Recently, the book “Potatoes notProzac” has convinced me that sugar in food acts as a drug. The book argues quite convincingly that many people have a body chemistry that is sensitive to sugar. For such sugar sensitive people, the sugar and simple starches (white bread, corn and rice) so abundant in a normal modern diet are a major cause in depression, lack of energy, and mood swings. Sugar is also addictive, in much the same way that cocaine is.
The author argues that sugar sensitive people can feel much better if they cut out sugar and simple starches out of their diet.
I must say, she has me fully convinced. It is not even about losing weight; that is quite likely to happen if I stick to her diet. But what she really sold me on are the short term advantages of the diet. Cutting out sugar, so, in effect, going cold turkey, will drastically diminish cravings for sweets. It should also dramatically improve my mood and energy levels.
I’ve been on this diet for a week now, and I think it can stick. On the other hand, this might be just this years Solution To All My Problems, and just like so many of my previous efforts, the effect will either fade away or I will become used to it. (for those wondering, I am currently off my Prozac, because I wanted to know if I can do without).
So, here is my question. Did you ever decide to cut out sugar of your diet? Did you keep it up? For how long? Was it easy, difficult? I’d love to hear some stories.
I did the Atkins diet, which essentially removes the vast majority sugar (and other starches) from the diet. I was about 30 lb overweight at the time and felt like shit. The first 48 hours caused cravings, but after that I enjoyed a big change to how I felt.
I simply didn’t crave sweet stuff. In fact I didn’t crave food that much either. At mealtimes I would feel what I called “stomach hungry” rather than “head hungry”: I ate to refuel, not because I was jonesing for something-or-other. I slept better, didn’t get that awful afternoon slump at 15.30 every day. Both the cravings and the slump are caused by insulin swings, and cutting the starch/sugar from the diet regulates the insulin levels. Additionally, I have IBS, and the symptoms cleared up. I lost the 30 lbs in less than 3 months without even trying.
I went off it because I socialise a lot and it’s difficult to maintain the diet when eating out. And sometimes when in the middle of the diet I would have a 24-hour carb blow-out just for the hell of it - if I kept the blow out to a single day, it didn’t take so long to get back into it as at the beginning. But nowadays whenever I feel my weight getting a bit out of control, or right now when I am really making an effort to tone myself up and want to lose fat to complement my new musculature, I go back on it for a few weeks.
I have to do a bit more planning in my life to make sure I have the right stuff for meals (breakfast is the biggest pain), but as long as I do, I’m OK with it. I do recommend it, and I would also recommend doing some research, as it goes against people who adhere traditional nutritionist values and therefore generates some controversy.
The book differentiates between simple carbs (sugar and refined white bread, white rice) and complex carbs. Complex carbs, for instance potatoes, take much longer to break down so they don’t cause your blood sugar and insulin to “spike”.
A baked potato has a glycemic index of 85, which is pretty damn high, although I grant that boiled/mashed potatoes’ GI is somewhat lower. (Taken from this chart on the South Beach website, so not the most scientific source in the world, but it aligns well with what I’ve seen elsewhere.) The higher the glycemic index, which scores food on a scale of 1-100, the faster something is converted to sugar in the bloodstream, and the bigger the blood sugar and insulin spike.
The basic thesis, that cutting back on highly refined foods is probably a good idea, isn’t particularly controversial. That said, I’d be skeptical of all of the benefits posited by the book in the OP, especially if they’re thinking of potatoes as a low-GI food.
I cut out all sweets about ten years ago because I realized they made me loopy. It helped not at all with weight loss, (though perhaps I would have gained even more–who can say?) but it did make me feel better. I was pretty draconian about it: I used observant Jews as my model: no observant Jew ever eat bacon for social reasons, or because “life happens” or because they had a stressful week. It’s just not food for them anymore. The only exceptions I made for years were Christmas and my birthday.
Personally, I never stopped craving sweets. I have a killer sweet tooth. I did, however, get to the point that I didn’t think of sweet deserts as something I could have. I wanted them, but it never occurred to me to actually have them, if that makes any sense.
I think that cutting out sweets was a good step and overall it improved how I felt–no more sugar binges followed my weird mood swings. It was not, however, a magic bullet.
