Before you dismiss these tips, saying you just can't or just don't want to stop eating sugar -- please consider whether any of the following applies to you: Do you have frequent mood swings? Sinus problems? Skin issues?
Are you realizing that all you ever want to eat is the sugary stuff?
Reducing the amount of sugar in your diet will improve your health and life so much, and there are ways to make it easier to do so! Below are some tips to keep in mind to get you through the sugar cravings and help keep you stay off sugar.
When I first started following a plant-based diet made up primarily of organic whole grains, beans and lots of fresh vegetables after being diagnosed with breast cancer 12 years ago, I was advised to get sugar out of my diet. This included white sugar products such as, cakes, cookies and soft drinks. Even juice was limited. I was advised to eat the whole fruit as six apples go into one cup of apple juice.
I was told to get my sweetness from sweet vegetables (lots of them), and a simple fruit dessert was recommended once or twice a week. I had been plagued by candida (an overgrowth of yeast) at the time, and this way of eating helped clear this up quickly. Yeast loves sugar. So, it wasn't a stretch for me to believe that decreasing my sugar intake would stop feeding my cancer as well. Today, medical research proves this to be so. I encourage you to read this article by Dr. Keith I. Block, M.D. (an internationally recognized expert in integrative oncology) which explains this breast cancer/sugar connection in a short, clear, easy-to-understand way.
I seldom crave sugar now. Is this a miracle coming from someone whose favorite (and most-often-eaten) food from age 15 to 40 was sugar? No... not really! Because I feel so much better and healthier without it in my diet.
Sometimes we know what we need to do for our health, but for some reason the less healthy things we're doing are serving a purpose -- like giving us a quick energy fix (only to have our blood sugar drop dramatically an hour later). Sometimes you're just not ready to make a change. And then when you are ready, even if you dig in, determined to JUST DO IT, it can be tough. It starts with will. We struggle with it at the beginning, and then, just like everything else we set our minds to it gets easier. Here are a few ways to help you stay on track:
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av10 said on 9 Thursday 2010 pm30 9:12 pm: Hi Meg, Thanks. Although this is the first time that I have read Dr. Mercola’s particular article, I have been hearing about the potential harmful side effects of aspartame for a number of years. In fact, I recall that some people were complaining about possible neurological problems associated with aspartame (seizures, etc.) back in the late 1980’s. There were corporate-sponsored multi-center neurological studies which, not surprisingly, found no evidence of a direct association between aspartame and consumer reported ill-effects. I no longer use the stuff because I do believe it to be potentially toxic, and worse than sugar. |
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But thanks!
Attila Honey
http://www.attilathehoney.com
Thanks for your link (and humor!). :-)
http://centerformedicalweightloss.com/resources/articles/228/3-Ways-to-Beat-the-Weight-Loss-Blahs
Do you do moderation? If so, what does moderation mean to you? Just curious. Thanks!
By moderation I mean do not do it as an all or one kind of a deal. Treat yourself, but make sure it's a treat, not a meal. Moderation to me is, after a hard workout or a great run I like to reward my self with a small piece of some sort of a dark chocolate, or a frozen ice ect. The key is to give yourself an incentive to reach that goal. So, for example I ran a 5k yesterday before I went to workout. I treated myself to a peanut butter Fiber One bar after my run. It's healthy and satiates my craving for sugars.
I must say that to find drinks with no adds I struggled very much both because of this omnipresent sugar everywhere that I is now almost unbearable and because of the plastic I had to drink in. To me these two elements seem to be the same relation to food. It wasn't easy, you know we are what we eat don't we? I had to write about this...
http://guerrierelisabeth.blogspot.com
Thanks for a visitor's point of view. Sugar is omnipresent here, and wow, it must have been a shock to your system!
I'll come by to check out your blog post! Thanks for commenting.
PolyVinylChlorid Hotel is very telling. I'd have commented directly onto your blog, but no feature.
Bravo for you Nicole, sounds like you are keeping it in balance and doing just fine. Thanks for your comment!
BTW, when I gave it up, 15 lbs just fell off. No dieting, no extra exercising. Just eating natural stuff -- fruit, etc.
Like crack to me, too. Bravo for giving it up and losing 15 pounds in the press. Amazing!
I'm not militant about my diet changes. Everyone has a right to choose what they want; it's none of my business. It's been a process for me; but if you want to be healthier, just do it one step at a time.
I don't think I could give up sugar completely. I enjoy some brown sugar with my coffee in the morning. I hate sugar substitutes...leaves a bitter after taste. Coke Zero is what I drink sparingly now when I really need a coke. I was stunned to find that there is 36 grams of sugar in a can of coke and 27 in a 20 once bottle!
