Cutting Out Sugar Could Radically Improve Your Health — Here's How To Do It

[FarCenter]

The last 30 years have seen an onslaught of sugar and dwindling of fiber in the food environment, a deadly combination for consumers who have been duped by the food industry, Lustig argues. He sounded this battle cry in his 2009 lecture, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth," which became a viral hit with nearly 4 million views on YouTube, and in his 2012 book, "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Disease."

Now, he's putting his message in more practical terms, offering consumers a handbook for the supermarket with "Sugar Has 56 Names: A Shopper's Guide." An e-book that's meant to travel with shoppers on their smartphones or tablets, the guide, released this month, provides consumers with a new nutrition label for hundreds of processed foods that puts the spotlight on where it should be, he argues: sugar. From soy milk to sausage, and Sara Lee to supermarket brands, the data delineates the quality and quantity of sugar in products. Why the distinction? Because, as the book's title indicates, sugar goes by varied names – from fructose to fruit juice, and these derivatives differ greatly in how they're processed by the body.

"By paying attention to the sugar portion of the label people can do better in terms of making their own decisions," Lustig says. The current nutrition label falls far short of that, he says, noting that the label lacks a percent daily value for sugar, which makes it difficult for people to calculate how much is too much.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-and-why-to-stop-eating-sugar-2013-9

[hlthe2b]

1. I cut out almost all processsed foods and lowered my Carbs to 70 grams or less...

a year ago. The only actual "sugar" I get is in lower carb fruits, like berries, balanced with fiber and protein.

I feel so much better...Much more energy and far less joint pain--even after exercise.

Sugar is not benign in the diet--at all.

[BrotherIvan]

4. I totally agree!

I switched my significant other, who had been drinking at least 4 sodas a day over to your diet and he lost 30 lbs in a month (and he did not look overweight) and feels so much better. We also cut out grains of all kinds. Better sleep, incredible workouts and fast recovery, clearer mind and better mood. He gets mad when we fall off the wagon because you absolutely feel the difference.

It does take effort and vigilance. We spend much more time shopping and cooking than before. Because most restaurants serve loads of carbs, sugar, and crap, going out to eat is sometimes a challenge. But we have found cuisines that make it easier such as Korean, Japanese and Indian (just skip the rice--which is the least offensive of all grains). But at the same time, the health benefits are completely worth it.

One of my co-workers, a young woman in her late twenties, she was complaining about the high cost of all the medications she took for horrible allergies, acid reflux, anxiety and antidepressants, slong with terrible energy and mood swings, and always came down with every cold. She finally asked why I NEVER get sick (I don't remember the last time I was) and I was fifteen years older and took no medication whatsoever. I told her it was diet: she thought she was eating healthy, avoiding meat and fat, basically the diet you see in every magazine. She thought soy milk on her cereal was healthy--she didn't know that soy milk is LOADED with sugar to make it palatable and the soy of today is one of the highest GM crops and 10x as estrogenic as any soy in traditional Asian diets. She ate a veggie sandwich for lunch and then some sort of pasta dish for dinner. All starch which equals sugar, and very little protein or fat. When she eliminated sugar and grains and focused on improving her gut flora with yogurt, kefir and homemade kombucha, within two months she was off EVERY medication she was taking (the acid reflux was gone in just over a week). Her allergies were gone that she had suffered with her entire life. After 5 months she had lost 40 lbs.

I could tell story after story of people I know whose lives have been improved by removing sugar, grains and vegetable oils. My friend's son with Crohn's, arthritis, in fact all auto-immune diseases can benefit. So it's really not about losing weight, it's about the incredible health. And for all the money we save not going to doctors or prescriptions or sick days, we spend it on great food instead.

Pardon my rant, but I wish more people could benefit from something so simple. Our diets are the biggest exposure we have, so we can choose to add health or take away from it.

[Kolesar]

2. these sugar derivatives differ greatly in how they're processed by the body.

The sugar in the cranberries and raisins in my oatmeal enter my bloodstream at a different rate than does straight beet sugar. I can tell that I don't get a sugar high and insulin droop after I eat this breakfast.

[hlthe2b]

5. That's because of the fiber in whole fruit and in the oatmeal, reducing the glycemic index...

Even with fruit, eating protein, fiber (and fat) alongside can go a long way in maintaining normal blood sugar levels.

It is little wonder our highly processed sugar filled carbs (e.g., cereals) ceremoniously proclaimed "healthy" simply because they are low fat, is causing us so many problems.

[Cicada]

3. so far the evidence is not conclusive

[Nye Bevan]

6. I remember when they used to say this about fat.

Seems like some guy is trying to sell a book.

[FarCenter]

7. Almost all books are written by some guy trying to sell them.

But actually, you don't need a book. Just "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" per Michael Pollan.

