
A Month Without Sugar - tokenadult
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/opinion/a-month-without-sugar.html
======
daveguy
> There were certainly times when I didn’t enjoy the experience. I missed ice
> cream, chocolate squares, Chinese restaurants and cocktails. But I also knew
> that I’d get to enjoy them all again.

> The unpleasant parts of a month without sugar are temporary, and they’re
> tolerable. Some of the benefits continue long after the month is over. If
> you try it and your experience is anything like mine, I predict that your
> new normal will feel healthier and no less enjoyable than the old.

This is the extent of the results. NONE of the benefits, expected or
experienced are discussed!

The rest is just telling you what to avoid and what to eat. The sugar
naturally occurring in fruit, vegetables and dairy are allowed. Author also
claims that you can't eat things that have 0g sugar listed because that just
means less than 0.5g. You have to read every ingredient for -ose, honey,
sugar, agave, etc. That seems a bit ridiculous if you are allowing fructose
from an apple (~19g).

Reduce sugar in favor of grain and calorie balance among fat, carb, protein
with reduced total intake is generally good. Diets like these are replacing
one extreme with another.

~~~
msabalau
The author identifies "resetting sugar-addled taste buds" and becoming mindful
of how many foods have added sugar as benefits. Having gone without sugar for
a month, I can affirm that both of these things were true. And, of course,
willing abstinence from certain foods is a part of many spiritual traditions.

Given that the author is suggesting that interested people undertake this as a
month long exercise, and only claims to have undertaken this exercise twice,
it is not clear why you are characterizing this as an extreme diet.

~~~
Frondo
The resetting the taste buds effect is _amazing_. Several months ago, I
started trimming back my sugar intake, with a goal of putting almost none of
it in food I make myself, and generally avoiding dessert-type items.

What I've found is that restaurant food _all_ tastes _incredibly sweet_. All
of it. There has to be so much sugar they're putting in food, and I just used
to be used to eating that much.

Getting a chai-type beverage, if they add sweetener at all, it's wayyyyyy too
much. I've started requesting no sweetener in my chais, and that now tastes
normal to me.

I still eat fruit, but no more than one piece a day. Even a whole apple often
feels like a little too much sweet for me.

The biggest take-away I have from all this is just how easy it is to get
accustomed to foods, one way or another.

The biggest benefit has been weight loss and having my energy throughout the
day feel almost totally steady and even now. Even when I get hungry, it's a
sensation I can mostly delay gratification of, where I used to get crazy and
distracted from hunger.

~~~
cityhall
A lot of Europeans have this reaction on coming to the US, that all the food
is way too sweet.

~~~
drakonka
Coming back to the US for a conference a few years ago we got some "fresh
lemonade" type drinks at the San Francisco airport. They were so sweet they
made my teeth hurt, I couldn't have more than a sip. I had a hard time
believing people drink this stuff on a regular basis, but there were lots of
people in the store drinking larger cups of what looked like the same drink!

~~~
smsm42
Drinks like lemonade in the US are bad :( I just drink unsweetened ice tea
most of the time, almost everything else you get from restaurants/fast food
outlets would be way over-sweetened. Fortunately more and more place started
having unsweetened ice tea. There are other drinks that can be made with
minimal or no sugar but it's hit-or-miss.

------
spodek
Better than "without sugar", I recommend avoiding foods with fiber removed,
which includes sugar, also white flour, corn syrup, fruit juices, and most
aisles of the supermarket. At least I found it better.

It forces you to a lot more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Plus
it doesn't feel like an arbitrary division. Looking back, it seems weird to
take fiber out of food. It makes things taste sweeter and extends their shelf
lives, but at the cost of complexity of flavor, texture, and nutritional
value.

Since avoiding foods with fiber removed, my diet has become more varied,
fresh, cheaper, more delicious, and I eat more food. The biggest surprise was
that stopping using olive oil, which I had allowed at first, felt natural and
I don't miss it. As a result, I eat to stuffed almost every meal.

At 45, my ab definition started coming in after the change for the first time,
despite my eating _more_ food.

~~~
didibus
Olive oil though, has quite a lot of health benefits. Its only downside is the
calories from it.

~~~
forgetsusername
> _Its only downside is the calories from it._

How is that a downside? Deriving calories (and nutrients) from food is the
entire purpose of eating.

