Monday 19 October 2015

I'm Quitting Sugar




No! Don't panic! You haven't come to the wrong blog! Textile Treasury will continue to be the same as it always was, a mixture of textiles, music, food and family and whatever else is currently tickling my wayward fancy. However, since I decided to nail my colours to the mast and post on face book that I intended giving up sugar, I've had so many requests for information and updates I thought it would be easier to blog about the experience and keep the information in one place. Someone suggested I start a blog (!) but to be honest it is all I can do to keep up with posting on here. So I thought I would dedicate one post a month to Quitting Sugar, and if it doesn't float your boat, you can just scroll past that particular post each time it rolls around.

I shall be pretty open and frank here as I know that there are a lot of folks out there who are interested in the whys and wherefores of quitting  sugar. I'll make a couple of disclaimers first. Although I have a nursing and public health background, I am in no way presenting this information as a substitute for your own research and medical input. Also, this is about our PERSONAL experience (Jim is wholeheartedly supporting and joining me in this) and the way I approach it will be highly individual; I'm not proselytising. You do your own thing and I'm making no judgements, but I have been asked to do this.

Also I don't want to make these posts too word- heavy, there's nothing more off-putting I think than wedges of unrelieved text. So the information will be stretched out over the months. I will give you some suggested reading and viewing, however so you can do your own research.

There is a lot of information out there, the media have latched on to this grudgingly, as it has meant them contradicting their long-time love-affair with the low-fat philosophy embraced by most of us in the western world for a couple of decades. If you search the archives of, say, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent here in the UK you will find several articles, and I'm sure there are more world-wide.

My own introduction came initially from a book I bought in a supermarket, written by Sarah Wilson, called " I Quit Sugar For Life". I bought it, flicked through it, and put it on the coffee table. And that's all I did.

Now at this point, as many of you know, I was cooking a fairly healthy menu in this house. I cook mainly from scratch, I don't use polyunsaturated fats, and I love olive and coconut oil. Processed meals seldom find their way into the house and we don't really have much in the way of junk. We eat lots of fruit and vegetables, bread is usually wholemeal and often homemade, and I tried to keep the fat content down. I tried juicing but was not entirely convinced. I've read a lot about various diets over the years - heck, I've tried most of them! And my weight has soared. I have asthma, and a poorly functioning thyroid, both of which conditions mean I take medication. Once a year I catch a cold, it becomes bronchitis and I am them laid very low with an exacerbation of asthma, all requiring antibiotics and oral steroids, which I hate taking, but I do. This happens less frequently since retiring and not being in close contact with a lot of poorly children with respiratory infections! Being overweight is bad for my health and bad for my mental health; I HATE being overweight and it gets me down very badly at times. Lately I have been getting more and more concerned about what lies in store for me, health-wise - as you do when you get to my age!

So there you have the background story. Overweight, desperate to find a way I could feed us healthily without getting hung up about it, and needing to take care of the old bod. To the rescue comes my daughter-in-law in New Zealand, Krissie. Without making a fuss about it, Krissie had been taking on board some of the food concerns I had raised over the years, and begun to use coconut oil to fry with, increasing their veggies, and having seen an online video about quitting sugar, had enlisted the support of her husband, our son Kit. An ex-Royal Marine Kit likes to keep very fit, but along with all the healthy stuff, and the running he does, Kit was consuming a lot of sweet stuff. A LOT. And so was Krissie. They watched the video, decided to give the quitting sugar a try, and went for it. And with three children and both having full-time busy, responsible jobs, that was no mean feat. Krissie sent me the video link and I came to the same conclusion. I remembered the book I'd bought and re-read it. I also read a lot of other, more medically-based papers, and watched a load of youtube videos both from a lay perspective, and from a medical, evidenced based perspective. I even watched Jamie Oliver's "Sugar Rush" video, but I can't find it on-line anymore . What I discovered made me angry, worried, and determined to get this stuff out of my life. I discussed it with Jim and he said not only would he support me but he would do the same. I won't go into detail about the information I gathered here, but I'll give you a couple of suggestions to have a look for yourselves.

Sarah Wilson "I Quit Sugar" and "I Quit Sugar For Life: menus and recipes" is a good start and she has a website, blog and Facebook page, for practical information on how to get started.

