Stop SUGAR Support Thread

Detoxing is indeed a complicated process, and best advised by a knowlegable doctor. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find a doctor who understands it or advises it unless you are willing to step outside the box and do a bit of doctor shopping. I worked with my chiro, though I must admit, I did a lot of reading on my own which really helped me understand the process.

Everything Amy said is true. You have to make sure your body is able to clear the toxins or they will recirculate. The release of toxins also has some side effects. This was the process  I went through: First my doc was emphatic that I have no alcohol, sugar or caffeine through the process and eat plenty of fiber and drink lots of water. This makes it easier on the liver. It can detox instead of keep working hard. Since I had already been doing this since dx, this was a habit for me at that point. The detox was a slow, 6 week process of taking supplements that she recommended. It was a product called ultraclear by metagenics. I had a hard time with the powder. It made me gag, so I used a pill. I have since turned to the Usana product instead. It is called Hepasil and contains the same liver detox ingredients such as milk thistly, NAC, tumeric, etc. When I started the detox (after rads), I was feeling pretty good because I had been eating so healthily and exericising, but the detox made me feel like I was hitting a brick wall. Now this would make most people want to quit. I was literally wiped out, no energy for a couple of days. This is the toxins releasing into the body. I also had a headache and lots of itching and the most horrible body odor from time to time. I could not believe the smell. I was blaming it on my 90 year old grandmother until it hit me one time when I was in the car alone. (sorry granny). One of the things to do when one has these symptoms is to do what is called "salt loading". This is a protocol according to Dr. Brownstien and it works amazingly well. Basically you take a 12 oz glass of water with about a quarter tsp of sea salt. Every time I did this, my symptoms went away within minutes. I have continued to do use this as my "cure" for any headaches.

Most of the symptoms only lasted a couple of days, but the itching still comes and goes when I take my hepasil. I can see on my thermograms that there is still radiation in my breast, so I continue to try to flush it out.

Here are some of the great things about detoxing. First of all, once the initial side effects, I got an energy boost that has never left me. I think releasing all those stored toxins has made a huge difference in how  I feel and I was really able to lose weight once I got the toxins cleared out for the first time in my life. Another thing is that I have very little body odor now. BO is nothing but bacteria, and I must have really cleared it out. I do not even use deodorant anymore.

Another great way to detox is in a far infrared sauna. I bought a portable one you sit in from momemetum88.com and I absolutely love the thing. I use it almost every night and I sleep so well when I do. Even though I really pour sweat, it does not smell. I think it is because I am continuously detoxing. Not sweating was a huge issue to me. I have always loved to exercise, and I could not sweat after treatments because my system was so messed up. I still cannot sweat like I use to from exercise, but at least I can  sweat out the toxins in the FIR.

The liver is the workhorse for keeping us healthy. If it is clean, it can do a better job. That is why I make daily detox a part of my life now. A healthy liver is a healthy body.

I am pretty sure that Stevia is the plant itself that the leaves are used for sweetening and Truvia brand name for  a synthetic version made with stevia. Try growing the plant and using the leaves like tea.

HI all, my first time on this thread, so don't know if anyone has mentioned honey. I gave up alcohol and sugar, also artificial sweeteners. I go to the Farmer's Market weekly and get lots of fresh fruit (especially apples and blueberries), also organic bananas; though I try not to eat too much fruit it does help with the sugar craving. When the going gets tough and I convince myself I'll DIE if I don't have "sugar" - I eat a few spoonfuls of organic raw honey. Probably there's an article somewhere about honey's toxicity but if so, I don't want to know. Maybe later.

treesprite, thanks for the book recommendation; I've read several, look forward to this re: integrative appraoch.

Lilah, thanks for comment about honey. What about agave nectar? My dietition says this was just marketing hoopla to sell unused cactus byproducts, but I like it in my green tea.

Can't remember who provided the link to research on sugar/high fructose corn syrup, but THANKS.

Lilah, I think that her dietician was referring to the fact that the agave we see on the shelf has additives now.  Marketing 101.  Find something pure that people will pay for and add fillers to make it more profitable and crap to extend shelf life.

Liver Detox: Milk thistle is a fantastic natural detox. Artichokes contain the same ingredient (although eating them daily would get old!)

Apple cider vinegar is a fantastic liver detox if you can stand the taste. It's not horrible. A daily glass - 1 tbsp ACV, 1 tbsp honey (although I skip the honey), 16 oz. water - helps clean out the liver. Even if you periodically did this for, say, 7 days straight, that would be helpful.

Brown Rice Syrup: I have a great cookbook for that - Sweet and Natural.

Berries: A scary, but true, fact: Although the US FDA has outlawed the use of DDT pesticides in this country, it is still legal for us to manufacture it and sell it to other countries - like Mexico. So pls. check country of origin, because many berries are heavily sprayed in other countries.

 Lisa

www.pinkkitchen.info

I have found that lowering my carb consumption has resulted in me waking up in the morning with the same or LOWER blood sugar.  So, in my case, the issue was not a need for a liver detox but simply a case of too many carbs.  Who'da thunk it?

This whole thread is a "ah ha" moment! Great information and something I have known for years... sugar is toxic! I have joined weight watchers recently, but also decided to cut all "white products" from my diet. Slowly but surely it is happening! Thank you for all the information and encouragement through out this thread!

I am on the no-sugar bandwagon - something I have rebelled against since DX.  I started drinking Coke Zero, using Splenda instead of tablespoons of sugar in my hot tea, eating yogurt every morning and eating low-fat cheese and crackers for lunch - very small dinner and in 2 weeks I have lost 5 lbs! 