~~~
brianwawok
Or put another way: it is calorie dense. Very easy to overconsume calorie
dense foods. If most of your calories came from them, you would miss the
chewing you are used to.

~~~
greglindahl
Consuming fat makes you feel full. Like many people, I find that eating a
higher-fat diet makes me feel full & able to tolerate eating fewer calories
overall.

~~~
brianwawok
Sure. It doesn't mean you shouldn't be aware of the calorie density of all of
your food. 100 calories of olive oil looks very different from 10o calories of
carrots.

------
ruminasean
I've done 4 months without sugar in any form (added or even fruit). I've lost
almost 40 lbs, I feel great, I'm about the weight I was in HS (I'm middle
aged).

And even though I'm vegetarian and accustomed to being the weird one as far as
food as concerned, not eating any sugar in any form really is exceptionally
isolating. Any diet will have you feeling left out, but man. Sugar is a bitch.

~~~
mrinterweb
I find it helpful to hear success stories like yours. I'm obese, and I need to
correct that. I believe sugar is one of the primary culprits. I'm going to
attempt again to remove sugar from my diet for a month. I removed sugar from
my diet for a couple weeks, and the weight loss results were very satisfying.

It is a hard diet to do though. I found that eating out was very tricky, and
that shopping at the grocery store was also challenging. It required meal
planning, and just thinking of most food in the grocery store as non-edible.

There are good documentaries, books, etc. on why sugar is so bad for us. I
really enjoyed the documentary ["Fed
Up"]([http://fedupmovie.com](http://fedupmovie.com)).

~~~
EpicEng
Sugar is definitely a culprit, but really, it's all about calories in v
calories out. Eliminating large amounts of processed sugar will help as the
calories can quickly add up and you'll experience a big insulin spike
afterward, but if you just moderate, keep most of your food healthy, and stay
at a caloric deficit, you'll lose weight.

Extreme diets (i.e., 'eliminate X completely') tend to fail because they're
hard to sustain.

~~~
CharlesW
> _…really, it 's all about calories in v calories out._

In the absolute sense, you're absolutely right. But in my experience sugar
tends to stoke a desire for more, in which case the form calories take is a
crucial factor for success.

(Caveats: I know what works for me but couldn't tell you how much of the
effects of eating sugar are physiological vs. emotional, etc.)

[EDIT: Typo]

~~~
EpicEng
Yeah, same for me. If I currently out late night sweets completely I lose the
desire for them pretty quickly. Whatever works for you is always best.

------
kyriakos
I find the whole idea hard to understand. Coming from a family with diabetics
I grew up knowing the effects of sugar on health and been avoiding it. I do
eat fruit just not a lot, unsweetened dark chocolate (a couple of squares a
week maybe) and occasionally try cakes but I restrict myself to a couple of
teaspoons. I try to buy bread that contains no sugar but if I am eating out I
don't get picky about it. I don't feel like I'm missing something and I find
it weird when I see people downing cakes, energy drinks, jams, juices etc. To
me avoiding sugar doesn't feel like something I need to think about, it feels
normal. I can't be alone I'm sure there's others doing the same. Where I'm
getting at is that your sugar intake is affected by the environment you were
brought up and its something one can change. It's not a compromise.

~~~
coldtea
> _To me avoiding sugar doesn 't feel like something I need to think about, it
> feels normal._

Only because, as you say, you "come from a family with diabetics". Not exactly
the most common experience growing up (even if there are many diabetics, there
are less that know it, and even fewer than do something about it -- statistics
I've seen say there are about 9% diabetics, of which about 25% is
undiagnosed).

So, I don't understand what you find "hard to understand". That most people
don't share the same experience?

~~~
kyriakos
I find hard to understand why it feels so hard to avoid eating sugary food.

------
TheAceOfHearts
Since a few years ago I reduced my sugar intake by quitting certain types of
drinks and meals. The biggest impact was when I cut out soda, which ended up
giving me a huge energy boost.

American foods are just way too sugary. I traveled to Japan a few years back
and was amazed by how little sugar some of their candies have. After spending
two weeks there, when I came back home I was a bit shocked at how overwhelming
most foods felt.

