SUGAR-FREE products. “No Sugar”: how to stop eating sweets.
Doctor Jacob Teitelbaum talks about the dangers of sugar addiction and how to get rid of it.
Why you should give up sugar.
People have been eating sweets for thousands of years. Sugar is present in any natural food. But he was always not a problem, but a delicacy. Today, more than a third of the calories we consume come from sugar and white flour, which is added to products during production, and our body is simply not designed to cope with such a huge dose.
At first, sugar gives a burst of energy, but after a few hours the person runs out of energy and needs a new portion. In this respect, sugar is like a money lender lending energy: it takes away more energy than it gives. In the end, a person can no longer pay the loan: his strength is at its limit, he experiences irritation, and is tormented by mood swings.
In addition to rapid fatigue and psychological problems, sugar causes many long-term health problems. For example, over the past 15 years, consumption of high fructose corn syrup has increased by 250%, and over the same period the incidence of diabetes has jumped by about 45%. Sometimes the sugar industry tries to confuse the public by claiming that corn syrup is not sugar. But from the body’s point of view, it is still the same sugar, and more harmful than that produced from sugar cane.
Here are just a few of the chronic health problems associated with excess sugar in food: - Chronic fatigue syndrome. - many types of pain. - deterioration of immunity. - chronic sinusitis. - irritable bowel syndrome and spastic colitis. - autoimmune diseases. - cancer. - metabolic syndrome with high cholesterol and hypertension. - heart diseases. - hormonal disorders. - infection with Candida and other yeasts. - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The list is far from complete. A real list would go on for many pages!
I know firsthand how important it is to rid a person of excess sugar. For over 30 years, I have included these programs in the treatment of countless patients experiencing chronic health problems. I have seen thousands of people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, aggravated by a craving for sweets. I experienced this problem myself. I myself suffered from a sugar addiction and fell ill with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1975. And getting rid of sugar addiction became an important element of treatment.
Sugar addiction is like the canary in the coal mine. It usually indicates more serious problems. I have nothing against sugar per se, but I don't want it to cause illness. A person should feel great! And you, dear readers, will feel exactly like this when you get rid of the problems associated with sugar addiction. Tired of riding the Sweet Roller Coaster? I will be happy to tell you how to get off this dangerous ride.
What do I need to do.
The first step towards combating sugar addiction is to change your eating behavior. As with any addiction, you will first have to limit contact with the substance that causes it as strictly as possible and only then begin treatment. It is absolutely not necessary to give up sweets in one fell swoop. Simply start eliminating high-sugar foods from your diet, including fast food, processed foods, soda and fruit drinks.
Labels. A proven method is to avoid eating foods that list sugar in any form (sugar, sucrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup) among the first three ingredients on the label. You should also avoid white flour, which is found in many types of bread and pasta, because the body will quickly turn it into sugar and give you a sugar high, followed by withdrawal symptoms. Whole grain bread takes some getting used to, but over time you will realize that it tastes much better. Enjoy it, enjoy it - in moderation. Be surprised if, as you change your diet and reduce your sugar intake, you begin to experience signs of withdrawal, such as mood swings and irritability. These signs will become even more obvious if you simultaneously try to quit caffeine. But if you treat the reasons behind your type of sugar addiction, symptoms will go away in seven to ten days or even faster. Of course, for some, the process of giving up sweets can be more painful, but most will manage without serious problems.
Thus, if withdrawal symptoms do occur and bother you, reduce your sugar and caffeine intake more gently. Allow yourself to snack on some healthy fruit and even a few slices of the best dark chocolate you can buy. This will make it easier for you to stick to the program. caffeine aggravates the symptoms of sugar addiction, so it should also be eliminated. It makes you tired, and it makes you reach for an artificial source of energy - sugar. It is wise to limit yourself to one cup of coffee a day, and then switch to tea - loose leaf or in tea bags (after the first invigorating cup, it is advisable to drink decaffeinated tea.