I tried for one year to just walk 1 hour per night and adjust my food portions and never lost a single pound.  I have looked at this topic for weeks now and decided to finally read it as this thread is going to motivate me even more.

I have 25 more lbs of chemo weight to lose but it is encouraging to see results NOW.  My friend from Dallas motivated to start looking at the nutritional information of the foods I was eating.  Now I am reading every single label when I go shopping - what a difference this is making!

Keep on giving the good tips - believe me I need lots of them.

Lilah - it is so hard for me to give up carbs but yesterday we had red potatoes for dinner - boiled and instead of mashing them and I only put 2 tablespoons of butter over 4 cups of boiled potatoes and then only ate at the most 1/2 cup - I filled myself up instead on fresh steamed brocolli and ham that I put on the grill.  Normally I would put 1/2 stick of butter on them so even though I cheated a little bit - I still see this as progress for me.

I ate 6 triscuits with 4 slices of low fat cheese for dinner tonight.  I weighed 1.5 lbs less than I did this morning when I first got up.  I rode my horse today and got into a major sweat so instead of coming home and pigging out - I ate my snack at 5 pm and have no desire to eat again tonight.  Instead I am drinking Coke Zero - I have not yet acquired a taste for it - I have always loved the "real coke".

Hi Jancie and congrats on the great start! 

I know there are at least a couple of us here who are diabetics.  I participate in a Diabetic discussion board on WebMD, and we have a contributing endocrinologist from Tufts - Dr. Michael Dansinger.  He has written a series of articles on dieting to reverse diabetes.  Even if you are not diabetic, I think you will find many helpful hints if you read the series.  You can find it at

http://blogs.webmd.com/life-with-diabetes-2/2009/07/eating-for-diabetes-reversal-part-1.html

I know some of you are trying to avoid soy and that might influence the degree to which you adopt his recommendatiaons.

I hope this gives you some new ideas, some menu ideas and some encouragement!

Michelle

I heard the most incredible speaker tonight about nutrition. He has counseled people for over 30 years and is writing a book about eating for your metabolism. His thesis is proven by what a lot of us are commenting on, that certain things work for some of us, and not for others. It is too hard to explain, but he says when our metabolism is off balance we get sick. When we are way out of whack (as I know I was before bc), we get use to feeling lousy and tired, so we do not even notice how specific foods effect us.  When we get our metabolism balanced, we notice it immediately, when we eat something that is wrong for us. This explains why I use to be able to eat pizza with no problems (that I noticed) but now, it sends my stomach into revolt.

Starfish-I do the apple cider vinegar as much as I remember before bedtime and I add some baking soda. This really settles my stomach. Apple cider vinegar is one of the ingredients for gall bladder detox. It will actually break up gall stones and can prevent gout flare ups. You can google gallbladder cleanse for variations of the protocol. As for the milk thistle-this one really can make one itch. It is not an allergic reaction. It is a detox reaction. This is why I do the "salt loading" as I described.

Jancie - 5 pounds!!!! Good for you!!

Treesprite-I have been on the iodine protocol, as described by Dr. David Brownstein in his book,
"Iodine, why you need it and why you cannot live without it" for 2 years. It does indeed boost metabolism and is essential for anyone who is hypothyroid. There is a link to hypothyroid, iodine deficeincey and breast cancer, and we have a very long thread here that explains it all. We also discuss it on the Natural Girls thread. I cannot tell you all the ways that iodine has improved my life, but I will suffice to say I feel it is one of the most proactive things I am doing for prevention. Iodine is especially important to  healthy breasts because it accumlates there and is needed by every cell in our body. When we are deficient, the toxic halides such as bromine, chlorine and flouride will displace the iodine receptor sites and we are vulnerable to disease. As a bonus, having sufficient levels of iodine protects from all the current nuclear fallout that no one is telling us the truth about, that is floating around after the meltdowns in Japan.

I firmly believe that it is just a matter of time before iodine becomes a standard of care for breast cancer, rather than hormone drugs. breastcancerchoices.org has been doing a study with women like me for many years with great results. Soon the proof will be too big to ignore.

One more comment from the nutritionist, he spent a lot of time discussing why sugar feeds disease and is at the core of our health problems. He also said that sugar is the number one addiction and that it is hardest to kick because there is no stigma to it.

o2bhealthy-I can email you his phone number if you want to speak with him. He is so amazingly passionate but he will not talk to anyone who is not willing to make a total committment to their health. I do not agree with everything he says, but I do feel he is a guy who is trustworthy and not out to take advantage of people. In fact, he use to work for Mercola, and left after he got so disgusted with all the snake oil Mercola was touting. And if you want to hear him speak for yourself, I am planning a women's wellness weekend in the Chicago area in October. He will be speaking as well as some other amazing docs who will talk about hormones, thermography, dental health, etc. It is going to be a fantastic event. I will let people know more later, but keep the date open if you think you might like to come (weekend of Oct. 22.

Michelle -- good for you!  I am lucky in that my diabetes was caught early (my doctor always tested my blood given the hereditary factor) so my A1C has never been terribly high... but it has fluctuated between 6 and 7.3 and I am hoping that with this new regimen (and these amazing numbers I've had) I'll see something in the 5s

I broke down and had 2 beers this week and a piece of bread with butter so my weight loss has been holding steady but not decreasing.  Today is a new day - drinking hot tea with splenda instead of 3 tablespoons of sugar like I used to.

I tried to counteract the 2 beers with riding my bike 12 miles two days in a row but that didn't help