Sugar addiction

[FitChick]

Here is some eye-opening research on sugar. From experience I know this is true. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs but I crave sweets. Unlike some fat people who blame the food industry, I am slim and I blame my own lack of willpower. No one is forcing me to eat sweets, I am CHOOSING TO. I don't want to totally give them up so I count my calories to allow for sweets and I exercise.

[Feelin Frisky]

Did you see the segment on CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday. It was an assertion by doctors that sugar is a toxin and it is at the root of many illnesses we can avoid.

 

I also posted this link on another thread which is a presentation pitch for a CD series on how to think about eating but it covers some awesome information that explains to me why I could never sustain a weight loss campaign. Sugar and starch turn off a switch called HSL and causes insulin to keep it off. That is the "fat burning switch" whereas insulin is the "fat creation switch". Every time we diet and cut out the carbs, the HSL switch becomes dominant and we can get healthy and look good. But just one slip into pleasure eating can flip the switches again and create an addiction-like compulsion to eat the same pleasure foods over and over. That is my exact pattern. I now understand that it's not just acting out on what I like, it's a serious chemical change that becomes almost impossible to resist. Keeping that in mind makes it much easier now to think before I have that chocolate Easter Egg. My switches will flip and I will want to have the same thing every day until I hate myself and start the who diet again.

 

Unleash Your Thin - Video Landing

[Art_Critic]

Someone on LS recommended this book for me to read many years ago...

 

potatoes not prozac.. a book about sugar sensitivity and addiction..

 

Amazon.com: Potatoes Not Prozac: Solutions for Sugar Sensitivity (9781416556152): Kathleen DesMaisons: Books

 

The first edition dealt with more addiction than sensitivity....

[Forever Learning]

Interesting! I was addicted to Coca-Cola for years. I knew it was bad for me, but I finally really started feeling the health effects from constant use. In addition to weight gain, I became hypoglycemic and physically I felt awful! I would get the shakes and cold sweats and nearly pass out (several times in public and on a few occasions, I did pass out) and once I learned what the root of it was, I quit cold turkey.

 

As with any addiction, the benefit of quitting had to outweigh the desire and perceived benefits and/or joy of using. Cola free since November and 20 lbs lighter to boot!

 

Super job!! Keep it up!!

[Exit]

You don't have to convince me that it's an addiction, I've been living it for years! I'm interested to see this piece that was on 60 Minutes recently, a family member mentioned it to me too.

[FitChick]

I can go cold turkey if I have to lose a couple of pounds before a vacation.

[somedude81]

I absolutely love sweets. When ever I see free candy in bowls and whatnot, I always take a few. Chocolate is amazing. Good chocolate with caramel or marshmallow inside, mouthgasm.

 

BUT!

 

I never buy candy. OK, except for a few cadbury eggs around this time of year.

 

Moderation and willpower is very important. I strongly believe that most fat people are fat because they lack them. Just because I love cheesecake, doesn't mean I have to have it every week.

[dreamingoftigers]

Wow! Finally a great thread about a topic that affects millions of people that is FINALLY being acknowledged.

 

And it gets laced with judgment and self-righteousness...

 

Hopefully we can all turn down the BS and work on creating healthier lifestyles for ourselves no matter what other "perfect" folks think.

[gaius]

I have no doubt everyone would start losing weight if sugar and salt were totally removed from food.

[Lobouspo]

Excellent post...I am addicted to Dr.Pepper and coca-cola. Always thought it was the caffeine, but see more and more that it is the sugar. Has a slow weaning off process worked for anyone? That is what i am trying.

[lordWilhelm]

I watched Frisky's link and although interesting, I wasn't really convinced by the dumbing down and marketing mumbo-jumbo. I did look up Banting's paper, and that was interesting and the video does a good job encapsulating Banting's case study.