The next step is to add healthy foods to your diet that will help you stay away from the Sugar Roller Coaster. The best way is to buy whole foods (unprocessed fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. Most of these have a low glycemic index and do not feed cravings for sweets. The glycemic index (GI) shows which foods raise blood glucose levels the fastest and most strongly. For sugar addicts It is especially important for sugar addicts to keep this in mind. Glucose has a GI of 100. All other foods are measured in relation to glucose. With a glycemic index above 85, blood sugar rises very quickly, and if the glycemic index is below 30, sugar levels practically do not rise. Of course, portion size should also be taken into account: both factors are combined in the concept of “Glycemic Load.” Remember that you must listen to your body: Which foods and their combinations make you feel best?
In conditions of insufficient hydration, it will be more difficult to give up sugar. Water helps the body remove toxins. how much water should you drink per day? Check your mouth and lips from time to time. if they are dry, it means there is not enough moisture and you need to drink more. Everything is simple. but drinking tap water is wrong. Water is great for washing dishes and laundry, but for human consumption it is not at all so good: it is not always clean, and there are many microorganisms in it.
It's not so simple with bottled water either. brands of bottled water are still the same water from the tap, and the price does not correspond well to the quality. You need to ensure yourself access to healthy water. How do you know which one is better? Buy bottled water that has been purified using reverse osmosis and carbon filtration. For home use, it is best to choose a high-quality filter.
Useful tips
- Before you start following the diet, try to limit your sugar intake to 25 grams per day for 1 or 2 weeks.
- Choose lean meats and eat fatty meats from time to time.
- Don't cut out flour products, but eat them in moderation.
- Replace sugar with fruit in baking.
- If you feel low on sugar, eat raw carrots.
- Shop early; there are many more temptations in supermarkets.
- Do not buy foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners, they are even more harmful than regular sugar.
- To add flavor to your drinks, add natural fruit juice.
- Replace jam with fruit puree.
Important! Preliminary consultation with a doctor is necessary, especially for people with diabetes and athletes.
Following a sugar-free diet has several important benefits. In addition to helping you lose weight gradually and without the yo-yo effect, this diet will also allow you to take a step back towards reducing your sugar intake. This program is a good way to understand that sugar makes you fat and is unhealthy. However, sometimes it can be difficult to deprive yourself of sweets for a long time and not give in to the temptation to eat a pie or biscuit. This is why it is recommended to stick to this technique for 2 weeks or even a month.
Products WITHOUT SUGAR and fructose list. List of sugar-free foods
The body needs sugar as a source of energy. If the product is undesirable, but energy is still needed, preference should be given to sugar-free food products that replenish the body’s energy reserves no less than it does.
A short list of sugar-free products:
- Meat
An important supplier of proteins, fats, amino acids, vitamins necessary for the functioning of the nervous, circulatory, musculoskeletal systems, and strengthening the immune system. The healthiest dishes made from chicken, beef, and pork are boiled and stewed. You should not overdo it with processing methods, seasonings and sauces - so that unnecessary ingredients do not add calories to the food.
- Cheese
Saturates the body with calcium, proteins, a complex of vitamins, and anti-stress components. It is well poisoned and improves appetite. Daily serving – 100 g. Useful as a snack during the day.
- Fish
The main source of polyunsaturated fatty acids that lower cholesterol. Useful acids also help strengthen muscles and cell renewal. A whole list of microelements stimulate the activity of the heart, nerves, and brain. It is important to preserve these properties during cooking: it is better to boil the fish or bake it in a sleeve. The best seasonings are lemon juice, dill and parsley.
- Seafood
Lobsters and oysters, shrimp and mussels are the most common seafood. It is a low-calorie food rich in minerals, vitamins and healthy fatty acids. Seafood is used as a separate dish or component of salads and sandwiches.
- Pasta
To reap the benefits of this food, you need to choose coarse varieties. Various types of pasta enrich the body with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Regulate cholesterol and have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system. However, you should not get carried away with the product, as well as serving fatty sauces with it, so as not to increase the overall caloric content of the diet.
Sweetener: harm and benefit
In the beginning, sucrose was a medicine. It was extracted from sugar cane and they tried to treat diseases with its help. Times changed, the value of sugar fell with each new discovery, and when they finally learned to extract sugar from beets, this sweet additive became cheaper and became available to everyone.