[otohara]

8. Serious Sugar Cravings

is a sign that something is wrong.

Fungus among us.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. an easy step one for people might be just cutting out processed foods

As a starter...

We have only "ingredients" in our cupboards, for the most part.
Like you, I have found that cooking in Asian style, ( my preferred cooking)
or in Mexican dishes, ( Mr. Dixie's preferred cooking)
is much easier, cheaper and healthy.

We DO use beans and rice, tho, cause of gluten issues.

[DFW]

10. Try the "Eat this, not that!" book series

Some sensible advice without going extreme in any one direction.

My immediate superior back in TX went whole hog on this and looks emaciated. He also has a stated wish to live forever. Actually, we're the same age and I'm sure he'll outlive me by 40 years. I'm pretty sure I won't live forever, and have fun (in moderation) accordingly.

[Silent3]

11. Elimination and purity obsessions

I have no doubt that many people can get good results by cutting sugar, as well as many other things, out of their diets, but I suspect that in many, if not most cases, the benefits accrued are often more of a side effect of jumping through all of the hoops and hurdles necessary to be so fanatically puritanical about their food choices.

The same thing goes for eliminating "processed" foods... as if "processed" were any one clear-cut category that should have any overall particular character for good or ill. Boiling and cutting and baking and marinating are "processes" too. Just because a "process" is done in giant vats and perhaps uses chemicals (Oh, noes! Again, as if "chemicals" were all of a kind too.) not typically found in household kitchens doesn't make it automatically unhealthy.

Getting so picky and selective simply forces you to think about what you eat, and how much you eat, in a way that often doesn't happen when you eat anything and everything with few restrictions and little concern about what's in your food.

I've lost 85 lbs since last April. I've been holding steady at a good, trim weight for months now, and while I am much more careful about what I eat, I've never become any sort of fanatical purist about it. My morning yogurt does indeed have a little added sugar. I eat less meat and leaner meat, but I eat out a lot and I'm usually just getting meat from the general public meat supply, not stuff that's been specially certified as organic or hormone-free or anti-biotic free.

I feel great. I've started hiking up mountains and leaving people half my age in the dust. Is it possible that if I were more fanatical I could be even healthier and feel even better? I suppose, but then again, I have a fanatical sister who has raised a bunch of fanatical daughters, and I they're posting complaints on Facebook all the time about feeling sluggish or bloated or gaining too much weight and having to fight it off again -- which they, of course, blame on anything they might have happened to do to stray from The True Path.

[Kolesar]

13. Congratulations on your success!

Do you keep a log book tracking your diet? There was an article in the NY Times magazine and that was one of the methods that those who accomplished big weight loss used. I have some family that need "weight loss" and I want to advise them.

[Silent3]

14. Nothing so formal. I do keep a running mental tally for each day...

...of calories consumed and calories burned by exercise.

What's made this past week a bit of a challenge is that I sprained my ankle Sunday afternoon (getting a little too cocky about how quickly I could come back down the mountain!) and I've been trimming back how much I eat to match the reduced calorie burn caused by most of my usual exercise routine being medically off-limits.

I've been doing a lot of walking (25-35 miles per week) and going hard on a machine called an Arc Trainer (sort of like an elliptical rider). That's all out because of my ankle, until this coming Monday at the earliest. Except for the one day off a week I typically give myself, I've typically been burning 1000-1500 calories a day via exercise, which allows me to eat 3200-3700 calories of food per day (no need to eat like a bird while exercising so much).

Over the past week I've kept to my usual weight training (slightly modified) and I've gone swimming a couple of times, but I've only been burning 200-500 calories a day, and consequently eating a lot less than I've gotten used to, eating much more like I did when I was losing weight rather than maintaining.

[Kolesar]

16. It sounds like you are having fun

I can barely hit a rate like that during cross country skiing season. In my dreams, I would quit work and hike in a park for five hours a day. thanks for the response!

[NickB79]

12. Step One: eat at home and actually COOK your food

As opposed to throwing a processed log of crap in the microwave for 5 minutes and calling it dinner.

Yes, yes, it takes time out of your busy day. Hell, you might have to *gasp* get off the couch and miss an episode of American Idol, or turn off Facebook for 20 entire minutes! The horror!

[Vashta Nerada]

15. I found great success cutting out sugar AND exercising.

I can't emphasize exercising enough.

[RebelOne]

17. I try not to have any sugar in my house.

I buy everything possible that is sugar free. I buy sugar-free ice cream and sugar-free chocolate syrup because I am an ice cream addict. I even buy sugar-free candy, though it is more expensive. I have not used sugar for years and only buy Splenda for anything that needs sweetening.