Dr ROBERT LUSTIG is a paediatric endocrinologist, and he has written "The Bitter Truth" and  "Fat Chance" and his videos were the final spur for getting me started. I urge you to watch them, easily found on youtube. He speaks only to evidenced data, and he goes into the bio-chemistry if you are interested. But his passion, and anger at the untruths which have been foisted on the world by industries with vested interests only in their own profits, will be very enlightening. DAVID GILLESPIE is another  name, an Australian lawyer who was concerned about his weight, found out about the sugar trap and challenged himself to quit. His book "Sweet Poison" came out to great acclaim down-under and he ask has several videos on you-tube. A mother's point of view can be read about / watched  in the book by EVE SCHAUB  "A Year of No Sugar"and video of the same name.  That should get you started , or just inform you.

This is not the Atkins diet, in fact it isn't any diet. We quit sugar, processed foods, and anything marked "Low Fat".  Next month I'll give you a run down on what we DO eat, and why, and I'll give you an update on how we are doing.

For now, we have been sugar-free for just a week. We have totally enjoyed our food, and plenty of it. Even after only 5-6 days we notice our taste-buds are sparklingly alive - flavours are enhanced quite naturally. My complexion is a little clearer (I have very rosacea-prone skin) I have no desire to snack between meals because I am regaining my appestat (more of which next time) and I feel full. My rings had been getting a bit tight and now they are looser, and my feet are no longer swollen by evening time. Oh, and I lost 2lb. Not a huge amount, but satisfying, especially when you consider we have not cut back on our meals, and are eating full-fat.

So there you have it. The I'm Quitting Sugar Post. I hope I haven't bored you to death. I'm sorry for the text-heavy, photograph- light post. I hope I've whetted your appetites (so to speak!) to find out more for yourselves, but most of all I hope you'll keep on reading Textile Treasury so we can continue the lovely conversation we've been having for the past  three years or more.


24 comments:

  1. Fab update - a great solution to the request (from me) to blog. You could call your monthly updates "Quilting Sugar!". Meanwhile, in our house we're becoming more aware of the added sugars in our foods and attempting to cut them out. We shall gradually whittle away at the evil white stuff but not yet brave enough to go cold turkey!!

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    1. Hi Sandra, thanks for commenting - largely down to you this post was written! I'm impressed you are even thinking of taking it on board, you make the most delicious and beautifully decorated cakes you won't be clearing sugar out of your house any time soon, but every little helps, and if you are cutting back it can only be good for you all. Lxxx

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  2. Sounds really interesting - I don't consume much sugar on the whole not having a sweet tooth but I do use it in stewed fruit and in making preserves etc but Mr M eats far to much and any tips would help us both I am sure. We surely don't need such sweetness in our food and can get all we need in natural form in fruit but I will wait to see what you have to say over the coming months.

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    1. Hi Jane, thanks for commenting, I'm going to be really interested if this gets a good conversation going. I know we are all keen to do the best by our families. I understand sales of actual bags of sugar are slowly going down, but 'hidden' sugar consumption is going through the roof; its in ALL processed foods and not always labelled. It is most disastrously in all the soft drinks children these days consume in large volumes, and we are seeing the phenomenon of type 11 diabetes in young children now when 40 years ago it was seldom seen in adults. Good luck with Mr M - have a look at the videos and I'm sure you will be as shocked and incensed as I was, he'll be shocked too! Thanks for your support in this. It is a personal challenge, but I am getting quite passionate about spreading the information - hopefully people will then make their own healthy choices. Lxxx

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  3. i'm really pleased that you are doing these posts because i am intrigued by it all - don't know whether or not i would succeed in this but i will look at the youtube video clips that you sent me now that i am having a more normal week!!!! i can certainly identify with your comments on how you were feeling - my weight is a constant worry to me - i know you aren't keen on slimming clubs but i do alright when i go - the problem is i always badly fall off the wagon at least once a year and it is more and more difficult to go back - like you - and it may be an age thing - i am very aware at the mo that i have been very lucky so far to survive relatively intact when so many people we know have not!!!! each one reminds me of my own mortality and i have been in a bit of a downward spiral lately - dave is on the countdown to retirement now and i've really started to worry about something happening to one of us - well i can improve my odds by losing some weight and eating more healthily so i'm rejoining slimming world tomorrow and trying to get my mindset right!!!! well done to you for what you have done so far - i lose weight at the rate of a pound or two a week - it is slow but i think it's the best way to do it - so well done you!!!!

