Have you ever tried to quit eating sweets? What is your favorite sugar substitute? I had to give up real sugar several years ago for health reasons. It was very difficult at first, but now the cravings are better. My sweetener-of-choice is stevia.
I am in the belief that there is no way to stop eating sweets, it's up to one to figure how to minimize the intake of sweets. Almost everything organic humans consume contains some sort of sweets in it e.g. glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc., if people don't believe me, then you may want to google it to reference check your own beliefs. The best substitute for refined cane sugar I like to use is natural and unprocessed honey.
You are exactly right. Anything ending with "-ose" is a sugar. This means that those of us trying to cut back on sugar eliminate fruit and dairy from our diets. Even vegetables can contain some sugar, so I also stay away from things like carrots and corn.
Aren't the sugar substitutes even worse for you? I thought there were studies done that those substitutes actually do more harm because they were completely processed and even less natural for your body than sugars. At any rate, I agree with both of you with the fact that it's near impossible to totally wean off sugar. Everything is about portion control and knowing the difference between good sugars and bad sugars. Fruits are full of sugars for sure, but those are natural sugars and needed in a healthy diet to replenish your body, especially if you're in a consistent workout routine.
Cutting down on sugar is better than quitting it completely as some foods will always contain a small amount of sugar. My father is diabetic and even he has a small amount of sugar as it is needed. He doesn't like the substitutes and they are so artificial. It's best to have a small amount of the real thing than replace it with something that may be worse for you. It's hard to escape sugar is it is juice, sauces and most snack and processed food. Even bread contains some sugar, so you have to check all the packaging carefully.
I have, but I do not use any substitutes, I simply do not eat anything that requires sweetening to be tolerable. I am also gluten free, so I wouldn't want to be eating cakes and pastries anyway. I just add banana to things usually as a sweetener. I find it to be quite sufficient. You can also use dates and raisins for added sweetness. Since they are fruits, they are much healthier, although they still affect your blood sugar, just not in as harmful a way.
I think if someone has health issues, they need *more* real foods, not less. I know when it comes to sugar it depends on the illness, but I still find the whole thing debatable.. there just aren't enough studies done in the areas I'm looking for. When I quit white sugar, I went to fruits to get me through my cravings. I think it depends completely on where your sugar is coming from and we need it too. Whole foods are the absolute best place to get it and doesn't cause all of the same reactions in our bodies that white sugar and it's substitutes do.
I've tried a pretty much sugarless diet before but I quite simply couldn't handle it at all. I drink a lot of pop/soda, as well as anytime I have a tea or coffee is has to have sugar in it. I also eat chocolate and candies a lot (although as part of a balanced diet) so I simply couldn't manage to shake the sugar addiction. I think I lasted around two days before I finally caved in though, but I felt absolutely dreadful.
Yes, I always do up until now, but of course there were glitches where I would just binge eat on sweets especially chocolates after which I would just feel like I'm going to kill myself. But during my ideal phase of abstaining from sugar, I don't really abstain from the sweet taste. I use Splenda or any artificial sweetener I could get immediately. And when I use them, I use them until they are all gone. I use them as if they are infinite in amount.
I've never been too much of a sugar fan so I don't have a hard time quitting it but I do love carbohydrate rich food and it's what I have most trouble with when it comes to cutting down on sugar. For actual sugar I just substitute it with artificial sweeteners whenever I feel I'm already taking in too much, such as Splenda or Equal in my coffee or fruit drinks, etc.
I've tried quitting sugars before as well but I didn't last two days without drinking soda. But now, after seeing you quit sugars on your own, I'm going to try and quit too starting this moment. It's still morning here and I haven't had any intake of food and liquids yet, so I'm still on track for my first day without sugar. I hope that I can finish the day without any sugar intake, because I haven't been on the healthy path at all during Christmas break. And I'm still trying to regain my old form.
Many a time I have tried and failed desperately to stop using sugar I really can't live without it LOL and I'm more of a savoury food person for that matter! I rarely eat dessert, chocolate and sweets, but I want the freedom to eat them as and when I wish. The only sugar substitutes that ever worked for me in terms of taste, are Agave Nectar and Fruit sugar. But to be honest, they were also substantially more expensive than refined sugar. So I decided to stop all pretense and carry on with "normal" sugar. If I ever had to give it up on health grounds, I'd struggle!
Oh man, that's a tough one, specially if you eat processed foods. The issue is food is made to taste better with fat, sugar and salt but the anti fat lobby has managed to get producers to seriously reduce or eliminate fat from their foods, so they've just increased the quantities of salt and sugar they put in their foods to make them tasty, so, if you want to give up sugar, you're going to have to pretty much give up processed foods. You'd be surprised by the wide variety of foods they put sugar in. Even stuff like ketchup contains sugar. Anyway, I prefer to use honey to sweeten my tea.
Yes I have tried quitting sweets before but it can be especially if you love ice cream like I do. Eating sweets is not something I do all the time and I'm able to go a long time without having something like that. My favorite sugar substitute is using fruit to sweeten things up. I have tried stevia in the past and it was very good.
I have no problem with my sugar levels, I just balance my sugar intake daily. I've never in my life cut down on sweets. I'm more into salty food, but I still don't deprive myself by not being able to eat sweets for a period of time. I get occasional cravings for sweets as a dessert, but honestly, I can still live without sweets.
Although I don't consider myself a big fan of sugar, still, I'm not amenable with the idea of quitting sugar altogether. My job as a writer requires sugar consumption. Otherwise, I would feel so sluggish throughout the day. There are times when I feel like I went overboard with my sugar consumption, so I try to cut back and abstain for a time. If not, I try to sweat it all out. It does help. Stevia and sucralose are my favorite sugar alternatives. We've already stopped buying white sugar and are now using brown sugar and muscovado.
The sugar substitutes are just as harmful as sugar. Studies show that there are links between sugar substitutes (artificial sweeteners) and some serious diseases. After much research, the sweetener that I have found that is safe and healthy is stevia. I use it in baked goods, ice cream, coffee/tea, and even jarred spaghetti sauce that needs a little sweetener added. For chewing gum, I use xylitol products. In large amounts, it can cause digestive issues in some people, but I have never had a problem with the gum. Xylitol gum is also good for your teeth. Aside from small amounts of fruit and dark chocolate, which contains less sugar than milk chocolate, I stick with stevia and xylitol.
Apparently one can't win. Sugar is harmful, sugar substitutes are harmful...the matter here is which one is less harmful than the other. I have experience with stevia, as my mother spent a couple months usiing it instead of sugar. I found most things to be...bland. The stevia didn't really add anything sweet, but it is possible we simply didn't use it correctly
I've been trying to cut down on sweets too, but it has been quite difficult. My best choice is to replace sugar with honey. I know for a fact that honey is not really sugar-free, but at least it is much healthier compared to white sugar. I would try to use honey for my tea or mix it with lemon in case I'm craving for flavored cold drinks. Also, instead of using the usual strawberry jam or pancake syrup, I would replace them with honey too.
I have never thought about quitting sugar as I believe it can be quite addictive once you start eating them. I think it is best to start eating brown sugar if you are very health conscious. But I do not think it is really easy to quite sugar.