I can't speak for any alleged health benefits, but my personal strategy is to
regularly cut down on certain foods every few months. That gives you a chance
to sorta reset your taste buds, so when you come back to a type of food it's
almost as if you're tasting it for the first time. I don't know if it's just a
placebo effect or if there's a scientific explanation behind it, but I find it
enjoyable, so I'd suggest others give this sort of harmless experimenting a
try.

------
henrik_w
On the subject of sugar, there is a review of Gary Taubes' new book "The Case
Against Sugar" in the Atlantic:
[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/the-
sug...](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/01/the-sugar-
wars/508751/)

------
bluedino
Many years ago I remember reading a syndicated health column in the newspaper
by Dr. Peter Gott, and at the end of many of his columns he advertised his "No
Sugar, No Flour" diet book. Turns out it's still for sale to this day -
[https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-h-gott-
md/dr-...](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/peter-h-gott-md/dr-gotts-
no-flour-no-sugartm-diet/9780446511094/)

It's a simple way to avoid sugar and flour in your diet, therefore removing a
lot of carbohydrates and therefore calories. A few years ago I tried it (with
the addition of no dairy, as that was how I remembered it), and I lost 30lbs
in 3 months.

Of course, like any diet if, you don't permanently change your lifestyle you
will gain the weight back, and as I one-by-one started back with the bread and
sweet foods and snacks, it all came back.

------
RUG3Y
I went three months without sugar while dieting. That ended at a birthday
party, where I had a tiny piece of chocolate cake. The cake immediately made
me ill. I started sweating and became dizzy. After that I was convinced that
sugar is awful for our bodies.

~~~
dragonwriter
Honestly, I've heard similar effects from just about everyone whose avoided
any category of food for an extended time and then reintroduced a food that
was in the avoided category (whether it's meat, sugar, or any of a number of
other things.)

The effect you describe may be more a sign that eating things the body isn't
prepared for are disruptive, rather than the harmfulness of the particular
avoided food. (Even where the avoided food actually _is_ harmful.)

------
davymac
If you consider this, make sure to consider whether or not you think you may
be self-medicating with sweets. I quit sugar for about 2 months and went into
an inexplicable depression where I was having suicidal thoughts. Sugar is a
bastard. As others said the benefits of resetting the taste buds were pretty
incredible. Black coffee instead of sugarcoated Starbucks is actually
enjoyable to me now.

~~~
greenyoda
_" I quit sugar for about 2 months and went into an inexplicable depression"_

I wonder if tapering down sugar consumption gradually instead of abruptly
quitting would lessen this effect by giving the brain time to adjust? It might
be similar to how people need to taper down their dosage of Prozac rather than
just stopping it.

~~~
davymac
Exactly. Mind you that's probably only because I didn't realize I used it to
psychologically self-medicate. Most people would probably be well served if
they cut it off cold-turkey, others may need a step down approach like me.

------
Havoc
Cutting out 95% of sugar is easy. Cutting out 100% is really fkin hard and not
worth it in my opinion.

~~~
stephengillie
Don't focus on cutting out sugar. Focus on eating more protein and nutrients
(target specific vegetables), and leave carbs and fats as filler - as a waste
of time.

------
ums
The links and wording of this article makes me feel like I'm reading an ad.

> When I needed a midday treat, a Honeycrisp apple, a few Trader Joe’s
> apricots or a snack bar that fit the no-sugar saved me.

Why not just "apricots"? Why does it have to be Trader Joe's apricots?

~~~
coldtea
> _Why does it have to be Trader Joe 's apricots?_

Probably because the author doesn't have a Whole Foods nearby, and the kind of
people that get to write for NYT always want to tell us where they shop their
organic stuff.

------
spodek
> _I now know which brands of chicken stock, bacon, smoked salmon, mustard and
> hot sauce contain added sugar and which do not._

Sriracha: why do so many people like it?

It's 20% sugar. No wonder.

Here's the label: [http://joshuaspodek.com/why-sriracha-hot-sauce-
tast](http://joshuaspodek.com/why-sriracha-hot-sauce-tast)