 

Anyway, I had read a week ago a Times article which mentioned there was a viral internet youtube video of a lecture by a UCSF professor (Robert Lustig) that discussed how fructose is metabolized differently from glucose and how that's contributing to the obesity epidemic. I didn't watch it at the time because it seemed really silly to me: a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. However, after reading this thread I decided to give the lecture a view and, boy, does this make a lot of sense now. Here's the link to the video:

 

Unlike most of the stuff I've ever read about diets and nutrition, this is actually scientifically sound and logical. He goes into the biochemistry of metabolizing glucose, fructose, and ethanol and he makes a really good point of why fructose is similar in many ways to alcohol-poisoning. He has a great presentation style, and even makes the biochemistry portion quite watchable (don't skip it! Everything makes a lot more sense if you see the argument for yourself).

 

One of the most important take-away points is why we get addicted to sweets so easily in our diet and why they don't contribute to satiety. He explains what that "impulse switch" is and why it's related to metabolizing fructose in the liver.

Edited April 6, 2012 by lordWilhelm

[Jane2011]

Same here. I'm thin, but I crave sweets. I eat a candy bar pretty much every day. Or a brownie.

[FitChick]

Thank God dark chocolate is actually good for you. Who would have guessed?

[Carlos S]

I am slim and I blame my own lack of willpower. No one is forcing me to eat sweets, I am CHOOSING TO.

 

*gasp* I'm not alone . *sigh* I give into to cravings too, but it happens so often . I did it again tonight - you don't even want to know. I don't know how I'll stay this slim with those habits if I don't go to the gym as much as I do. Needless to say, it's my choice and I accept the consequences

[january2011]

I crave savoury/salty things like fries, crisps and bread.

[Carlos S]

Same here. I'm thin, but I crave sweets. I eat a candy bar pretty much every day. Or a brownie.

 

I have good and bad weeks. There are days on end when I can avoid chocolate or cake. But then there weeks where I buy a whole swag from the supermarket and gobble up during the week, and even individual days that are utterly indefensible

[dreamingoftigers]

I'm kinda pissed. I was given so much of this stuff as a kid and the programming from my mother that "fat was just as beautiful and having a waist that goes inward is ugly anyways" that by time time I hit adulthood it was the same as if I had been given a Mickey of whiskey everyday. Then upon turning 18, being told "now drink responsibly and sober up."

 

Yes it's possible, yes it's doable, yes it should be done and it will be. HOWEVER, it handicaps a young adult (and the child I was) severely.

 

I hate it when I see kids being given nutritionally poor meals loaded with sugar, especially when it's evident that there is already a problem.

 

My daughter is not given refined white sugar in any of her meals. I am so glad she isn't programmer to ask me for chocolates etc.

[brokenTom]

I struggle with an extremely high sugar sensitivity, so I try to limit myself to something like one cookie once a week. Better yet once every-other week. The problem is my workplace has a vending machine and they often bring in sweets like these huge boxes of awesomely delicious, innocent but evil cookies... ahhh, the temptation is too much sometimes and I take a plunge. Of course, I then hate myself for being so weak.

 

When I eat more then certain amount (like a can of pop would be too much) I break out then start to become depressed. It takes a week to recover, then I'm back to feeling awesome about everything in life. Sometime I feel so great that I convince myself a little treat here won't hurt. Then BAM, it happens again. Viscous, viscous cycle. I'm trying to break it and lengthen the amount of time I can will myself to not having any. So far I can go a few weeks. I'm keeping a diary of when I take the plunge and it's helping to motivate me to take better control of the situation. It sucks though, being so sensitive to it.

 

Ya know, I believe my ex gf was addicted to it at an unhealthy level, and I often theorize our breakup was PARTLY due to it. For instance, she felt it was perfectly fine to eat a dozen thickly glazed cupcakes in one sitting, followed up by a huge mug of Pepsi. I always imagined if I did the same I'd probably be in a coma She was normal weight so I think she figured she was fine. She did, however, have a few other serious health issues, and, because none of the doctors she saw said anything to her about sugar, she was convinced that it had NOTHING to do with her chronic illnesses. She suffered from depression, anxiety, always had a stuffed up nose and had developed a horribly painful and embarrassing digestive disease.

 

Occasionally, I'd say things to her like: "Ya know, I always feel like crap whenever I eat or drink sweets. I realize every has different tolerances, but I keep reading articles about how it can cause all sorts of various conditions, some you'd never consider could be linked to high sugar intake." Even though I'd always say these thing in the most gentle tone, and I'd often just be talking about my own problems not hers, she'd often times respond by accusing me of not loving her because I was trying to deprive her of one of her very few true joys in the world. I only ever expressed a desire for her to be healthy and happy, and wanted to support her in that goal. But no... I was ultimately deemed a "cruel" human being.

