The sugar dilemma - can you share your opinion?

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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amother

Taupe

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 5:41 am

is monk fruit sweetner healthier than sugar?

than honey and maple syrup too?

is it fried onions that makes dishes sweet or also cooked carrots?

amother

cornflower

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 6:41 am

Unfortunately I've never found a way to make my cravings go away. And yes, I've done every low carb/high fat diet. Never works long term. The cravings always come back and I eventually cave and fall off the wagon. It's really hard to kick the sugar addiction, and there are no guarantees that being good for a long time will work permanently.

DVOM

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 6:57 am

I have been off of sugar and sweeteners for about 10 years. Sadly, they are all pretty much the same thing in terms of health and nutritional value.

Are you looking for sugar/sweetener free recipes? I have loads and loads of your interested! Tell me what category your looking for (proteins, sides) and I'll gladly post!

amother

Scarlet

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 8:04 am

Imabubby60 wrote:

I am on this eating plan for the last year and it is life changing BH. Besides losing pounds and belly fat, my A1C has become normal and I don't get food cravings and low blood sugar. I'll post a link to the best Dr.'s videos that I've found to explain the anti-inflammatory, healthy Keto diet, Dr. Berg: https://youtu.be/Qifg5hxnlJE?s.....cPXUp
From what I've learned, Monk fruit sweeteners don't raise the blood sugar, and I use it in my tea and salad dressing.
A typical day:
Organic pasture raised eggs with cheddar cheese, organic salad and vegetables, wild caught fish (fresh or canned salmon), chicken or grass fed beef. For a treat at events I look for the fruit.
To season vegetables: balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic, lemon, spices
I saute onions and garlic a lot for everything
Olive oil and avocado oil

Do you find monk fruit to have a bitter aftertaste? Do you use pure monk fruit or mixed with erythritol?

amother

Almond

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:28 am

DVOM wrote:

You're an inspiration!! I am about 6 weeks in so far!

What are some of your go-to recipes?
Salad dressings?
Chicken recipes?

amother

Aqua

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 10:05 am

https://nourishedbycaroline.ca.....ened/

Imabubby60

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:36 pm

From my experience, it initially took about 2 weeks for the sugar cravings to go away. Now, on the two times in the last year I had a sugar dessert, the next morning I was back on track. The body learns to burn fat instead of sugar for energy. Keep trying, just don't give up.
The monk fruit I use is mixed with erythritol. I only put a bit in tea and salad dressing.

Imabubby60

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:41 pm

Salad dressing (I keep a cup of it in the frig)
Olive oil or Avocado oil
Squeezed and chunks of fresh lemon
minced fresh garlic
pepper
teaspoon of monk fruit (with erythritol)
Optional balsamic vinegar

Imabubby60

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:42 pm

amother Scarlet wrote:

Do you find monk fruit to have a bitter aftertaste? Do you use pure monk fruit or mixed with erythritol?

I don't find it bitter and the one I buy does have erythritol

Imabubby60

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:45 pm

amother cornflower wrote:

When you get a craving have a few or more salted macademia nuts, it's the best fulfilling snack and I really think it helped me break my sugar habit.

Imabubby60

Fri, Mar 22 2024, 9:47 pm

amother Taupe wrote:

is monk fruit sweetner healthier than sugar?

than honey and maple syrup too?

is it fried onions that makes dishes sweet or also cooked carrots?

Yes, monk fruit does not raise the blood sugar and is better than the others. Fried onions are great.

amother

Scarlet

Sat, Mar 23 2024, 11:06 pm

Imabubby60 wrote:

I don't find it bitter and the one I buy does have erythritol

That's why it's not bitter lol. Erythritol isn't good for you

amother

Magnolia

Sat, Mar 23 2024, 11:43 pm

amother Scarlet wrote:

That's why it's not bitter lol. Erythritol isn't good for you

Besides not being good for you some people get terrible stomach cramps from erythtitol and other sugar alcohols like xylitol and maltitol. I check labels on processed foods that are labeled sugar free or low carb to make sure there are no sugar alcohols in them. I can’t have any.

Imabubby60

Sun, Mar 24 2024, 1:35 am

According to the MD that advises me and who looks at the studies on the sweeteners, Erythritol is ok. He says it's "fake news" that it's not healthy.

amother

Opal

Sun, Mar 24 2024, 1:40 am

amother OP wrote:

I know being off sugar is healthy for the body for many reasons. I'm trying to eat low carb, minimal processed foods and go off sugar.
When I search recipes for this lifestyle there are thousands that are called sugar free but have honey or maple syrup or stevia or agave or allulose or monk fruit?
What is the science on all this?
Are these options better for me than regular sugar?
Do they cause inflammation?
Do they cause cravings?
I am not diabetic but I am obese with inflammation, trying to change my lifestyle.
Thanks in advance for your insight.