~~~
koralatov
The green-topped bottle in the linked piece is 20g sugar per 100g, but I've
seen some in the UK that are 25g or even 30g. I don't eat the stuff myself,
but know a lot of people who do and they often put on quite a lot --
definitely more than 1/96th of a bottle serving.

~~~
matthewdgreen
If you like the taste of Sriracha, buy the same brand's "Chili Garlic Sauce".
Same flavor without the sugar. See:

[https://www.amazon.com/Huy-Fong-Chili-Garlic-
Sauce/dp/B0016L...](https://www.amazon.com/Huy-Fong-Chili-Garlic-
Sauce/dp/B0016L34GO)

------
suprgeek
I have been following the low/no sugar approach for a coupe of years. Some
results (some may/may not be directly attributable just to low sugar)

1) Most restaurant foods, even the savory section, have an undercurrent of
sweetness that is almost overpowering

2) I cannot eat any commercial cakes/cookies even on very special occasions,
the sweetness makes you gag

3) No more post lunch slump - this one was surprising to me

4) Birthdays/Anniversaries are awkward during the "food time"

5) No colas/juice/shakes/smoothies; yes to Coffee,tea,lime water with honey or
just Water - I started to have spare change much more often so now i invest in
the occasional top shelf vodka :)

6) Dropped about 6 Pounds in the first six months

7) Less jittery-ness thru the day

All-in-all positive effects with some social awkwardness

~~~
yourapostasy
Ways I successfully avoid the social awkwardness you mentioned:

1) If present with an SO, say you are sharing theirs.

2) Take the proffered sugar, make eating-cadence motions with the spoon/fork
but instead of eating, mash it a bit. After a few times, hard to tell at a
glance whether or not someone has eaten it. Discreetly set down, walk away.

3) Or do the more advanced version, when you realize rarely does someone
really observe _and care_ that you eat a food, and being seen in the give-and-
take transaction with you is far more socially significant: take, dab with
utensil, discard.

4) Decline with a wry "doctor's orders". YMMV, might be accompanied by
increased risk of one-sided conversation over health issues, especially if
giver is elderly relation with lots of such.

------
sandstrom
I think the US would benefit from better labeling of food.

Here is a comparison of EU vs. US labels:
[https://www.foodlabels.com/nutritionfacts-
examples-5.htm](https://www.foodlabels.com/nutritionfacts-examples-5.htm)

Some differences:

\- sodium vs. salt

\- 'per serving' vs. per 100g (in the US candy is often specified as multiple
servings per container, deflating the numbers)

\- fiber included under carbohydrates

(granted, there are issues with EU labeling too, but I think it has some
advantages)

~~~
vacri
The "of which" lines on the EU version are particularly weird - simple
indentation like on the US version is more readable.

On a tangent, here in Australia, goods in supermarkets now have to have their
prices also listed in 'per 100g' (or per volume). It makes price comparison
_much_ easier, and no longer are you trying to figure out what the breakdown
is for a 527ml bottle of Foo Cleaner against it's 483ml competitor.

~~~
metafunctor
In the EU version, it's quite easy to find the "sugars" line, which directly
gives you the percentage of sugars in the product. This makes it really easy
to compare products by sugar content. If that's what you're looking to do, it
doesn't matter much that sugars are (or are not) grouped under carbs.

~~~
coldtea
Just don't put that much confidence in what those labels say:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE2lna5Wxuo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE2lna5Wxuo)

------
markharper
Cutting out sugar to the level described in the article and expecting a long
list of health benefits is just as extreme as diets from the low fat craze
were 20-30 years ago. It amazes me that this kind of misinformation continues
to thrive.

~~~
prodmerc
Whatever happened to just eat less, exercise often?

Oh that's right, it's so simple that no one believes it works.

~~~
vacri
'eat less' is not the same as 'eating a balanced diet'. There's plenty of
people out there who eat a small but terrible diet. I knew a guy in IT once
who lived on a diet of basically chips and Coke. He was rail-thin, but his
doctor diagnosed him with scurvy (!)

~~~
prodmerc
Well, I am assuming people eat normal food. Like, you know, bread, cheese,
eggs, meat, tomatoes and potatoes... Who the hell lives on chips and Coke...

~~~
tonyedgecombe
"Who the hell lives on chips and Coke.."

Half the developed world it seems.

------
DoodleBuggy
Giving up sugar, junk food, and refined carbohydrates is not particularly
difficult. It requires some effort and minimal self control.

You will definitely feel a lot better if you avoid sugar and carbs, and
probably lose weight too.

