The title says it all I guess. Admittedly I like sugar and eat too much of it. I bought some Cascadian Farms granola the other day and ate some for breakfast and didn't feel that great afterwards. Just too much sugar. I had protein for breakfast this morning and feel better. I'm going to take the cereal and eat it for lunch at work. I can use the sugar rush at work. I can't imagine giving up sugar which many suggest but I need to cut down and NOT eat it first thing in the morning.
According to what I have read, sugar is as hard of an addiction as heroin, and since all of the internal parasites that everyone has, as well as most bacteria and yeast, actually live on the sugar we consume, the more of it you eat the more of it you crave. One very good book that explained sugar cravings, and how sugars work in our bodies, is called “Sugar Blues”. I don’t remember who wrote it, and it is an older book now; but still does a great job of making sugar craving and sugar highs easy to understand, as well as some good ideas for breaking free of sugar cravings. Some people are more sugar sensitive than other people, and I am one of those people who is very sensitive to sugar. After I started the low-carb/ketogenic eating plan, and cut most sugars to a minimal amount (and those are naturally sweet foods like fruits), and stopped eating a lot of processed foods; I discovered that I felt much better and have more energy. I am not a vegetarian; but I try to eat mainly vegetables and greens (raw or cooked), and since those are usually low in carbohydrates, or at least have ones that metabolize slower, I no longer have the sugar highs and bottoming out that I used to have.
I have noticed lately that if I eat a lot of sugar, I need a nap shortly thereafter. I suppose it has something to do with insulin. I'm not a big sugar eater but I'm not going to totally give it up. All things in moderation.
I am not a health expert, but I suspect that sugar is better for our bodies than the sugar alternatives, except perhaps for natural alternatives, such as honey. I think the dangers of sugar are that of many of our dietary problems, in that we eat too much of it.
Yes to many of the points above. Thanks to your replies. I find white refined flour isn't the best either. I'll get some whole grain or whole wheat bread at Trader Joe's tomorrow. There is no doubt in my mind that I crave sugar again if I ate it the day before. Especially like that pint of raspberry sorbet I picked up Sunday evening stressed out after work. Of coarse it was gone that night. I find that white flour and even wheat can have the same issue. I'm really with you Ken on artificial sweeteners. I avoid them. I keep some regular soda in the house. Sometimes it's the best for an upset stomach. I don't drink more than 1 or 2 a week and should cut down on that even. I get Hansen's cane soda.
I find that too with the sugar..and I also eat a lot of it, in dark chocolate and add sugar to tea and coffee as well , but you'd think the last thing you'd need after taking a lot of sugar is t sleep wouldn't you? Nice new avatar Shirleeee... you're looking fab in that hat
Thanks, @Holly Saunders They say don't let kids eat sugar because they will get a sugar high. Why doesn't it work that way for old folks?
Exactly Shirley, in fact I remember just up until quite recently maybe a year or so, if I ate anything sweet like chocolate within 2 hours of bedtime I couldn't sleep at all for hours..
I've been on sugar substitutes for a long time. However I bought some oatmeal today and I'm going to doctor a hot bowl with butter, use sugar instead of substitutes and half and half and with a slice of buttered toast.. Have Oats about once a month. That's not too much sugar is it?
@Holly Saunder Chocolate contains caffeine. If my wife has anything containing the least bit of caffeine after 12 noon, she will have difficulty falling asleep that night. Hard to believe, and I still think it's partly a psychological thing, because occasionally she has eaten some unusual thing not associated with caffeine usually, though it contains it, like granola bar containing chocolate, the evening, and next morning when I reveal to her she had caffeine, and fell asleep easily, she cannot explain it. Frank
Chocolate has a little caffeine, but the bigger culprit is Theobromine, a relative of the old asthma drug theophylline. Tea also has aminophylline I believe, which is another analog of theophylline. If any of you remember theophylline, it used to give asthmatics the "shakes". Many of these things metabolize into caffeine so you are getting extended release stimulation. I remember in the "old days", they used to give many preemie babies theophylline to help their breathing. While it help some babies, others died with the "shakes" (similar to cocaine-addicted newborns). It was discovered that, while the preemies could metabolize theophylline (blood levels dropped), they could not metabolize caffeine, its metabolite. Once that was known, neonatologists now just give much smaller amounts of caffeine and skip the theophylline/aminophylline altogether. On a separate note, I read an interesting paper on the laxative effects of coffee. So far, researchers have been unable to find the mechanism. It was first thought to be caffeine, but decaf coffee has the same effect as regular, but tea. caffeinated soft drinks and chocolate do not. It also seems to affect females much more strongly than males. Again, as far as I know, the mechanism is as yet unknown.
I ate 1/2 a finger bun from the supermarket last week it had thick icing on it so , I scraped allot of it off the bun but it’s obivious there is allot of sugar in the bun as well I took my blood sugar reading 2 hour latter and it was 17 ..it should be below 9 in that time so for me being sensitive to sugar ( not diabetic) it sent my otherwise normal sugar reading up substantially Which can make you very tired I have taken it several times after meals and my levels are useally around 6.9 — 7.6
When we found out that we were Diabetic II's, we got rid of all of our regular granulated sugar. I use Splenda in my coffee and some on any fruit we buy at the market. We still splurge at times and have a McDonald's Ice Cream Sundae or cone or sundae at Dairy Queen. We don't test our blood glucose the morning after eating either of those. But, granulated sugar at home..........absolutely no more.
@Cody Fousnaugh I was diagnosed as diabetic ( 2) in 2007 ( the reason I have a tester ) I lost allot of weight after being diagnosed ,which put me into the non diabetic sugar levels I continue to have the yearly hb1A blood test that always comes back as non diabetic and the drs tell me I’m no longer at risk unless I go back to my old habits of eating way to many carbs ( My excess weight was not caused by eating junk food just way to many carbs ) and my system seems sensitive to sugar . I ate up,to 4 slices of bread a day ,now days I can’t even eat one slice of bread . I mainly eat my own homemade yoghurt for breakfast with fruit I’ve grown and stewed and get out of the freezer as needed .. when I make the yoghurt I use smart sugar ( I level tablespoon per Ltr of milk ) it’s part Stevia and part natural sugar without the after taste you can get from other sweeteners Neither of us use sugar, however during summer I bought a 1 kg bag of sugar to add a little to the stewed plums that need a little sweetness added or they are way to tart ...it was the first sugar I’d bought in 12 months