ months without any sugar, and I still had cravings. I think the human body just craves sugar. The cravings become manageable after 3-6 months. The best solution is to indulge in healthy sugar via fruits/juice, rather than processed desserts.

I found that I can indulge in a a shot glass of fruit juice after a meal and that mostly satisfies my sugar cravings without adding meaningful calories and any harm. The key is just to avoid processes desserts.

Sugar is unlike a drug in that your body expects some amount of it naturally in your diet. The question is what form will it come in?

Edited December 2, 2022 by Leo Gura

[mmKay]

@Galyna

This is one way.

I used to be so addicted to sugar that I literally was possessed and could not stop myself from walking to a store to buy munchies

In restrospect I had gut microbiome problems ( probably candida) pre-diabetes and binge eating disorder that I fixed with 3 months of keto diet and later on introducing homemade water kefir in my diet. 

Now i can enjoy sweets casually without it turning into a binge

Edited December 2, 2022 by mmKay

[StarStruck]

I never crave sugar. And once every few months I do. I buy some sweets and eat them, get disgusted and refrain from sugar for months on end. You really have to develop mindfulness to what sugar does to your body. Feel the disgust more than the hedonistic pleasure after you binged on sugar. People who are addicted focus more on the hedonistic pleasure than the disgust their bodies are signalling to them.

Edited December 2, 2022 by StarStruck

[MarkKol]

I never crave food or sugar either, I often go double digit hours without eating because I forget about it. I view food as something I have to do, not as something I want, my attitude towards it is similar to a chore

I ate so much candy as a kid that I feel like my taste buds have matured, they no longer like artificial flavors. I'm unable to drink most sugary drinks like coke or <50% of any juice

And not to get into 25% fruit content drinks, I can throw up drinking that swill

So I guess the concept of 'burning through your karma' works here as well

Edited December 2, 2022 by MarkKol

[gettoefl]

went sugar free beginning of year ... body revolted for about 3 months and felt like crap ... now feels tons better ... i am not a zealot; if offered a piece of birthday cake i take and enjoy ... sugar free is not my identity since almost every food in a wrapper has sugar or fake sugar in it ... i quit the biscuits and the muffins and eat healthy bread and heathy cereals like oatmeal; my go to snacks now are dates, nuts and rice cakes ... best change was no sugary drinks, don't miss them all

Edited December 2, 2022 by gettoefl

[integral]

On another note, becareful changing your diet to much and putting to much stress on the system. Once your digestion system stops functioning properly your life is over, eating enough and getting all the nutrients your body needs is more important that any diet, your not healthy because your eating healthy, your healthy because your digestion hasn't failed yet. Never go vegan, you need specific genetics for it and if you dont have does its equivalents to starvation and will destroy your life. Starvation is not equal to fasting.

Dont worry about sugar, focus on becoming as physically healthy as possible. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by integral

[Eyowey]

It's your body telling you to eat fruit. Just avoid processed crap and you'll be fine.

[John Paul]

Tried and true SD blue mantra?

”dont _______ today”

don’t drink today, I can drink tomorrow but I won’t drink today

[Galyna]

@mmKay  I read about it too, that it is not us who craves sugars, but bacteria in our bodies.

[Galyna]

On 12/2/2022 at 4:21 AM, StarStruck said:

I never crave sugar. And once every few months I do. I buy some sweets and eat them, get disgusted and refrain from sugar for months on end. You really have to develop mindfulness to what sugar does to your body. Feel the disgust more than the hedonistic pleasure after you binged on sugar. People who are addicted focus more on the hedonistic pleasure than the disgust their bodies are signalling to them.

It doesn't work for me so well, sorry...

[Galyna]

On 12/2/2022 at 8:04 AM, MarkKol said:

I never crave food or sugar either, I often go double digit hours without eating because I forget about it. I view food as something I have to do, not as something I want, my attitude towards it is similar to a chore

I ate so much candy as a kid that I feel like my taste buds have matured, they no longer like artificial flavors. I'm unable to drink most sugary drinks like coke or <50% of any juice

And not to get into 25% fruit content drinks, I can throw up drinking that swill

So I guess the concept of 'burning through your karma' works here as well

Yes, this is what should be, I use chocolate as antidepressant when I am upset. LOL

[Galyna]

On 12/2/2022 at 10:58 AM, blueberries said:

I'm not sure how long you've been following your current eating habits and how easy you're finding them. If you're at a point where following this schedule is second nature to you and you feel great, then of course there's no issue - but from an outside perspective, it sounds pretty extreme and like you're being very hard on yourself.

You do intermittent fasting, have no alcohol, eat only two meals and zero snacks, and only eat healthy food? Yet you're beating yourself up for eating a few dates twice a day? I understand that it's frustrating to have cravings and to feel addicted to sugar (I've been there), but in terms of the food itself, this doesn't sound like it's going to impact your health in a major way.

Before the pregnancy, which was 5 years ago, I ate 3 meals a day and snacks, I was a runner too. But now my body does not need that much food. And it is not healthy to eat so much anyway, since our ancestor did not hardly eat that much as we do now.  We are not constructed genetically for it. I have noticed that my cravings went down, I am 36 right now. 

Of course, as I have started this gym, I do follow my plan. Let's see, in the past I managed to keep my diet plan and running for 5 years. 

I will be honest, sometimes I ate chocolate, not only fruits 

I do not drink soda, I do not eat fast food, but yes, I love cakes and chocolate. 

[Galyna]

On 12/2/2022 at 11:26 AM, integral said:

On another note, becareful changing your diet to much and putting to much stress on the system. Once your digestion system stops functioning properly your life is over, eating enough and getting all the nutrients your body needs is more important that any diet, your not healthy because your eating healthy, your healthy because your digestion hasn't failed yet. Never go vegan, you need specific genetics for it and if you dont have does its equivalents to starvation and will destroy your life. Starvation is not equal to fasting.

Dont worry about sugar, focus on becoming as physically healthy as possible. 

Ok, sure, thank you.