We Need Your Help To Be Sugar Free!!

[Mary]

Hang in there, Annette! This struggle is temporary. It gets easier.

So far so good, here! Great job with the brownies. :) I am going to act in kind and bring my greek yogurt in to a co-worker this AM. That's about all I have in the house with lots of sugar, other than the sugar bowl, the honey pot, and the molasses tub!

Breakfast is toast (Ezekial 4:9 sprouted bread is sugar-free and delicious!) with organic apple butter (no added sugar...sort of a thickened applesauce), sausage and home fries. For other days I have rolled or steel cut oats (bought in bulk) and kamut puffs, all sugar free. I'm planning on spicing them up with apple chunks and blueberries and strawberries. I've done this before, and it is a treat!

Clearly I'm not cutting down on my fats. :)

I'm appreciating all of the sharing, folks. I'm definitely noticing my black teas giving me the jitters, so I'm switching to Honeybush and Wild Rooibus teas, both of which are black teas with no natural caffeine, and very tastey. I usually get my perk-me-up from Mt. Dew, so that is out. So far I am doing ok with that. I've been caffeine-free for long stretches in the past. I know I can do it after the initial struggle.

I love seltzer water, which has zero sugar.

I already shop at a health food co-op, so I'm finding some great no-sugar food!

A tough area for me will be the fruit juices. I get 100% juice only, but even so, it's not the best, especially the quantity I drink. I'm switching to whole fruits.

Mary

 

[Mary]

Philostam -

I might try white tea, for variety. I'm a big fan of Orange Pekoes and Earl Greys, with milk, but that's not working out so well for me. I'm offing that after noon, I've decided.

I recommend Honeybush tea and Wild Rooibus. Very delicate, delicious, non-caffeinated black tea. I particularly recommend the Rooibus cooked over a campfire (that's how I first had it, all smokey and wonderful...mmm!).

Mary

 

[Artista]

Admittedly, I love tea.... rasberry zinger my current fav. with Vanilla soy, not much caffeine. I had heard even if it says no caffeine , it just means there is an allowable amount... that there are still traces. Is that true? This thread has made me rethink a few things I may tweak in my diet. Really useful!!!

 

[midi]

Why do they put processed soy in some teas? Does anybody know? Processed soy is very toxic to the human body (hence why Japanese and Koreans generally eat very little of it).

 

[curiouser]

Artistia, yes it's true. Actually you can naturally decaffeinate any tea that contains caffeine easily yourself, but you will likely only remove about 80% of the caffeine. You should only decaffeinate loose teas, not bagged due to flavor loss. Commercial decaffeinating uses chemicals to decaffeinate the tea and can only remove up to 90% of the caffeine.

 

[Artista]

Been hearing more about soy... and I really use it as a supplement for no dairy. I guess i should look into rice milk or i also use almond milk.... hmmm.....

 

[intothelight]

Hi Everyone,

I love this post!

Try "Google Scholar" for some research articles about the effects of the Mediterranean Diet on mood. Also, there is a natural sweetener substitute called Stevia that may interest some.

I just changed my diet to the Mediterranean Diet and I don't know if it has a real effect, but it definitely cannot hurt.

Food for thought .......

Intothelight

 

[Artista]

My best friend swears by Stevia. I personally still think it has a sort of after taste. Probably just "different sweet" than I am used to. Typically I have used honey or raw sugar. So this is all big news to me. I am taking it all in.

I wish we came with care instructions!!!!!!!!!!! What am I saying... nobody reads any more! LOL : )

 

[James B.]

Black tea always upset my stomach big time, could make me sick pretty easy.

It does get easier and easier cutting out refined sugar, I watched my tendency to grab a bag of candy at the market, took me like three weeks I think to be free of the compulsion, yes that sounds about right.

Good luck everyone, way to go and way inspiring!

 

[a3a2]

Fruit smoothies help me get through some of the worst cravings.

I recently started adapting recipes from "The Flat Belly Diet" and have found them to be largely sugar free and very good.

Good luck on your endevor!

 

[gdf]

Neat thread and near to my heart.

A few years ago a doctor told me I had what they called metabolic syndrome and wanted me to go on medicine for diabetes. Apparently this metabolic syndrome is where your pancreas works overtime cranking out insulin to bring down your blood levels of sugar. My own thought on this is that PTSD creates stress and when you are stressed and in flight/fight mode most of the time your body dumps chemicals and hormones into your blood stream--insulin, adrenaline and cholesterol, etc. Add stress to eating crap day in and day out and it is a recipe for feeling yucky.

To me it seemed stupid to take insulin to lower your blood sugar when insulin was the problem because insulin is actually what scars up your arteries and creates inflammation (according to books and PBS). It seems that foods high in gluten contribute greatly to this problem because they are spiked with simple carbs, i.e., sugars and guess what they are? Yep, white bread, refined sugar, soda(pop) ad infinitum. I went on the band wagon about two years ago and stay on it pretty religiously and my sugar, cholesterol and insulin levels dropped into healthy ranges. If I eat chocolate, I have dark chocolate. Dates, high in potassium, are a great sweet treat in moderation.

I did a serious look at my pantry. The things that contain high gluten levels I pitched which meant pastas, ramen noodles, breads, pretzels, pizzas, crackers, etc. I have a lot of lean meat, nuts, tofu, beans, lentils, fresh vegetables and fruit, salads and make my own dressings. If I bake cookies, I do it only on special occasions and distribute the extras to people I know would appreciate a treat--I am very popular with my mechanic, co-workers and mail carrier. Put a baggie full of fresh chocolate chip cookies in the mailbox once in a while for the mail carrier and you'll be surprised how few letters get lost. It is amazing what you can live without once you stop using it.

The first thing I did was raid my cupboards and everything that was negative got pitched, donated to food pantries or taken to work for families who didn't have issues. You can do it. The results are totally worth it!

Gina

 

[James B.]

Wanted to add to the topic of refined carbs, sweets, junk food etc.

This was really tied into my long term battle with bulimia. I would go to a mini mart, walk around like an addict trying to figure out which junk food to get. Usually a big bag of cookies and/or ice cream etc. And that would be my 'binge', then of course I would purge.

Finally ended this pattern in 1990 when I moved away from my abusers, putting a distance of over 1000 miles between myself and them. Thankfully my bulimia never came back. What a relief.

Sorry for mentioning something so gross, but have read enough from others here who have had, or might be struggling with eating disorders, so felt it worth posting on.