posted
I'm totally 100% addicted to sugar. No matter what, I feel like I will die without sugar. I can't seem to keep it out of my diet for ANY length of time...lately no more than half of a day.
I'm gluten and soy free, so I feel like sugar is the only food I have left to eat.
Anyone know of any ways to help with this? I don't really have candida symptoms and I have tested negative for candida overgrowth through both a stool test and a saliva test.
Thanks!
Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
Personally, I feel sugar is an evil and deadly substance........so yeast or not, I think it's always a good idea to kick the sugar habit.
Some recommendations. 1. Prepare for about 3 days of withdrawl
2. Stock up on low sugar foods.....meat, fish, eggs, cheese, low sugar veggies. Eat as much of these non-carb foods as you want and DON'T let yourself get hungry.
3. For the first few days use some sugar substitute foods to get you over the hump. I am not a fan of sugar substitutes but if it can help you get over the rough patch so be it.
4. Mentally prepare to change your eating habits for good. You will feel so much better and fight lyme more efficiently.
Posts: 554 | From Naples, Italy | Registered: Jun 2006
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I found that the only way my sugar cravings would go down was to stay off for at least 2-3 wks. Treat yourself as if you have yeast, because you probably do.
posted
I suggest a step-down plan, like fruits instead of sugar, and then eliminate the fruits for a while too.
Posts: 13117 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Why would you take it when fighting Lyme? Sugar and its consequnces are associated with a weakening of the immune system, neuropathies, metabolic problems, yeast and I am sure other stuff. Refined sugar is poison. I went sugar free a year ago and gluten free a few months ago.
-------------------- Why me? Well, why not me??? Posts: 411 | From San Francisco, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
I can help you out, just let me polish off the rest of these Peeps I found hidden from Easter....Okay, sugar free, yeah, ummm...hmmm...sorry got a mouth full of ice cream with m & m's......let me get back to you on this one as soon as I finish these chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I went cold turkey off sugar, flour, grains, and rice 3 weeks ago. It was pure hell! I didn't realize I could be addicted to food. It took me a full 2 weeks before the cravings subsided. Between days 3-8 were awful, all I could do was think about food. Don't believe that 3 day nonsense, my cravings just started getting worse then.
I let myself eat anything else. I stuffed myself with protein, including the worst stuff around, including sausage, fatty beef, chicken wings, etc. I ate tons and tons of nuts, easily an entire can per day. I also ate plenty of fruit, including apples and bananas. Spicy beef sticks would keep me munching. Gum seemed to help, also.
I discovered that previously I would eat until I felt an emotional satisfaction. I never realized this until I cut out sugar/carbs. Suddenly I would eat and eat until I practically burst, and yet I still felt "hungry". The hunger was not in my stomach, though. Perhaps it was the seratonin after eating sugar that I craved?
I finally got past the severe cravings, but it was really really tough. Now, when I really need a treat, I'll pour a bit of honey on some baker's dark chocolate. It's just sweet enough to curb the itch.
Good luck!
Posts: 31 | From Leesburg, VA | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
If you want to get well, you HAVE TO do it.
I can relate to what you said, realist!!!!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
One thing that really, really helps with any craving is VITAMIN C! You can get the powdered crystal form, put it in juice, lick it off your fingers, whatever!
Also, it comes in lozenges, but these usually also contain sugar, so if you're trying to stop eating sugar, better not to use those.
This is a neat trick that can truly get over any food craving.
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
Just reading these posts makes me panic. I don't know what I will do without sugar!!! I know it sounds stupid, but really! I am SO addicted...
Oh, and whoever asked why I would eat sugar while having Lyme...well, I haven't been able to stop eating it. If I was able to, I wouldn't have posted this thread.
If anyone else has ideas, keep 'em comin! Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
I completely and totally relate to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had to go off gluten several years ago, and I've got this clenched fist about the illness not taking any more of the things I love in life! We must both really be craving the seratonin boost that it gives. It also has a lot to do with hormone changes - around my period I ravenously crave the sweets.