I think natural sugars are healthier in a general sense than processed white sugar and certainly corn syrup. But yeah, it's still sugar, it's still not great for anyone having weight/ inflammation issues, and there is also the fact that eating sweet makes you crave more sweet. Better to leave it all behind as much as possible. Stick with lower glycemic fresh fruit only and after a while it will start to taste like candy.

amother

Opal

Sun, Mar 24 2024, 1:43 am

Imabubby60 wrote:

According to the MD that advises me and who looks at the studies on the sweeteners, Erythritol is ok. He says it's "fake news" that it's not healthy.

A lot of doctors and nutritionists say it's safe, but I can tell you first hand that it wreaks havoc on many people's stomachs.

amother

Violet

Sun, Mar 24 2024, 12:07 pm

You should consider intuitive eating, but be warned, it's not as easy as it sounds. It's hard work listening to your body and eating foods that make you feel good. I find that sugar can my body feel wrong, probably because it's messing with my blood sugar and insulin. However, there are a lot of factors affecting the way the body processes sugars and carbs. For example, eating a cookie for breakfast is worse than eating one for lunch. Eating sweets with carbs and protein is better than eating them on their own. You might find that you are more satisfied with a small serving of real dessert after a meal than with fake sugar, and it might not have a negative effect. Also, a little exercise after a meal can help with your blood sugar. It can be light exercise; it's not about burning the calories, it's to help your body balance itself.

If you can afford it, I recommend trying a lot of different foods, including expensive fruits and vegetables. I once thought I didn't like vegetables. I learned, fortunately for my health but not so for my finances, the more expensive fruits and vegetables really are better.

Imabubby60

Sun, Mar 24 2024, 12:12 pm

Since insulin is a fat storing hormone, the goal is to cause the body to release insulin as few times as possible during the day. That’s the logic behind the “Healthy Keto /intermittent fasting” lifestyle, making the body burn fat instead of sugar for energy.

amother

Celeste

Thu, Mar 28 2024, 5:44 pm

This question caught my eye because my husband has done a lot of research on this topic both from a Torah and a medical perspective and so I've been hearing about it for like the past 10 years!!

Here's what he shared with me from his book (I edited it a bit to post here):

There are different kinds of sugar that affect us differently. The type of sugar in an IV that we need for life and good health is glucose. The type we don’t need - or certainly not very much - is fructose. Sucrose is a combination of the two.

So when people talk about “excess sugar” or “added sugar,” they mean fructose. Fructose - and especially liquid fructose - is associated with obesity-related diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. Overall sugar limits from the medical community (about 24g/day for a woman) don't distinguish between types of sugar, but the liquid sugar is much more harmful than solid. So when you have an iced mocha or an Arizona iced tea or obviously regular can of soda, but also a full glass of fruit juice, these are all very harmful and should be treated as a sort of poison, because they can actually damage your liver (slowly, it can take many years, but why would you even want slow damage?). The whole science behind it is in the sugar chapter in my husband's book (PM me if you want info). But just consider that 1 Snapple or even one hot cocoa is a huge amount of liquid sugar!

Regarding the artificial sweeteners, apparently they have 2 problems - Sweetness without calories doesn’t trigger satiety hormones, signaling the brain that it’s time to stop eating. This signal error can lead to eating more calories later; and they are intensely sweet and nurture a sweet preference and may lead to eating more actual sugar later. You can't win! And because they haven't been fully studied the AHA is totally against them.

So no more orange juice for me, which I used to think was healthy, and I've basically cut out sugar even in my coffee (although I still add a few drops of cream).

shanie5

Sun, Mar 31 2024, 10:24 am

amother OP wrote:

I'm more concerned with how sweeteners affect cravings, insulin, and overall health. Are there preferred sweeteners?
IF I'm going to add sweetness to something, which direction do I go in?

If you use any sweeteners (even most fruits) you will always crave sweets. Cutting ALL sweets out is the only way to stop the cravings for sweets. It's very hard at first, but gets easier once it's out of your system. Find another snack that is not sweet and keep it handy to eat for when you want a snack. And try to keep sweets out of the house so they are not handy when a craving hits.
Recommended snacks are olives, hard boiled eggs, nuts (almonds and pecans are lower carb than other nuts), cheese, beef jerky (homemade, without sugar)

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