 

Again, I only theorize that sugar played a PART in our breaking up. Obviously I wasn't able to convince her I loved her enough and she didn't care enough to try and work things out with me. I am in ways perfect but I don't carry around chronic issues and attack others for trying to help.

 

Anyone dealing with an addiction needs sensitive CARING help. But first and foremost, a person has to WANT to get better. If they don't, then it's truly a tragic thing and I can only hope they change their mind soon. This world has too much good to offer to live it suffering needlessly.

Edited April 6, 2012 by brokenTom

[Feelin Frisky]

Wow! Finally a great thread about a topic that affects millions of people that is FINALLY being acknowledged.

 

And it gets laced with judgment and self-righteousness...

 

Hopefully we can all turn down the BS and work on creating healthier lifestyles for ourselves no matter what other "perfect" folks think.

 

I hear ya, sister. So tired of fighting the fight against this.

[brokenTom]

Meant to say: "I am in NO ways perfect but I don't carry around chronic issues and attack others for trying to help."

 

I should probably practice my proof reading, must be too jittery from all the sugar, lol

[Feelin Frisky]

With my new knowledge gained from such things as the link I posted and the news about sugar toxicity, I realized that if I had known then what i know now, my whole adult life fortune could have turned out much better. I have had obesity issues since before I was self-aware--my mother had me and then four more kids across a five year period and medicated me with food to keep me sort of neutralized so she could attend my siblings. Thus I was a heavy baby and a fat child. I managed periods of losing massive weight and appearing "normal" but they have never lasted. But one was crucial and so pivotal. After a five year relationship ended and I had gotten heavy, I worked a new life-style that made me so proud of myself. It was very difficult and I sacrificed so much to get where I wanted to go. Then I met someone and hoped it would lead to my marriage. I often talk about the issues of her BPD (borderline personality disorder), but her family's eating tendencies were poisonous to me. I wish I would have known how so and why so I could have made a choice then. Instead I yielded and yielded to get along and I lost the self I had work so hard to create. When the relationship had to end, I was even more bitter because I had the whole self-punishment thing to go through again and I didn't have the same venues to do that. It's apparently critical for people who like me, had poor parenting and found themselves fat before they knew their own name, to have to create a "conscious regulation" mechanism that is mostly "unconscious" for non-obese persons. Everyone still has to make choices but there's a difference between "letting one's self go" and "never having had one's self in the first place". Somewhere along the way I needed the knowledge that is finally coming now but unfortunately didn't get it. I thought it was all about will power and discipline and it's about insulin and hormone sensitive lipase. There isn't any real defense without knowledge of the truth and obese people will continue to relapse after weight loss until they learn and consciously live the truth about such things as insulin, HSL and dopamine reward systems wrapped up in pleasure foods. Even at that, you have to live a separate life from those who seem to get away with breaking the rules regardless.

[shorty7]

Oh this explains why I keep looking for my stash of candies/cough drops/chocolates in my desk drawer!

 

I found the easiest way to deal with it was "see no evil, smell no evil, taste no evil."

 

I just saw how much I'm actually spending on candy alone and realized the $$$'s racking up, I stopped buying them. And if I don't have 'em around, I don't eat them.

 

I've started eating more heartier breakfasts as well and it seems to keep the sweet-tooth and munchies at bay.

[lordWilhelm]

I think part of the problem is we are constantly bombarded with conflicting information. Fat is bad, or only some kinds of fat are bad, or carbohydrates are bad, or only refined sugar is bad, or whole milk is bad, or all milk is bad, etc, etc. Sometimes I feel it's almost impossible to make food decisions without getting overwhelmed by a sense of anxiety and when that becomes overbearing, damn it I'm just going to get my can of Pesi and to hell with all these healthy decisions. When I go months on end without a Pepsi, I find it ridiculously sweet when I do encounter it again (usually at a social event), but it's very easy for my taste-buds to renormalize to its bubbly, sweet goodness. And then it's easy to fall back in the old Pepsi-drinking habits.