I can not kick this on my own. i'm going to head to some sort of support group like overeaters anon., or the AA type groups that deal with no wheat and no sugar diets.
We should stay in touch and see how we do!!
Anneke
Posts: 364 | From California | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Xylitol, stevia, and dextrose (glucose). Dextrose IS sugar, it's just a helluva lot better than table sugar (sucrose). But I'd try the xyltiol and stevia first.
Don't starve yourself of carbs though. I eat plenty of RICE, beans, and quinoa, for carbs mostly.
-------------------- "You know, the worst, meanest, nastiest, ticks in the world are politicks," - Steve Nostrum Posts: 242 | From South NJ | Registered: Dec 2006
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
Over the past 10 years (& longer) I have been on some "extreme" diets. I was juicing, eating all organic stuff, brown rice, etc.
One doctor I saw had me dealing with food in the kitchen for 4 or 5 hours a day - between shopping, lugging the stuff upstairs, washing dishes, etc... not to mention the expense.
In any case, after all this work - I still was ill. Given the choice, I would prefer healthy food any day. It would be nice to have a personal chef.
I think food is important & sugar is not the best thing to eat but my policy is to be moderate.
I've have come to the point where I really like healthy foods but I still have a brownie or whatever.
In a sense, we are really lucky to be in this problem since so many people in the world don't have much to eat. I just think that the diet issue can become way too extreme.
If you stop all so-called "bad" foods, you are still going to have Lyme or candida. Taking some fluconozole helped my candida (when it's been an issue) way better than going off sugar.
I just don't think it's healthy to obsess over food issues. It may be different for people who are diabetic, anorexic, who have deadly allergies, etc.
For me - I just try to be moderate & eat as healthy as possible.
There are many food fads. Sometime people come up with things about diet that are totally incorrect. I ate soy products for many years before I found out that they weren't really all that healthy.
We all have different metabolisms. What may be good for one, is not good for another.
The stuff I avoid like the plague is artifical sweetners, most chemicals, artifical flavors, or preservatives, MSG, hydrogenated oil (cottonseed oil, etc.), corn sweetners, most soy products, highly processed foods & stuff I can't pronounce.
These things were never meant to be consumed as food & some of them are actual poisons.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
I totally agree with Sparkle!
There are many who have gotten well without making any dietary changes, and many who adhere to strict diets who are still very sick.
I am trying to change to much healthier eating habits, but am not going to cut any one type of food out. Everything in moderation, I agree.
I don't personally believe giving up sugar is going to make you well. Moderation, eating healthy; good advice. But if you love it that much, I just don't think it is that big of a deal. You already have so many diet restrictions!
Anyway, not the popular answer here, but it truly does seem to me at the end of the day, we are all just as sick no matter what diet we are trying to stick to, or foods we cut out.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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Rianna
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11038
posted
Try a herb called stevia, its a sugar substitute. Also buy a totally sugar free diabetic chocolate, there really are some scrummy ones, but limit the amount you eat as they can be a laxative.
Supplement your sugar products with sugar free alternatives but add stevia, it really does taste sweet - you can make all different types of desserts with this product - that will then enable you to have sweet things and it will ween you off the sugar.
We have a dessert most days and every one is made with stevia
Lauralyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15021
posted
IMO sugar cravings are a symptom of yeast overgrowth. Before the lyme dx I always craved sugar. I didn't know I had LD but realized on my own that I got sick and dizzy for weeks after sugar consumption.
So with myself lyme symptoms are brought on by sugar which I think is a good indicator that sugar is very bad for lymies.
Once yeast was addressed by the naturopath,sugar cravings went away and I realized sugar cravings are not normal. Sugar feeds yeast then too much yeast causes sugar cravings and it's all a vicious circle.
When you go off the sugar and need a fix you can chew two or three childerens vitamins. Stevia is good to use too although I found it to be an aquired taste. I don't mind it now.
