Stop SUGAR Support Thread

Thanks Lila, you are right.  I am not good with moderation - I either eat too little or too much of things as my eating is a direct result of what mood I'm in.  Not good - I'm trying not to feed my moods- for instance right now I am dying for something sweet - luckily there is nothing in the cupboard - when I'm anxious or depressed I crave carbs, when tired it is sugar---

Lilah:  Where do you buy a calorie counter?  Have never used one.

Senior (your actual name is just too darn long to keep typing)!  I have a smart phone and downloaded a calorie counter app.  It is just helping me SO much.  When I go out I can look up foods by restuarant (most of the time) and if not I can find something approximate.  But if you are not a user of a smart phone, you can buy a book (from Amazon).  There are tons out there.  It's an effort to actual stop and count the food values but to be honest I am finding it's the best way for me to become really conscious and deliberate about my food choices.  If you crave sugar, have a small square of dark chocolate -- a small amount is good for you.  Give yourself a little of what you crave rather than eating six other things to make the craving stop.  Also get familiar with the nutrition labels of the things you buy at the market.  It's more effort now but I think even after a few weeks I'm already aware of better choices (and making them) that also satisfy.  And if you fail, just get back on the horse again and resume trying not to fail  

Actually, they say you don't need to buy organic blueberries.  It is a very low maintenance crop and doesn't require any pesticides.  

Pip -- LOL I thought I saw blueberries on a list of things to always buy organic but now that I think of it, that was strawberries.  Good to know.

Shannon -- it comes up a lot in newspapers and magazines.  Google the question and you'll probably get a list.  I am pretty sure spinach is one.  And strawberries.  I'm blanking on the rest.  I'm sure someone more knowledgeable or less chemo-brained than me will reply soon.

i'm with lilah. i try to buy all produce, save bananas, organic. i do like Wyman's frozen blueberries - i thaw them out with green tea (better than it sounds), but they aren't organic ack!!

tried Pink Kitchen PB & J scones this week -also delicious. hoping to make the papaya-coconut ones..will keep you all posted!

Trader Joe's has frozen organic blueberries, which I love because if cooking with them they thaw while cooking and if you just want to eat some they thaw quickly enough at room temp; that way they never go bad and are always organic.

I have had three sugar relapses in a row. Starting chemo Monday. Need to confess here re sugar. It helps me to stay honest.

Had to catch up on a few pages so I can't remember who said what, but here is my 2cents, for what it is worth:

Tea-Instead of buying those tea bags (chlorinated), find a tea shop and buy loose leaf. Not only does it taste better because they have tons of flavors, it is less processed, so higher in antioxindants. Green and White teas have more antioxidants that black. My tea shoppe owner told me that green and white tea is naturally decaf after the second steeping. She also said you can resteep tea leaves several times, depending on your taste, so buying boutique teas is not as high priced as you would think. I find some teas can be resteeped 3 or 4 times and still taste good.

Adding cinnamon is great for lowering blood sugar, as are nuts and seeds. Buy raw nuts and add your own sea salt. Again, overprocessing destroy nutrients. Another way to balance blood sugar is with the mineral chromium. In fact, I was reading an article that diabetes is a result of chromium deficiency, so find a high quality supplement that has it included.

The vitamin D council recommends keeping levels above 60 as a minimum to prevent cancer.  I have a doc who keeps his over 100 and I try to keep mine in the 80's at minimum. Keep in mind that higher Vit D may increase cholesterol, but don't let that discourage you. If the HDL (happy) is high the LDL (lousy) is not important. In fact, according to Dr. Ray Strand, homosystine levels are what is relevant, not cholesterol and people with low cholesterol are suseptible to cancer. My former doc use to comment on my "great" low cholesterol. Now my number is 50 points higher,, above the limit for the drug recommendations, but I know I am healthier so who cares.

Back to the sugar, someone mentioned that the body cannot tell the difference between sugars from starch or candy. This is certainly a topic for debate but I tend to agree. I try to not eat the white stuff like rice and flour, and refined sugar. I do not feel guilty if I have some dark chocolate or a bite of something home baked. But getting this drug out of my system sure improved my health, and finally helped me get my weight under control. Alcohol also breaks down into glucose so that is why so many women who drink are suceptible to bc. And steer clear of cola. I went cold turkey breaking that habit and have not had one in 4 years. I do not miss it at all now. There is no good cola. The no sugar stuff is full of chemicals, so it is all toxic.

For info on GMO check out the center for safe technology. I no longer trust anything the EWG says. It is nothing more than a political org and George Soros is behind it. Notice how big the DONATE HERE button is. They pretend to do environmental work so they can use money to lobby their favorite politicians. It is a sham.