About a year ago I got serious about getting into shape/losing weight, and I realized that one simple rule wasn’t going to cut it. I changed everything about how I eat–tracking every single thing down to the gram weight, monitoring my macro-nutrients, eating lots more protein and fiber, eating only the most complex of carbs (wheat bran, vegetables, oatmeal, and fruit, in that order). This, plus regular exercise, HAS been the magic solution to my mood regulation/emotional stability. Plus, I’ve lost a ton of weight. I’ve added back in 2 McDs ice cream cones a week, and they seem to be ok. It’s nice to be able to have that small treat without any side effect.
So, in my experience, cutting out simple carbs can help, but it helps a lot more when you change everything.
I exercise almost all day long every day of the year. I need fuel. And I need a fair amount of jet fuel. Sugar is jet fuel to me. I have tried to eliminate sugar years ago and it doesn’t work for me. I don’t have the energy I need to perform up to par. It’s only worse now that I am older. I don’t go nuts, but I eat sweets after dinner. That can include natural sugar in fruit, but it also includes chocolate and cookies. I’m not talking about a snack her either. I mean volumes of these treats.
During periods of relative inactivity due to injury, I cut back because I just don’t have as much appetite. My weight falls of precipitously when NOT exercising.
I’ve never read the book, but I’ve cut out processed foods (fast food, prepared foods, etc) and all non fruit sugar. I have an ice cream that’s got maybe, 5 grams of sugar per serving (the rest is sucralose, or Splenda), and I have that a few times a week, but otherwise, no sugar.
Sugar gives you highs and lows; the best thing you can do is eat several small meals per day, the less processed the better.
I did this for years when I was super competitive as an athelete in high school. I fell off the wagon in college (to varying degrees), and got back onto my regimen in my senior year of college, so I’ve been at it 1.5 years and think it’ll stick, as it did in the past. The unnatural and bizarre schedule of college and dorm living didn’t allow me meal prep time or access to a kitchen. But you feel loads better. I’m hypothyroid, and I have a lot more energy when I’m eating right.
I had the first fast food burger I’ve had in, oh, a year or so just a few days ago. I had to meet my ignorant boss at a Wendy’s, and I didn’t bring a snacks. I’m a very opportunistic eater - I’ll eat what’s close by (which is never a problem because when you buy your own food, it’s always healthy and there’s no junk close by). Anyways, I spent the rest of the day feeling queasy, sluggish, and headachey. You really have no idea how much better you can feel until you detox with really, really healthy foods, and keep it up.
ETA: I’ve lost most of my craving for actual sweets. So many restaurant desserts and “real” ice creams taste disgustingly cloying. So yes, my desire for sugar diminised significantly - but didn’t go away completely. Which is good. Some people in the weight loss threads will say they never lose their cravings, though. YMMV.
A bit off-topic, but I remember seeing a documentary on CBC a year or so ago about a First Nations community here on Vancouver Island that gave up carbs entirely for a year in an attempt to return to something resembling the indigenous diet. Like most First Nations communities, they had very high rates of diabetes and obesity, which the researcher argued was due to a quick transition from a protein-based diet to a carb-based one.
I remember it in part because I was amazed by how quickly the people who followed it lost weight, and because of the pounds and pounds of cauliflower they ate. Not surprisingly, it’s hard to make up bulk in your diet without potatoes and rice and bread, so they cooked cauliflower like they would any of those other starches - baked cauliflower, cauliflower with spaghetti sauce, with cheese and tomato sauce as “pizza” - and served it alongside vegetables and meat. I was also surprised that cream was allowed, but milk wasn’t.
I feel that I should try a modified version of such a diet, because I can definitely tell that sweets, and carbs in general, are my weakness and it is like an addiction for me - overeating once sets off a huge spiral until I spend an entire day eating cookies, then feel so sick I vow never to eat them again. But I would have to be a lot more emotionally healthy than I am to give up one source of seratonin.