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    1. Hi Lynne! I know you are up to speed with this from Facebook, but it's so good to see you commenting here too. Nope, I have NO problem with Slimming Clubs - except …. 've done them all, and they all fall flat at the last hurdle - you give up on them. Either it is too much of a faff counting or weighing or measuring, or too restrictive, or… whatever. I don't know how I will fare on this sugar quitting, but I know I can't go back now that I know what I know. Slow weight loss i going to be a bonus - even though I would like to wake up tomorrow 4 stone slimmer! But the changes inside are the important thing, and I KNWO I can reverse some of the damage I have done. Not all, too late for that, but heck, I will go down fighting!! Stick with me kiddo! Lxx

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  4. Well done you and you are write on how much sugar is hidden in everyday food. Not sure I could do it but would like to use less in the old baking!

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    1. Hi Dc. Well, to be honest, although cutting out sugar would benefit all of us, you look the type who can get away with carbs, whereas I am insulin resistant and carbs a are my downfall, weight-wise, so I need to do this in earnest. My friend Lizzy's partner owns the Samovar Tea House in Ely and she is looking at baking with less or no sugar, using dried fruits, coconut sugar etc- which are all fructose anyway but healthier because of the extra fibre and other nutrients. As time goes by I will try and include some recipes.Lx

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  5. This is my last nemesis, I don't eat many processed foods, quit dairy and meat...but love sugar. I grew up in a sweet shop, sugar has always been there. This is one I really must tackle. I will watch your progress with much interest :) xxx

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    1. Hi Amanda, yes it really is a hard one. `these days I haven't been eating sweets regularly but when I do I go for it! it is VERY addictive in all its forms, as we now know. And it does such harm I'm only recently learning. Probably more important than dairy and meat, frankly, so if you can make some reductio it would be very advantageous. But heck, I do know how hard it can be!! Lxxx

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  6. I have never taken sugar in my hot drinks, I do buy sugar free squash but the odd glass that I drink is very weak. Cake is my downfall but I keep sugar content as low as I can and now slice and freeze all my baking. This means that If I want to eat cake I have to wait for it to defrost, mostly I can not be bothered so leave it. I have seen the book I gave up sugar for life and will be taking a trip to the Amazon for a copy. I will watch your progress with interest. Pam x

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    1. Hi Pam, you eat very well and frugally so I'd guess your diet is pretty good anyway, but we can all make improvements along the way. Good to have so much support! Lxx

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  7. Hello Lynne....I am a diabetic, have thyroid problems and High blood pressure. I am on meds for all this and more. When I first discovered I had diabetes I was in hospital for 4 days on an IV to bring my blood sugars down as they were dangerously high. I came home on Insulin shots every morning and 2 medications. I have cut out sugar. lowered carbs to almost nothing and drink oodles of water. Since that first onset I have been able to get off the shots and am on only 1 medication 2 x a day. I have been overweight also and am currently working very positively on that. I do mostly beans, veg and a small bit of fruit every other day. I now find fried foods not too much to my liking. I love tuna and salmon and stick to those. It's a work in progress but I do feel so much better! I also have been buying Kale and I really quite like it...I do miss my potatoes....my favorite food in the world :)

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    1. Hello Linda. Well! Good for you! I take it you mean type 11 diabetes? I reckon I am in a pre-diabetic state, I'm certainly insulin resistant (as I've learned doing all this research!) and I have an under active thyroid as I said in the post. It is SO encouraging to read about other people getting such great results when they cut out sugar, and especially that eating GOOD OLD FASHIONED SATURATED FAT is another part of the answer to the puzzle. We are still eating "natural" carbs but will slowly cut back on them. Bread has been my downfall for weight so this will go but I am doing sourdough at the moment, just a thin slice like a ciabatta slice ,each day, with BUTTER!. Come with me for the ride, and do please let me know how you are doing! Lxxx