Wow, that is a lot!
It is important to was your rice before eating!
I should have said–wash your rice before cooking!
I've bookmarked it and will watch it. Thanks!
For anyone else that wants to watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM&feature=player_embedded#!
I mean both forms of sugar, but I agree that of the two real sugar is better.
There is a thing called the glycymic index and that when studied can help you undertand your bodys reaction especialy if you are moody reacts to certain things.
For instance, for some people even some fruits are even worse than sugar when it comes to maintaining a balance. Banannas, watermelon, pinapple, even oranges can go to quickly into the blood stream and casue impalance and moodswings and put on the hunger switch.
Also, rice is no better than pasta, even though that is belived in many circles. Something about the way pasta is made is (perhaps the semolina), makes it better in the glycymic index than rice. And any rce cakes are to be avoided, they just add to the problem.
Bean can be very hard to degest and need to be introduced slowly and always with some vegetables to keep thinks moving so to speak.
I am a sugar junkie and one needs a real strong reason to quit as it is the earliest addiction, one that can be triggered from birth. It is not an easy subject--
I certainly believe it's lot harder for some than for others. I struggled for years myself before I was shocked into getting off of it. So I do know how hard it can be. A Herculean effort for some. Making the decision to get out of the cycle was the hardest part for me, once I decided that was it and I did it though.
I also agree with you that some fruit is sweeter. I don't eat the tropical fruit much myself because I live in Maine and try not to eat fruit out of my region. For fruit I eat apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries and I'm guessing these are lower. But occasionally I might have watermelon in summer and have noticed that it is much sweeter. If I go to Florida I'll have an orange but keep it to one or two.
Yes, I agree with what you said about beans. Because our digestive systems are compromised by eating processed foods and other reasons (mine was past broad spectrum antibiotics that kill the good intestinal flora later developing ulcerative colitis) chewing very well is important. Also, cooking with a piece of kombu seaweed helps make beans more digestible.
I totally agree with the last paragraph you wrote, Melody, as I think I'd probably still be eating it if I hadn't gotten diagnosed with advance breast cancer 12 years ago, thus my strong reason.
Thank you for your thoughts on this post, Melody.
Start your day with healthy food, and you'll find that you CRAVE more healthy food throughout the day.
As an example, try having unsweetened yogurt and strawberries in the morning, along with some hearty, healthy bread. Three hours later, when you have an appetite, what are you going to crave? If you're like me, you'll want more of what you had at breakfast.
On the contrary, if you have the same breakfast with a danish, and you get hungry a few hours later, chances are that you'll crave the danish rather than the good stuff.
By starting the day off right, I believe that we kind of "program" ourselves to want more of the good stuff throughout the day.
Works for me!
Makes sense! "Three hours later, when you have an appetite, what are you going to crave? If you're like me, you'll want more of what you had at breakfast."
" ... if you have the same breakfast with a danish, and you get hungry a few hours later, chances are that you'll crave the danish rather than the good stuff."
"
By starting the day off right, I believe that we kind of "program" ourselves to want more of the good stuff throughout the day."
Thank you, ProudDad!
Oh, no, I didn't say cut out salt completely. I use a pinch or sometime more salt in cooking. We do need salt, but not a ton of it!
The "sugars" I recommend are the fruit itself, whole is best, (occasionally) brown rice syrup, barley malt or sometimes fruit juice sweetened. And of course with some of the others mentioned there is always the good, better, best scale.
Thank you for your comment!
Thanks for the great tips, Meg.
A tea infuser ... hmmm ... I'll check it out. Glass is good! Glad that you lost weight from getting off coffee/sugar/milk. Personally I can't have too much caffiene from tea either, so I have bancha or twig tea which only have minute amounts of caffiene. Sometimes one cup of green, but morning is best for me. Glad you like the tips, ameikle.
I it helps me to re-calibrate every once in a while.
I like your idea of a fast from sugar/caffiene/dairy to observe how you crave the more nutritious foods. An excellent way to re-calibrate. Thanks for commenting!
Also, I forgot to mention that alcohol and white flour foods are also cut out since they are, of course, sugar in disguise.
In fact, this article reminds me it's about that time again!
I totally agree.
The flip side of that mentality is this: I have been doing yoga for two months now every day and I'm afraid that if I give myself a break this early on, I won't continue.
Moderation is very difficult to master.
I totally agree that, "Moderation is very difficult to master." Especially with sugar for most people. It may have been easier when most people were eating three meals a day with little sugar, but look at what a big problem it's become in America.
With the lifestyle things, too!, Dogma.