I was the worst sugar addict. I can't go near cookies or cake now. One is too many and a hundred is not enough!
You can do it!
-------------------- Fall down seven times, get up eight ~Japanese proverb Posts: 1146 | From west coast | Registered: Mar 2008
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
I agree that some people are more sensitive to it than others.
There was a time when a book called "The Yeast Connection" came out & everyone thought that yeast was the cause of everything.
I went to a gyn for bad menstrual cramps & she had me go on a very strict diet for yeast & claimed that was the cause of my cramps. I complied to the diet for months & there was no improvement.
I don't think sugar is healthy but in our culture, most of usl become addicted to it.
Due to the fact that some of us are taking large doses of abx - it causes a yeast problem. So what we may think as being the enemy may just be a small part of the problem.
Some people have severe reactions to milk, soy, peanuts, even fruit. These food aren't inherently bad but some people can't handle them.
There is an overabundance of so-called foods in the average supermarket that I wouldn't eat.
If sugar is causing issues - then you have to cut it out for a bit. Sometimes, when you do that you actually crave it less.
I just think it's good to be moderate & not impose extremes on yourself. It's not about good vs. bad... it's more like trial & error.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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I have to kind of agree with Sparkle and Tracy....but only to a point. I believe that sugar is poison as is artifical sweetners. Short story here.
I knew some people that totally sugar starved their kids.......(he was a Homeopathic MD) These are kids that NEVER had a chance to get addicted to sugar as they didn't have it from birth.
When they got older and got away from their parents, with friends, they would totally gorge themselves with sugar in any way shape or form. I am pretty sure that all 12 kids didn't have yeast problems.
I think if you allow yourself a treat, say once or twice a week that has a small amount of sugar in it you are better off than totally going off of something you enjoy.
If you try to sugar starve yourself, you may binge at weak moments and I think that would be even worse. We always want things we can't have. It is human nature.
I know you want to get well, everyone does, but will totally taking yourself off of sugar achieve this?
Who knows, buy just allowing youself a "treat" once or twice a week you may eventually not even want that.
HUGS,
-------------------- ICEY Posts: 468 | From Las Vegas NV | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
When I'm dying for something sugary I go to nutritiondata.com. This website breaks down both the glycemic index and the glycemic load of many foods. It helps me make a wiser choice.
1/2 cup of ice cream has a low glycemic load and minimal impact on blood sugar. This has become my sweet substitute. (Well, it's not really a SUBSTITUTE).
My father was the first to use ice cream as his replacement "snack." He was pretty much on death's door from Lyme and babs. He is now living life like a normal person, and he ate ice cream every night! (Still does).
Not necessarily recommending that, but don't want you to feel hopeless.
Posts: 129 | From Virginia | Registered: Feb 2008
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posted
Speaking of moderation and binging, after 4 weeks of no sugar (or wheat/rice/grains), today someone at the office put out a bowl of chocolates. I passed that stupid bowl for hours. It kept taunting me. I couldn't stop thinking about the chocolate. I couldn't work. Ooh, that was cruel.
Finally, I gave in, and had one little piece. Just a bite! And surprisingly, that seemed to do the trick. Previously, I could eat half a box/bag of cookies with no problem. So even though I gave in today, I feel like my addiction to sugar is much less than before I went cold turkey.
On the way home, I bought some sugar free chocolate with malitol. Don't know how healthy sugar alcohol is, but it's my "withdrawal drug" to get me over the hump, so I figured it's a necessary evil for now.
Posts: 31 | From Leesburg, VA | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
The sugar-free candies may be OK for an occasional treat, but I found out the hard way that yeast finds the malitols, etc VERY tasty!!
I had to stop that altogether.
One safe treat I have is fresh-brewed raspberry tea sweetened with liquid stevia. When I get a sugar craving, I go and drink some tea.