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  8. Loved this post Lynne.. I also cook from scratch, hardly ever have processed foods, don't eat chocolate, biscuits, cakes nor have sugar in my drinks or cereals BUT.....I drink white wine....probably five nights a week!! My downfall I know but enjoy it. I DO eat low fat, low calorie, half fat, fat free blah blah. Do I lose weight? Do I feel fitter? No is the answer. Would love to know more Lynne. How can I find you on Facebook? P x

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    1. Patricia would love to have you as a Facebook friend! Just search my name and it will be obvious from the photo t is me, same as on my blog photo. I will accept as soon as I see your request and I suggest you have a good scroll through my posts - I am quite 'foodie' on face book! But I am also a bit political too so hope it doesn't put you off. I doubt it My reading tells me there is a double 'thing' going on, one is the sugar, the other is the low-fat scam. Simply put, when they remove the fat, the food tastes like cardboard, so they replace it with sugar. It can have many names and disguises but it is sugar. So for decades we have been fed the Big Lie and thousands of people have died, hundreds of thousands have become Type 11 Diabetic and this includes children as young as 3-4. I am so angry I could eat a pillow. So I am on a mission, I just need to find a way of channeling my energy and passion and getting hooked up with others who feel the same . Added to that I'm still really at the beginning of a long journey (groan, yes I know!!) but they always start with a single step. Right, Catch up on face book! Lxxx

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  9. Interesting, but how can you avoid natural sugars that you find in certain veggies, as well as fruits? As you know, I've been on steroids and a plethora of other drugs for over 25 years, and specific ones have led to all sorts of problems, including typt 2 diabetes. I don't use sugar in drinks, don't have sugary drinks, a sprinkle on cornflakes and three jelly babies, plus two sweet biscuits before bed, is my limit (I have to take in some carbs every couple of hours to stave off nausea and feeling faint, but not huge amounts, a cream cracker will suffice), apart from what you find in veggies of course. My diabetic nurse says this is fine... I actually crave savoury more than sweet, which is perhaps a good thing. I know how you feel about being overweight, that's another problem I have from the drugs, and I've been down to 1200 cals a day, felt tired and hungry, and lost nothing. Eaten junk food and not gained, eaten healthily and got bad bouts of IBS for my trouble, plus no weight loss. I have now given up worrying about it.. I am trying to be happy with me as I am - if it began to affect the working of the transplant, then it would need attention, but touching wood, that part of me is fine! Good luck, and looking forward to reading more about your progress.

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    1. Edwina, I know we have had the health conversation, in person! You have SO much to contend with I would not be presumptuous enough to attempt to advise you; you know your own body the best and obviously have good support from your medics. Saturated fat is proving to be THE 'goodie' in all cases, and would a) stave off your law blood sugar plunge and b) encourage weight loss - against all we have been "advised" over the last 20-30 years. It certainly won't harm you whatever your condition is and may help you lose weight. I will b edging my thing, and reporting on it, and passing on any information I come across on the way. I'll be very clear what is experiential and which is evidence based information. Take care L xxxx

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  10. Hello Lynne, It does sound like we are in the same boat. After the stunt my sweet Steve pulled on a camping trip last June, I have taken control over his eating habits. Something he fought me on at first, but is now thanking me for. He is diabetic and he was eating whatever he wanted and then taking huge amounts of insulin to counteract his eating. Well, not to get into what happened on the camping trip, but when we came home I was mad. I told him that if he didn't care enough to take care of himself for him, then he needed to take care of himself for me, because I deserved better than the future of being a widow before my time or in spending the rest of my life caring for an invalid ( I would, but he can start doing things to prevent it). I love him and want him to be well. Anyway we cut out sugar and most carbohydrates and as for the low fat that we always thought was important, we are eating more fat than ever. We are both eating this way. I am not one to eat something in front of him that he can't have and since around the middle of June Steve has lost 38 pounds and I have lost 25. Having a fresh vegetable garden has been a true blessing, and now that fall in on us, I know that it will be harder. That is one reason that I am happy to see your new post. It's good to get fresh ideas and to keep our menus exciting. Steve went in for his quarterly blood work and doctors appointment last week and his doctor was flabbergasted . . . I think we made his day. He says that he preaches better diet and home-care to his patients but very few make the changes. He even lower some of Steve's medications :)
    We know that we are on the right track, but that doesn't mean that it is easy and the holidays are something that we need to prepare for. Well, thank you . . . I will be looking forward to your posts and looking into some of the great research information that you having given in this post.
    Keep Smiling, Connie :)