One last thing for those of you who mentioned high blood sugar in the morning. Have you detoxed your liver? My SIL is diabetic and she has seen a vast improvement after detoxing. She is going to start blogging on my website soon about her experience, so I will keep you posted and some of you might want to share your journed with her.

Just like Barbe, I have the same question. How does one detox the liver?

I went to a half-day seminar about 'taking care of the whole person' re cancer/post cancer.  It was sponsored by a large health food/natural store about an hour away from me. The store is managed by a woman I have known for a long time, who went through bc around the time I did.  I originally went just to support her in the endeavor, but ended up being glad I went.

I took nine pages of notes, which I need to review. But one thing was made very clear and it helped me understand something that I have always struggled with, and that has been discussed at length on this thread.  it is about how sugar affects the body.  We KNOW that sugar adversely affects the body which is the reason for this thread in the first place, right?  BUT we also know that the body converts all food we eat into sugar, so I could never figure out WHY simple sugars are worse, even though I know that they are.

The naturopathic doctor who spoke for the majority ofthe day was EXCELLENT. And the point she made is that it is NOT the sugar that is harmful, per se. It is the 'disregulation of the blood sugar' that causes all the harmful effects. And the more pure (simple) the sugars are (as compared to whole grains, vegetables, proteins, etc), the more our blood sugar is affected/'disregulated' and the adverse affects occur.

This made total sense to me. And now I feel I understand WHY that 'sugar fix' or 'sugar high' is so bad for us. 
Now she DIDN'T say this, but it would seem to me that therefore the WORST time to eat sugar is on an empty stomach, where the spike would be the most severe, as opposed to having a small amount WITH/AFTER a meal. Would that be true?

Also, she spoke at length about liver cleansing (which coincidentally was mentioned above). The few things I got out of it were these:
There are 2 phases of liver cleansing, phase I and II. In phase I, you get the toxins that have bound to your (fat) cells to come loose. In phase II, you eliminate them.  It is vital that you complete both phases; if not, the loose toxins will be recycled and reabsorbed into your body. She said you need a professional to help/supervise the process. She was very negative about the 'master cleanse.' She also said no cleansing DURING chemo, but rather after.  She also talked about the colon and kidneys as essential to cleanse also.   Sorry I don't have more than that. She was talking fast....

She went over 9 types of supplements, 8 she believes are helpful and one to avoid. I was THRILLED to see that I already take 6 of them! The list is:

Tumeric/curcumin, Melatonin, Green tea extract, Vitamin D3, Fish oil/omega 3, maitake, quercetin, ginger.  The one to avoid is betacarotene & Vit E. She said these are better gotten from food.

It was a very interesting seminar. I will review my notes and see what else I can share. (Also I think it is available on DVD if anyone wants to order, I could put you in touch with the store.)

The basic message was all the stuff we ALREADY KNOW - exercise, low stress, good rest, good emotional health, avoid processed foods, alcohol (which converts to sugar in the body) and white flours and sugar (simple carbs).  Low saturated/trans fat, low meat/dairy.

Hope this helps somebody. Let me know if questions (or PM me).

Amy

PS - someone asked about various sweeteners. She said the ONLY sweetener she approves of IN SMALL AMOUNTS is honey.

Lilah - I am so happy for you.  The 60-100 grams was, I think, an Atkins "maintenance" level.  When I first started doing Atkins, I did 30-60.  I was worried about going too low because of all the bad press about Atkins.  Upping it a bit made room for the fresh fruit that I was really missing, along with a slice of whole grain bread and the occasional small serving of brown rice.  The rest of my carbs come in the form of the veggies, yogurt, maybe some whole grain crackers with cheese as a snack, and the hidden carbs in things you don't think about.  I rarely exceed this range, and have been doing this for ten years.

Cinnamon is said to lower blood sugar and cholesterol.  I've taken cinnamon capsules for a long time and I've not noticed a dramatic lowering.  It works for some people, and is worth a try - I think it's fairly innocuous.

Vivre - true alcohol does not break down into glucose.  In other words, if you are diabetic, it will not raise your glucose level.  Actually, it tends to work the opposite and can lower glucose levels, which is why it's so important for diabetics to be sure and eat something if they are drinking.  Where glucose comes into play with alcohol is the mixer, or if it's an apertif or a very sweet wine, where the sugar has not been distilled away.  So for example, having rum and coke means you're getting all the sugar from the coke.  But if you have rum and diet coke, there is no glucose involved.  My understanding is that alcohol is metabolized by the liver as a fat.  And that is why alcoholics end up with screwed up liver enzymes, fatty liver or cirrhosis.  There's never a simple answer, is there?

As for detoxing the liver, cleansing, colonics, etc., well I just don't buy into any of that.  I'm going to do my best to eat healthy, drink plenty of fluids, and get some exercise and let Mother Nature do what she does naturally.   To each her own on this subject

Michelle