[Feelin Frisky]

I think part of the problem is we are constantly bombarded with conflicting information. Fat is bad, or only some kinds of fat are bad, or carbohydrates are bad, or only refined sugar is bad, or whole milk is bad, or all milk is bad, etc, etc. Sometimes I feel it's almost impossible to make food decisions without getting overwhelmed by a sense of anxiety and when that becomes overbearing, damn it I'm just going to get my can of Pesi and to hell with all these healthy decisions. When I go months on end without a Pepsi, I find it ridiculously sweet when I do encounter it again (usually at a social event), but it's very easy for my taste-buds to renormalize to its bubbly, sweet goodness. And then it's easy to fall back in the old Pepsi-drinking habits.

 

we have a "fat burning switch" that turns on (HSL) and burns away fat. what turns it off is insulin released due to intake of sugar and starch instead produces fat (triglycerides). Eating fat as part of your protein is not bad and not stored problematically if you're not already obese. Obesity centers around this dynamic. If we whom are overweight diet down on higher protein with reasonable fat and very very low carbs, pigging out on carbs turns the process in reverse immediately. This is the new decision I have to make when choosing to engage in pleasure foods or even starches like potatoes and pasta--do I want to flip the fat burning process in reverse and have to overcome the addictive pleasure drive again with we austerity? or just eat to live and not live to eat. Seems much simpler than "how much can you enjoy?" and "do I tempt fate?"

 

Why would Pepsi taste exceedingly sweet after abstinence from other sugar? because the sugar in Pepsi sets off a dopamine rush that we experience as pleasureful taste. Playing around with this demon is what defines our society very much--and our individual life direction.

[tman666]

we have a "fat burning switch" that turns on (HSL) and burns away fat. what turns it off is insulin released due to intake of sugar and starch instead produces fat (triglycerides). Eating fat as part of your protein is not bad and not stored problematically if you're not already obese. Obesity centers around this dynamic. If we whom are overweight diet down on higher protein with reasonable fat and very very low carbs, pigging out on carbs turns the process in reverse immediately. This is the new decision I have to make when choosing to engage in pleasure foods or even starches like potatoes and pasta--do I want to flip the fat burning process in reverse and have to overcome the addictive pleasure drive again with we austerity? or just eat to live and not live to eat. Seems much simpler than "how much can you enjoy?" and "do I tempt fate?"

 

Why would Pepsi taste exceedingly sweet after abstinence from other sugar? because the sugar in Pepsi sets off a dopamine rush that we experience as pleasureful taste. Playing around with this demon is what defines our society very much--and our individual life direction.

 

Hopefully I'm not preaching to the choir here, but bear in mind that protein ingestion causes insulin to spike as well, therefore halting lipolysis. Does this mean one should not eat protein? No way! However, it demonstrates yet another way that our bodies are extremely adept at keeping bodyfat on us.

 

As such, it's important to create a caloric deficit, even if it's pretty small (say 500 calories per day from maintenance intake), in the attempt to lose fat. Some, including myself, have made the error of believing that by eliminating a certain food group is the cure-all. While lowering carbohydrate intake can be especially beneficial to insulin resistant individuals, it's probably not going to be feasible in the long term as part of a lifestyle. There's simply too many tasty carbs out there, not to mention the benefits of being carb depleted diminish greatly in the long term.

 

One approach you may wish to try would be to back load your carbohydrates. One way to do this would be to eat P+F (protein plus fat) meals and P+C meal post-exercise.

 

Another approach is to cycle carbs based on your daily activity. On rest days, you might try eating only P+F meals. On days that you lift heavy or do some other form of intense exercise, P+C meals would be chosen, while minimizing fat intake.

 

What I do personally is combine the two. I generally eat carbohydrates post training, and immediately before. On days that I do not lift heavy, I generally eat P+F meals only, with a much lower carb intake.

 

Basically, what I'm advocating is trying to experiment with ways to incorporate carbs in such a way that minimizes fat gain, but allows you to reap the benefits as well.

 

If you've already tried all of this, I apologize for my unsolicited advice.