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    1. WAY TO GO CONNIE!!!!! D'you know, I wondered if you and I might have a gentle falling out over this, as I think I may be having some harsh words to say about the American Sugar INdustry and your government (past, mostly) Ours is just as bad but the rot (literally!) set in in 1955 when they started to malign saturated fat and push the soy and veg oil and later when they deliberately covered up research proving sugar is toxic. One well regarded Professor has used the word genocide and I think it is not too extreme. I am so glad we are both singing from the same hymn sheet, and so glad also that your lovely Steve is on the road to recovery- I take it you meant Type 11 diabetes? Even if not he can still lower his insulin / metformin or whatever he is taking . I am intrigued to know how YOU found out about the perils of High Carb Low Fat,, and sugar? I am on a mission now. i am on an online forum with Jamie Oliver because we NEED the hip and trendy folk to get the message across. I will be emailing my MP just as soon as he recovers from my email last night asking him to vote against the chancellors bill to cut tax credits to young hard working families who will we in dreadful state if it goes ahead. I truly feel, after all my reading, that sugar is worse than tobacco. And the sugar industry is worse than the tobacco industry because not only have they known for decades the danger of sugar consumption, they have deliberately mislead the western world. You can decide not to smoke, ut if you don;t know that low-fat yoghurt contains 4 teaspoons flu of sugar then you can't make safe and sensible choices for your family. Wicked does not cover it!!
      Sorry for my rant, Connie! I have just read out your comment to MY other half, my lovely Jim who is being so supportive . Thank you so much for writing, and please, stay in touch and we will be sugar-beating buddies for life!! Much love, Lynnexxxx

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  11. I've taken to Stevia - looks like sugar, tastes like sugar, is calorie free - you can cook with it too!

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    1. AT the moment I don't want any sugar substitutes as I'm trying to retrain my taste-buds. Also, though the stevia plant leaves are harmless, the jury is still out about processed Stevia, so I think I'll give it a miss anyway!

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  12. How interesting, I'll be sticking around, I'd love to hear real opinions about it from someone not trying to sell anything.

    I started using a stevia product this year in replacement of sugar in my daily coffee and that was easy and painless. There are some terrible stevias out there, but also some excellent ones. I've been thinking about taking my already low sugar diet up to notch and completely giving up sugar for the purpose of mental clarity and possibly weight loss - I'm more concerned about feeling good. I have noticed since I have up my 1-3 teaspoons of raw sugar each day that when I do eat sugar now (6+ months on) it tastes sweet in a way it never did before so I do think that you taste buds will change regardless.

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  13. Hello Esther, nice to see you - I'd be interested to hear how you found my blog - was it a search for sugar-free blogs? I hope you aren't going to be disappointed as this isn't a 'foodie' blog really, it's about all sorts of things, textiles, music, my family, and meals I've cooked …. and once a month about how we are getting on without sugar.
    We have cut out ADDED sugar, but importantly -hopefully- all the HIDDEN sugars, so no processed foods, sauces etc. At the moment I am not using any sweeteners. I haven't found one I like or trust to be honest. May be when I start making the very occasional sweet treat I may need to find a sugar substitute. I know stevia is a natural plant, but the form it's found in in the shops is processed, and I'm afraid the jury is sill out about the complete safety of the product. It's certainly probably safer than all the others!

    We've certainly already noticed our taste buds have changed, we notice very many more flavours now, after only two and a half weeks. ANyway, next sugar free post will be in a couple of weeks but I shall be doing a 'normal' post very soon! Do pop back and see us!

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I'd love you to comment, maybe join in the conversation - I always try and reply if I can.Anonymous spammers take note: you will not be published. Genuine posters having difficulty will be accepted. Thanks so much for visiting!