It took some time for medicine to pay attention to the natural negative effects of sugar. Today, even a child knows: sugar is harmful. Once in the body, granulated sugar is absorbed instantly, since its glycemic index is 100%. It contains no useful microelements, vitamins and minerals - only pure energy. Excessive consumption of sugar, which manufacturers use in the vast majority of products, leads a person to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
It was under these conditions that the search for a sucrose substitute began. Some studies seemed inspiring: zero calories, but just as sweet. It was possible to add a sweetener to foods and not gain excess weight. For diabetics with a sweet tooth, the sweetener turned out to be a real salvation - sweets, but without the health risk.
Unfortunately, the dangers of sugar substitutes became known very quickly. Without threatening your figure, synthetic or natural sweeteners cause cancer, Alzheimer's disease, infertility, and dementia. Yes, despite the benefits of sugar substitutes, their harm is much greater than their benefits: laboratory studies have confirmed the development of neurological and oncological diseases. True, we were talking about impressive doses, hundreds of times higher than the daily norm, but still this was enough to alert the public.
The established restrictions add fuel to the fire. If a person suffers from diabetes, then fructose is contraindicated for him, and in case of heart failure, acesulfame-K is excluded. The list goes on for a long time. Sweetener is prohibited for pregnant women and children. As a result, opinions diverge at the most authoritative levels, leaving the common man with hundreds of unanswered questions.
The continuous development of science will ultimately provide more intelligible and elegant solutions. Sugar is harmful, and apparently so is sweetener. What then remains? Let's try to figure out what we have at the moment. Everyone must draw their own conclusions.
Products WITHOUT SUGAR and fructose. What foods are considered dietary?
In order for the body to receive the necessary nutrients, nutrition should always be varied and balanced. Dietary products that help you lose weight are available to every housewife in abundance. These are vegetables, fruits, meat and fish products, dairy products. The right combination will bring the body the necessary minerals and vitamins. To feel good and not gain extra pounds, enrich your menu with the food groups described below. Each of them has five main components:
- Low-calorie foods: citrus fruits, cucumbers, lean white fish, mushrooms, tomatoes.
- Hearty foods: beans, whole grain bread, oatmeal, durum wheat pasta, apples.
- Delicious and healthy dishes: fruit purees, low-fat chicken pate, crispy vegetables and fruits (apples, carrots), whipped dairy products, berries.
- Products that you should always carry with you as a light lunch or snack: bananas, grain breads, dried fruits, nuts, low-fat dairy products in half-liter packs.
- Foods that do not affect blood sugar levels: mushrooms, lettuce, lentils, skim milk, berries.
- Low-fat foods: tuna, chicken by-products, perch, cottage cheese, seafood.
- Products for the good appearance of your body: clean water, almonds, flaxseed oil, olive oil, avocado.
- Products that do not retain water in the body: lingonberries; berry fruit drinks; green tea, orange juice, celery juice.
Points of Compliance with Other Low-Carb Diets
- If all sources of sugar are eliminated from your diet, you are already on your way to a low-carb diet, since sweet foods provide the body with large amounts of glucose. In this case, fat becomes the main “fuel” for the body.
- When glucose is removed from the body's energy equation, your carbohydrate intake becomes entirely up to you. Grains, vegetables, legumes and other foods are now the main source of carbohydrates.
- The ketogenic diet, an extreme version of low-carb diets, eliminates the consumption of all types of sugars. The main source of calories are fats: meat, vegetable and butter, and so on.
A sugar-free diet is a typical example of a low-carb diet. The amount of carbohydrates largely depends on the individual nutrition plan, but most often is in the range of 50-130 g per day. Reducing them to about zero values will increase the rate of weight loss, but will negatively affect the functioning of the body.
Products WITHOUT SUGAR and gluten. Gluten-free diet - Reviews
Ekaterina Nekrasova, 34 years old, Tver
If you want to lose weight on a gluten-free diet, you should follow these basics of your new eating plan. These basics work for weight loss:
- Make sure you buy gluten free products.
- Find out which foods contain gluten and which do not.
- Always carry snacks with you to snack on so you don't feel hungry.
- Try to avoid consuming sugar.
- Make sure you don't feel hungry so you don't undermine your results with dietary changes.