Interestingly, the book agrees with most posters that going all the way in eating healthy should reduce cravings almost entirily and so, should be a lot easier on us then still allowing us the occasional “treat”. The author also says that a lot of things act as sugar even though we don’t think of them as sugar. Like fruit juice concentrate of, in sufficient amounts, fruit juice itself; sweeteners like maltodextrin, sorbitol, xylitol, maltititol, sucrose (all of which will be plentiful in food advertised as " sugar free"). White or light brown bread, or pasta, too.
So she argues that anyone who still eats these foods is in the position of an alcoholic that still has a drink several times a week, yet tries not to fall of the wagon. Which requires near super human willpower and is quite likely to fail.
It is strange that our society does warn kids of drugs, but has failed out to leave warnings about alcohol, sugar, “neat lady drugs” like valium, and cigarettes.
But that is exactly it! This whole way of eating is designed to increase your levels of serotonin and another neurotransmitter, betaendorphin. And to get more out of the happy-brain chemicals that you have. It is all about feeling better, more cheerful, happier, confident and calm. And all on a very short term; one should see improvement within two weeks, which is about the same time most people are willing to wait when they start out takiing antidepressants (which the book talks about as well).
I have been sugar-free and mostly grain-free for about 7 months. I don’t miss my old way of eating - I used to have more cravings, which I usually indulged, but they’ve really tapered off. Sometimes I still have a small serving of the grains that agree with me most (rice, corn), or a piece of chocolate, but even such a short time in I look back and can’t believe it was ME that used to eat an entire box of Krispy Creme donuts in one sitting… I spent a lot of years being one of those skinny kids that ate massive amounts of crap food. At least I saw the error of my ways while I was still young and hadn’t destroyed my insulin response.
I made the decision to make sweeping and permanent diet changes after about two years of hard research into the latest (and some of the more controversial) science about nutrition. There was just too much evidence that the fairly normal, ‘healthy’ by conventional standards diet I was eating was in fact, harmful to the human body. I haven’t read the book in the OP.
It’s been worth it - it’s cured my migraines, acne, rashes, eczema, IBS symtoms, low body temp, icy hands and feet, gum disease, and low energy.
I eat meat, dairy, fish, vegetables (including potatoes and other starchy/sweet tubers/roots), and limited fruits. Quite a varied and tasty diet.
My athletic performance and stamina has actually improved a ton on low-carb, go figure. I usually get around 100g of carbs per day though, that’s enough to keep my glycogen stores pretty full.
Right right, it’s not healthy just to switch from regular soda to diet soda with aspartame or sucralose; you need to cut out the artificial sweetners for the most part too. I take packets of Truvia (sweet leaf) with me in my purse, because the only thing I have on rare occasions besides water is milk or plain iced tea, and I gotta sweeten the plain iced tea somehow. There’s a lot of scientific evidence that our blood stream treats sucralose and other fake sugars like real sugar, that our body responds to it similarly.
Instead of my cravings being for “sugar” or “sweet”, I crave the mouth-feel of ice cream. But I’ve craved the texture of ice cream since I was young; it’s always been my favorite dessert. So I don’t think I’m craving the sugar (since it has very little sugar), I’m just craving the creamyness of it. I never, ever feel like I have to have a treat NOW - I used to feel like “I have to have some white starch NOW” or “I have to have a big pile of ice cream complete with sunday toppings NOW”. Now, I could take it or leave it, and never in a large quantity.
As far as breads and pastas go, it’s just best to stick with the 100% whole wheat pasta and 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat bread. I like the “white wheat” which is the softest part of the wheat germ; it’s still 100% wheat, it’s just lighter and fluffier. Trader Joe’s does a good one. The “light” breads and pastas are just fluff.
I’m a big fan of “replacements”, rather than elimination. My vice is ice cream - so I have Skinny Cow on occasion rather than the real thing. My boyfriend loves and grew up on fruit snacks, like Gushers and gummis and the like. So I found him some dried fruit leather at Trader Joe’s, which he’s grown to like - no added sugar, less than 7 grams of fruit sugar in the bar itself, plus some fiber.
