There is much in the news this month about sugars in our foods. Just check out the Huffington Post, New York Times, TV News shows . . . The reports discuss types of sugar, physical reactions to sugar, cravings for sugar, addiction to sugar and the seeming need to reduce sugar in the average diet.
Duh~ None of these reports has a clear cut answer to how much sugar is safe or healthy. Short of going into a diabetic coma, most people do not listen to medical suggestions on reducing sugar anyway.
It would not matter what they suggest because this is something people decide for themselves. Yes, it exists At home I have ketchup that is made with Splenda. The bottle lasts forever because I have put it on only two foods that I eat. Perhaps when I am not home I can just not eat those two foods? Maybe I can just eat them without ketchup and let the ketchup go.
I know you are reading this thinking "Come on already, it is only ketchup," but really it is more than that. Like it or not, this is life or death. I am a food addict. Losing over 220 pounds does NOT mean I am cured and it does not mean I have built up any immunity to the physical and mental reaction my body has to certain substances.
Patiently waiting . . . . I lost almost all but the last 8 pounds of my current weight while still having sugar in my diet. The amounts were greatly reduced from the sugar I ate when I weighed 385 pounds but still, sugar was in my food plan. If sugar was listed on the label I could still have it. I did not add sugar to foods and I gave up food with high fructose corn syrup (or anything corn sugar) years ago. If I needed to add a sweetener to a food I used Splenda or Truvia. Eventually I had to accept that sugar in occasional items was leading me to want sugar in other things and I made the decision to remove most forms of sugar from my food plan, just as I removed most milk fat from my food plan two years ago. It is not easy and I am not perfect at it.
When we away from home and I have ketchup on something, I know it has sugar or horrors of horror, hfcs. Does the relatively small amount of sugar in certain foods when added to my normal plan of eating cause me to begin to crave more sugar? If so, then what about the natural sugars in raisins or grapes? What about the natural sugars in skim milk? Will I become someone who is so addicted to sweet taste that I have to refrain from artificial sweeteners along with sugars. I am feeling fear about this. I do not want my life to be lived in fear of food. There are enough real things in the world to fear without being afraid of a grape.
Two years ago I made a decision about milk fat. I accept that for me to eat mozzarella or cheddar or brie or any fatted cheese will bring me back into the addiction of compulsive overeating. At the same time I do not believe the small amount of cheese in a meatball mixture or the small amount of milk fat in a waffle will trigger my addiction. Maybe I am wrong and someday I will stand on street corners weighing 400 pounds and carrying a sign that reads "Milk Fat Kills." But for today, I am simply not having food where milk fat is obvious: butter, cream, whole milk, cheeses and baked items made with milk products.
Applying that same principle to products containing sugars, I do not eat products with obvious sugars: jams, syrups, glazes, candies; or processed foods where the added sugar is more than 2 grams per serving. Oh wait - regular ketchup contains more sugar than that. . . . and there is my answer. Yes, it is only ketchup to some.
For this food addict it can be life or death. Right now it is the answer to how I will continue keeping the pounds off today and hopefully tomorrow. What food do you think puts you on a slippery slope today?
http://www.keepingthepoundsoff.com/2011/01/when-is-it-too-much-sugar.html
Duh~ None of these reports has a clear cut answer to how much sugar is safe or healthy. Short of going into a diabetic coma, most people do not listen to medical suggestions on reducing sugar anyway.
It would not matter what they suggest because this is something people decide for themselves. Yes, it exists At home I have ketchup that is made with Splenda. The bottle lasts forever because I have put it on only two foods that I eat. Perhaps when I am not home I can just not eat those two foods? Maybe I can just eat them without ketchup and let the ketchup go.
I know you are reading this thinking "Come on already, it is only ketchup," but really it is more than that. Like it or not, this is life or death. I am a food addict. Losing over 220 pounds does NOT mean I am cured and it does not mean I have built up any immunity to the physical and mental reaction my body has to certain substances.
Patiently waiting . . . . I lost almost all but the last 8 pounds of my current weight while still having sugar in my diet. The amounts were greatly reduced from the sugar I ate when I weighed 385 pounds but still, sugar was in my food plan. If sugar was listed on the label I could still have it. I did not add sugar to foods and I gave up food with high fructose corn syrup (or anything corn sugar) years ago. If I needed to add a sweetener to a food I used Splenda or Truvia. Eventually I had to accept that sugar in occasional items was leading me to want sugar in other things and I made the decision to remove most forms of sugar from my food plan, just as I removed most milk fat from my food plan two years ago. It is not easy and I am not perfect at it.
When we away from home and I have ketchup on something, I know it has sugar or horrors of horror, hfcs. Does the relatively small amount of sugar in certain foods when added to my normal plan of eating cause me to begin to crave more sugar? If so, then what about the natural sugars in raisins or grapes? What about the natural sugars in skim milk? Will I become someone who is so addicted to sweet taste that I have to refrain from artificial sweeteners along with sugars. I am feeling fear about this. I do not want my life to be lived in fear of food. There are enough real things in the world to fear without being afraid of a grape.
Two years ago I made a decision about milk fat. I accept that for me to eat mozzarella or cheddar or brie or any fatted cheese will bring me back into the addiction of compulsive overeating. At the same time I do not believe the small amount of cheese in a meatball mixture or the small amount of milk fat in a waffle will trigger my addiction. Maybe I am wrong and someday I will stand on street corners weighing 400 pounds and carrying a sign that reads "Milk Fat Kills." But for today, I am simply not having food where milk fat is obvious: butter, cream, whole milk, cheeses and baked items made with milk products.
Applying that same principle to products containing sugars, I do not eat products with obvious sugars: jams, syrups, glazes, candies; or processed foods where the added sugar is more than 2 grams per serving. Oh wait - regular ketchup contains more sugar than that. . . . and there is my answer. Yes, it is only ketchup to some.
For this food addict it can be life or death. Right now it is the answer to how I will continue keeping the pounds off today and hopefully tomorrow. What food do you think puts you on a slippery slope today?
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