These gluten-free diet basics are from my own experience. I'm not a big fan of moderation in my diet plan, but I was told it would require sticking with it and being patient. And truly these words worked wonders for me. I successfully lost 5 kg of weight in just 20 days.
Gluten Free Products
This substance is found not only in flour and bread. It can be found in meat and coffee, as well as chocolate, milk and spices.
The following are considered gluten-free:
- all vegetables;
- all fruits;
- any unprocessed meat;
- dairy products: cheese, yogurt (plain, not flavored), cream, sour cream, milk, whey, casein and butter (no additives);
- cereals and flour: corn, flaxseed, brown rice, buckwheat, almonds, quinoa, rice, soy flour, yeast;
- most alcoholic beverages, excluding beer;
- nuts;
- all oils and vinegar;
- honey;
- most spices;
- vanilla;
- eggs.
Because gluten is used as an additive by many food manufacturers, sticking to a specific gluten-free diet is difficult for most people. In addition, products labeled “gluten-free” contain less than 20 mg of gluten and can be consumed by people with celiac disease. Doctors specializing in the treatment of this disease very often express the opinion that gluten has a negative effect on the body only in a sick person.
Advantages and disadvantages
This diet will not only help you lose weight, but will also bring other benefits to your body. But like all weight loss techniques, a sugar-free diet also has disadvantages that should be considered.
Advantages
- The main advantage is that the diet will allow you to switch to home-cooked food and eliminate sugar from your diet. Indeed, sugar is somewhat addictive, so limiting it will reduce cravings for sweet foods.
- Eliminating sugar improves your sense of taste; you will feel the natural taste of the foods you eat.
- Since there are no strict restrictions on food, you will not experience hunger or lack of variety in dishes.
- A good way to learn how to cook homemade meals and eliminate processed and industrial foods from your diet.
- Benefits also include a feeling of lightness throughout the body, improved skin health and a reduction in the appearance of cellulite.
- Minimal risk of weight gain again after finishing the diet.
- Finally, since sugar is a breeding ground for pathogens, the diet will help limit the exacerbation of diseases accompanied by inflammation.
Flaws
- If you don't like to cook, it will be difficult to stick to this program, since sugar is added to most processed and ready-made foods.
- Checking the ingredients of all products can be quite tedious and also time-consuming.
- In the early days, the diet may be difficult to follow due to many temptations. But rest assured that this feeling will disappear after a short period of time.
- Patience and motivation will be required, as the result is not quick.
Products WITHOUT SUGAR and carbohydrates. 4 Dairy products
List of dairy products that contain little or no carbohydrates:
- Gruyère cheese. This special type of cheese, originally from Switzerland, does not contain carbohydrates and has a great taste. Gruyere is rich in calcium, which is a building material for bones.
- Butter. The dairy product is free of carbohydrates. It contains saturated fats, which are essential for the normal functioning of the human body.
- Cottage cheese. 1 cup contains 6 grams of carbohydrates. Cottage cheese is high in protein, which stimulates weight loss and helps muscles recover (approximately 16 grams of protein per 100 grams of product).
- Natural yogurt. Yogurt without sugar and without added dyes or flavors is best suited for dietary nutrition. This product is loaded with probiotic bacteria that improve digestion and strengthen the immune system.
- Goat milk. One cup contains 11 grams of carbohydrates. It is rich in useful substances such as nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, as well as conjugated linoleic acid, which triggers the process of fat breakdown in the human body.
Diet plan
How to cope with withdrawal symptoms:
- Read ingredient labels carefully so you know exactly what you're consuming. This is especially important when purchasing products containing hidden sugar, such as seasonings, sauces, canned goods, drinks, etc.;
- To keep your appetite in check, aim to consume about 35-40 grams of fiber per day. Fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds will help you;
- Drink enough water to speed up your metabolism and aid digestion. Focus on
8 glasses a day.
- If you have a sweet tooth, use sweeteners, for example, stevia. You can get it in large hypermarkets. If its taste is not suitable, make do with natural sweeteners - fruit or honey.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Many cocktails contain a huge amount of sucrose and calories, and alcohol provokes a remarkable appetite.
- Try to limit fast food and opt for fresh foods that you prepare yourself.
The diet plan is very simple and unpretentious