me&thegals said:
Oh, man. Another reminder of something I really need to work on. I have a GREAT diet as far as healthy, lean, real meats, fresh eggs and milk, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains. But I really eat a LOT of sugar. I would have a hard time making it from lunch to supper without a sugary treat, much less an entire month!
Can anybody comment on how they have gotten rid of sugar? I once tried the South Beach diet only to try to break that addiction, but I used fake sweeteners instead, which are gross and kept me still wanting sweetness.
Yup, you are in some ways wiping out your great diet with all the sugar.....but it is still better than a high-sugar diet and a high-garbage diet! So you are half-way there.
I agree with some of wz's comments and disagree with other comments.....so read all the research yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Remember that a lot of the damage done to your body is "silent" for years or decades, then when it rears its ugly head, you are in mucho big trouble. Keep your kids healthy, too, as these habits start young, and the damage starts very young, too. Educate, educate, educate. Keep your kids aware of your research and your struggle. Watching my folks struggle with smoking when I was 5 or 6 made such an impression, I was never even slightly tempted, nor were my siblings. Plus we were taught religious reasons to keep our bodies clean, very powerful.
So, back to sugar....alternative sweeteners will keep your taste for sweet very high, and you will still have high cravings and will binge more often when under stress or at an event where it is acceptable (all major holidays, celebrations, etc!!!) Rat studies and people studies have proven this. People who were told to eliminate "diet" drinks from their lives and change nothing else lost significant weight. Rats who were given sugar water, artificially sweetened water, and plain water were offered something sweet. The first two groups gorged until it was gone. The water group nibbled a bit then left it.
The absolutely best way to reduce or eliminate your craving for sweets is to go cold turkey. The average person loses the cravings in 4-6 weeks. I absolutely agree with wz about the fats. People who eliminate sugar usually try to eliminate fat, too. We need healthy fats to live. Think fat-soluble vitamins. If you steam your carrots and don't add butter, you will not get the fat-soluble vitamins from the carrots. Doesn't mean drown them in butter, either!
Leave the skin on your chicken....and eat it. Don't buy "lite" anything. Avoid trans and hydrogenated like the plague. Most veg oils are not good for you, either. Stick with extra virgin olive oil, real butter, and other animal fats, all in moderation. Coconut oil is great, too. Sesame oil is good, too, but don't heat it too much, or it oxidizes (as do most veg oils, creating free-radicals.)
As for the grains, that is where wz and I differ, too. Our cells run on glucose, so of course we turn carbs into glucose. The key is to use foods that take a lot of work for our bodies to get them into glucose, and to do so slowly, rather than a big rush of sugar in our blood. That wreaks havoc with many systems and creates big trouble, whether you are diabetic or not.
Still, we don't need to eat grains in every meal, not even every day or every week. I will have a sandwich with sprouted grain bread 2-3 times a week. The other carbs I use are beans, yams (remember a serving is 1/2 cup, not a gigantic yam all to yourself!), some home-made pasta (again, 1/2 cup serving) and maybe 2-4 servings per day, max. And no processed grains like white flour. Oh, and the veggies corn and peas are in the carb category. Use white potatoes sparingly, and with the skin and some fat like a bit of butter and/or sour cream (full fat, of course!)
Hope this clarifies it a bit.....
Just as a carrot or a peach is very sweet, but the impact on your body is not the same as a Snickers bar, even if they have similar amounts of sugar or will convert the carbs into sugar in your digestion. Same with sweeteners, they may look similar in some ways, but the body recognizes them and utilizes them in different ways. Here is a quote that a quick google search found: 