I brew it and then chill it in a large glass and keep it in the refrigerator. Helps!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
Just keep cutting back little by little. I think over time you start to lose your taste for it & you don't have to eat as much.
It's funny what ICEiam said - the kids just rebel when they leave home. I think adults can be like that, too.
I was using a bag of chocolate chips for a recipe I was making. I feel safe as long as the bag of leftover chocolate chips are in the fridge. I eat a few if I get a craving... that's after I eat the 3 Musketters bar & the cake & the ice cream - LOL
I think hormonal changes can make you crave sweets, too.
So many things are loaded with sugar. When I cut back I really started to notice it. If you have the energy to bake - that's a good way to cut back the sugar content of stuff like muffins & quickbreads, etc.
When the yeast condition was bad, cutting out the sugar is helpful but I really needed fluconazole to get rid of the problem. Nystatin helps, too.
There are a bunch of supplements you can take, as well - caprilic acid, pao d'arco, garlic, yogurt, probiotics, yeast free diet, reduce carbs - just have veggies & protein...
but nothing worked for me as well as fluconazole.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
I feel so silly not being able to quit sugar! It's really hard! I wonder if I were to get past the cravings or if I have a food issue?
Thanks for all the advice everyone! Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
Sometimes it's mind over matter. Try eating some fancy fruits instead.
Get something exotic that is expensive that you normally don't eat - like a mango, papaya, organic strawberries, fresh figs, or dates.
Dates with cashew butter are really good. Fresh papaya with limes is great. I had some organic strawberries with a little good quality biodynamic plain yogurt & a drizzle of maple syrup this morning & it was amazing.
Organic raw honey is also quite good. It has alot of beneficial properties if you aren't allergic to it.
(thanks Anneke)
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
Allowing myself very dark chocolate 73% or higher - and eating nuts along with no more than ounce of chocolate works for me.
(but I don't have a problem with candida now - the few abx I've taken I always also take Olive Leaf extract to minimize the yeast. If I were to have candida, I'd cut out the chocolate, but the olive leaf extract really keeps that away.)
AND
Magnesium really cuts sugar cravings for me.
Chromium, too, but not too much or I become quite jittery. The right amount is in many multi-vitamins.
and there is also an herb, gymnema sylvestre, that helps reduce my cravings.
posted
Just think of it as poison that will kill you. ....it will, just VERY slowly.
Posts: 49 | From Holly Springs, NC | Registered: May 2007
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posted
Just wanted to say...I've been sugar free for 6 days now!!! I had a treat yesterday...some sugar free frozen yogurt.
I'm absolutely amazed that I have been able to do this!!! I walked down the baking aisle at Whole Foods yesterday, and kinda looked that the baked things as "yuck." It sounded good, but not worth my efforts so far!!
I have not cut out fruit though...since the first day I went sugar free, it has been a lot less fruit though. Yesterday, I only had a pear, instead of the first day...pear, apple, banana, watermelon.
If I can do it...anyone can!!!!
Thanks for the help everyone.
Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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quote:Originally posted by knshore: Just wanted to say...I've been sugar free for 6 days now!!! I had a treat yesterday...some sugar free frozen yogurt.
I'm absolutely amazed that I have been able to do this!!!
If I can do it...anyone can!!!!
Thanks for the help everyone.
That's WONDERFUL!!! I used to eat sugar all the time too... So I understand completely!!!
It's hard for me too!!
Just don't go food shopping when you're hungry!!!!
Good job!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
There are alot of alternatives to eating crappy food or sugar. It mainly takes a shift in thinking.
It's a bit hard since it is a little more inconvenient. Junk stuff, poisons, chemicals & sugar (or corn syrup/fructose) overload are most of what the American diet is made of.
I find it helpful to think of it as if you're "upgrading" your diet as opposed to what you "can't" eat.
It's an ongoing thing... I still like 1 cup of coffee a day with a spoon of sugar & some muffins or cookies. I just try to limit it & not overdo it.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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