If you haven’t switched to 100% whole grain/wheat bread or 100% wheat pasta, I suggest giving it a go; that was one of the first big differences I noticed in “evening out” my blood sugar. I absolutely detested whole wheat pasta; it tasted gross and thick and nasty. But I got my boyfriend’s little sisters to switch in a much easier way - buy the Barilla Whole Grain pasta or Ronzoni Healthy Harvest to start out with - it’s 51% wheat. You’ll get used it it after 4, maybe 6 times of eating it. Then ramp up to 100% whole wheat, whatever variety you like. It’s a lot better than going from straight white pasta to 100% wheat.
I was on Atkins for a long time, lost 80 pounds and really felt great but I just didn’t stick with it. Mostly because I AM addicted to sugary stuff and I binge on it. A few slip-ups and I was binging all over again. I mean 10k in a day binging.
Now I’m having a little more luck just sticking with an average complex carb/acceptable fiber/average protein and fat ratio. I’m not losing much, not really at all, but I’m not binging or gaining at this point. I know this. Simple carbs are my downfall. If I can stay away from the simple ones I’m okay. For a long time the low carb substitutes satisfied me, but they are expensive. I can totally live with flax/coconut/almond flour goodies if I can afford 30 extra dollars for a (small!) bag of each. And that’s on top of having to feed three family members their preferred high carb meals. It’s hard to stick to without all those stumbling blocks. I really try though because of the energy gain.
I use sucralose and don’t find it causes cravings. I love EZ-Sweetz liquid sucralose I get online. I can’t tolerate drinking anything with real sugar now, and I find Truvia has a bitter aftertaste. Or…not bitter, just odd. Sometimes I feel the same after using a Splenda packet so maybe it’s the fillers.
My daughter (BloodyL) is all about Atkins. Her whole life changed when she started. The energy she has is amazing. She went from couch potato to a belly dancing, hooping, running fanatic. She will go off plan for a few months but she knows she feels best eating this way so she always goes back.
I started the South Beach Diet at the beginning of the year. I’ve loosened up a bit on the way I police myself now, but I still tend to avoid refined sugars, pasta, rice and potatoes, and I severely limit my intake of bread. It’s been amazing to me the difference in how I have felt. I’m not necessarily full of energy 24/7, and I’m still taking my antidepressant, but I have definitely noticed a difference in my appetite and food cravings. Once I got through the first few days, I haven’t had cravings for any of the starchy stuff I used to eat, nor have I had the spikes and drops in blood sugar that I used to get. Also, I’ve lost 30 pounds. It’s definitely a good plan for me!
I cut out lots of cheap carbs about 2 years ago, and (with exercise) have lost and kept off almost 30 kg (66lb). I have replaced some things (brown or wild rice mix for white, grain bread for white, sweet potato for potato), added things (lots of chick peas and/or lentils in curries/chilli/bolognaise) and cut back on things (chilli/curry with salad instead of tortilla chips/rice). I also switched to diet soda and water, I don’t drink tea/coffee/alcohol anyhow.
It has improved my energy levels (and I exercise hard ~12-15 hours a week), reduced my weight and evened out my day - if I need to crash sometimes during the day, it is because I am physically tired, not due to an insulin spike. I am not severely restrictive, though. I sometimes (maybe once a month) have a proper lasagna/pasta meal, or go out to a curry house, or eat pizza. I don’t get stuck in that eating cycle, though. Next day is back on the wagon and working out, making the most of the extra calories available. In fact, big protein meals (surf and turf steak, yum) are a bigger problem because then I build additional muscle and I don’t want that (it means to maintain weight I have to get rid of really hard to shift fat).
I used to feel faint about an hour after eating lunch. A diabetic co-worker told me about the difference between simple and complex carbs, and told me to cut down on the simple and increase the complex. I’ve been fine ever since.
However, I usually eat copious amounts of sugar with my coffee, and it has never affected me.
Interesting: can someone be senstive to simple carbs, yet not to plain sugar? Maybe it’s the amount that count; however much sugar you put in your coffee, it won’t be as much as is hidden in a can of soda(about 7 lumps of sugar) or a bag of sweets or a piece of pie.
That’s the kicker; only a percentage of people are sugar-sensitive, just like only a percentage of people is genetically prone to alcoholism. That makes it harder to think of alcohol or sugar as a drug, since we know so many people who indulge in them without any problems.
That makes us addict prones doubt our character deeply and quite unnecessarily.
