Tinkerbells, it can be very difficult to cut out sugar if you have DH and/or kids at home. If you are alone then you don't bring them into the house. But don't try and go cold turkey because that does not work for most people. If you have others at home then maybe start by only allowing yourself dessert 2x/week then 1x/wee, every other week, etc., or only have dessert if you have done something extra, out of the ordinary, special, for someone. Maybe when you feel the urge you do the 20/20/20 rule - drink 20 ozs of water and wait 20 minutes during which time you do another activity that will take an additional 20 minutes. The urge may then go away. Different things work for different people and you will need to find what works to take your mind off of eating.

Good luck.

I follow a Paleo diet and have for almost 2 years. Stevia is a natural sweetener, not an artificial one, and it is permitted on a Paleo diet. Stevia does not cause blood glucose levels to rise. Honey and maple syrup (real maple syrup not the stuff made with corn syrup) are also allowed on a Paleo diet, but like regular processed sugar, cause blood glucose levels to rise. Like most who follow a Paleo diet, I don't use them often or in large quantities. When baking/making treats I often use recipes calling for coconut sugar instead (stevia is hard to bake with, I mostly use it in my tea). Coconut sugar causes blood glucose levels to rise, but only about half as much at reg sugar/honey/maple syrup and can be used to replace regular sugar (one cup coconut sugar equals one cup reg sugar) so you can easily use it as a substitute in just about anything .

I've found a Paleo diet and lifestyle to be sustainable, unlike many diets I tried over the years, but cooking everything (nearly) from scratch can be time consuming and it can be expensive. For those who've had BC adhering to the grassfed only/no hormones added meats is I think especially important, but they can be pricey. We buy a meat CSA direct from the farm, which is cheaper than buying meat at Whole Foods or Trader Joes but still more than regular supermarket prices and not an option everywhere. Ditto for fresh and organic veggies. Meat and veggies are primary to a Paleo diet. On the other hand, we save money but not buying bread products, chips, sodas, dairy (grassfed butter or ghee once in awhile), fast foods, etc.

I would also suggest: That Sugar Book by Damon Gameau. Damon did an experiment where he ate 40 tsp of sugar every day for 60 days,, but only in "healthy" foods. What happened is quite interesting. There is also a movie about it, That Sugar Film.

With a few backslides, I've been nearly sugar-free (and that includes most starches, since they become sugar very quickly) since early 2013. I still got diagnosed in Aug. 2015, but having lost 50 lbs. on that regimen I think I bounced back from surgery more easily than had I still tipped the scales at 225. You have to include ALL simple carbs (refined flours & grains, potatoes, honey and maple syrup) under the rubric of “sugar." It's a bummer--especially if, like me, you love good pasta, artisanal breads and quality pizza--but it's doable. Of all the diets I've ever been on, it's the most versatile and easy to stick to when traveling (at least domestically). Nothing to have to weigh or measure, no exchanges or points to calculate, no tradeoffs. You can either eat a particular food or you can’t. I know that wherever I am and no matter how late it is after a show or on the road, I can always get a burger patty, string cheese, nuts, or hard boiled egg--wherever there's a mini-mart there's a “permissible" meal or snack, even if not exactly delectable. Almost any sit-down-get-served restaurant will let you sub out a green salad, non-starchy veg, or tomato slices for a starch, and will cook your protein without dredging it in flour, crumbs or batter. And you can always get plain iced tea, soda water or ice water with a slice of lemon. (Diet soda, because it tastes sweet, will make your pancreas reflexively release insulin just as much as will sugared soda--but when your body realizes it's been duped and there's no “incoming" sugar for the insulin to mop up, insulin does its other job and promotes storage and inhibits burning of fat).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/120773...

Sugar, Coke and cancer link

I have done lots of reading on the subject of the effects of dietary sugar, mainly by Marion Nestle, Gary Taubes, and MDs Robert Lustig and Michael Hyman. I also read exposes (I forget the author--need to check my Kindle app) of why the amount of sugar, salt and fat in processed food is manipulated by the food mfrs., as well as how flavor profiles are determined (to reach the “bliss point”) to maximize sales of food products (which manipulation is often done with synthetic chemicals). Then there’s Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” which devotes an entire section (not just chapter) to corn and its role in our food supply: history, uses (in things you’d never believe such as additives, caffeine synthesis, even packaging, as well as animal feed) and effects in not just our bodies but those of animals in the food chain. You are what you eat, acc. to the late Adelle Davis, but you are ultimately also what you eat eats. A real eye-opener! An example: cattle (especially) and hogs did not evolve to eat corn and other grains--it causes cattle tremendous digestive upset, including diarrhea. Then they spend the last parts of their lives standing in their own waste, and so are administered prophylactic antibiotics to keep them from getting infected and their meat from sickening us. As a result of food-animal-industry use of antibiotics, bacteria resistant to them have evolved--which may soon become the biggest health crisis affecting society. That’s why I don’t eat grain-fed meat.

There's great information here, thanks.

Lotte- really good article. Thanks for sharing. Made me realize I have some work to do with myself and my family.

Selena- good point.

My former boss has fairly intense arthritis in her hands and must have manual dexterity to maintain her license in the lab, and her husband found a diet online that was purported to be anti-inflammatory. She started it and within a week could make a fist and stop her pain meds. She was probably an evenly distributed size 10 at the time - not a person I would have said needed to lose weight. She didn't start the diet to lose weight but lost 20 lbs. without exercise, and is now a size 4. This is an elimination diet, taking out the foods most likely to cause inflammation due to people being either allergic or sensitive to them. This is a hard diet to follow, one ends up eating foods in their mostly whole form, and not being able to eat many things most people enjoy, almost nothing processed, and it is harder to eat in restaurants - but not impossible. I have ended up like the character in When Harry Met Sally when I order in restaurants, I ask them to leave things out, or have them on the side, etc. I was having trouble with AI induced joint pain and weight gain from chemo, with difficulty getting it off - despite daily exercise (5 fast miles) and calorie restriction/sensible eating (1,500 calories - mainly Mediterranean type foods). I tried this way of eating and lost 22 lbs over six months, also without exercise - due to having three surgeries during the six months of weight loss. This diet cuts out sugar (in many forms), dairy, soy, corn, peanuts, gluten and eggs. It is very similar to Paleo but without dairy and eggs. After three weeks you can add things back in, in an isolated way, to determine whether something causes you problems - if it does, you leave it out, if it doesn't you may be able to add it back in. This diet also advocates lean clean meats/poultry/fish, and organic and low-glycemic vegs/fruits. Part of the inflammatory aspect is the food itself that causes issues - dairy/sugar/peanuts/gluten/eggs, part of it is that some food is doused in pesticide - particularly the soy and corn in the US, and part of it is what your protein sources are being fed. There are many who advocate "everything in moderation" but that doesn't work for me personally, or they feel that cutting out whole food groups is too restrictive, but I feel and look better eating this way. This is a synopsis of the diet, I would probably not buy the book, but if you want or need a book, I would buy the recipe book - it covers the premise of the diet fully.

http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-virgin-diet-by-jj-virgin-2012-what-to-eat-and-foods-to-avoid-food-list/

Seachain, Why no blueberries? I eat a lot of them - only organic, but good antioxidants.

Thanks, very interresting

Hello Tinkerbells,

Sugar is *Very dangerous to your health. If you are taking high Sugar on daily basis, then you need to stop immediately.

Sugar is a slow poison. It slowly kills your Pancreas, Kidneys and finally Lungs. (Same thing happened to one of my colleague).

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevent....

I offer the CDC's myth debunking page....FWIW. Read the note on sugar. If not eating sugar makes any of us feel more secure and protected from little "c", then of course--not eating it is a good thing to do.

Some may say I'm in denial, but I Don't believe sugar causes cancer, but at the same time I'm sure it is not good when the body is trying to heal. I'm thinking alcohol could actually be more harmful. I use to enjoy wine a few times a week, but have cut it out completely. I have also cut carbs as far as pasta and rice down to very low levels. Maybe once a week. I refuse to cut my sweet intact so will indulge two to three times a week. One of my in-laws is a super health freak for most of her life (everything is organic and strict vegan)and got BC. So, there goes sugar theory.