~~~
mrinterweb
I don't know about "not particularly difficult". Eating out is really tricky,
so it is best to assume you can't eat out. Finding groceries that don't have
added sugar is also tricky. I guess you can get into a routine of what foods
you know are safe to eat. I don't think it is a very easy diet. I do think it
is a very healthy and effective diet though.

~~~
DoodleBuggy
Eating out is fine, stick to restaurants and choose healthier meals and always
avoid pizza joints, buffets, and fast food.

> Finding groceries that don't have added sugar is also tricky

Also easy to avoid: if it isn't fresh from a plant or animal, you probably
shouldn't eat it. Or at least eat much less of it and be discerning about
what's in it and where you buy it from.

You can generally assume that if something is refined, processed, or often
even packaged, it likely has added junk you really should not be eating.

~~~
mrinterweb
The problem with eating out is often you don't know what ingredients they are
using. Does the bread they use have added sugar. Is the dressing on that salad
full of sugar? There are so many unknowns with eating out, that it is not easy
to avoid sugar when eating out. Generally speaking, food that you did not
make, is going to likely have unwanted sugars.

Buying fresh is not exactly easy because that means going to the grocery store
every day or thereabouts. I'm not going to argue that buying and eating fresh
food isn't better for you, but it is certainly not easier.

It takes some practice to find the foods that work for you that don't have
added sugar. It does get easier, but I would not say it is an easy diet
considering how much food you need to avoid.

~~~
woodandsteel
No, you don't have to go to the grocery store every day. Most fresh fruits,
vegetables, beans, and meat will keep a week or more in a refrigerator.

------
puissance
I did something similar last year and quitting sugar cold turkey was probably
the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. I documented my
experiences over each of the four weeks: [http://avadhutp.github.io/no-sugar-
challenge-week-1-update/](http://avadhutp.github.io/no-sugar-challenge-
week-1-update/)

------
tptacek
If you do this --- and it's a good idea, as anyone who has done the "keto"
thing can probably attest (it really does persistently alter your habits), you
should probably cut out beer too.

------
wallace_f
I did this when training for my first marathon - in the last 2 months I quit
sugars completely, and it's totally anecdotal but my endurance improved
significantly. Case in point: my training partner was a friend who had run
cross country for 10 years beginning in high school. He was also faster than
me for the entire year of training, up to the very last month when I finished
the marathon 20 minutes(!) ahead of him.

------
bogomipz
I'm not sure what to make of this article , the author states:

>"I have done so in each of the last two years, and it has led to permanent
changes in my eating habits. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it."

But then also states:

>"There were certainly times when I didn’t enjoy the experience. I missed ice
cream, chocolate squares, Chinese restaurants and cocktails. But I also knew
that I’d get to enjoy them all again."

What happened to the permanent changes in easting habits mentioned in the
first passage? Is this a "yo-yo diet" then?

I also found this puzzling:

>"I now know which brands of chicken stock, bacon, smoked salmon, mustard and
hot sauce contain added sugar and which do not."

Why can't the same awareness be achieved by simply reading the nutritional
summary posted on the back of all food items before putting them in your cart
or basket while grocery shopping?

~~~
ScottBurson
> Why can't the same awareness be achieved by simply reading the nutritional
> summary posted on the back of all food items before putting them in your
> cart or basket while grocery shopping?

It can be, and I've done so, but I can see that some people may benefit from
focussing on the issue intensely for a month.

------
bubblesocks
I've tried cutting sugar, and various other diets before, but they all got to
be too time consuming and irritating for me. What did work for me was simply
tracking my calories using Under Armour's My Fitness Pal website. The site is
easy to use, and I quickly discovered that drinking a soda and eating a bag of
chips left me starving at the end of the day, whereas eating grains and
vegetables didn't. Just by counting calories, I naturally gravitated to
healthier foods. I lost about 45 pounds too.

I'm not trying to diminish anything the author said. I think eating healthier
foods is a worthy goal. I only share my experience in case others, like me,
find adhering to prescribed diets and digging through ingredient lists too
difficult, and want something a bit easier.

~~~
stephengillie
I used the MyFitnessPal app before Under Armour bought them. It was a great
way to learn how many calories each food is really composed from. But the
downside was seeing that "I have a few hundred calories left" at the end of a
day, almost like it was encouraging me to snack, making me hungry when I
wasn't.

------
agentgt
I used to do various ketogenic like diets as well as avoiding eating sugar
(except after working out) and nothing so far has worked better than
Intermittent Fasting (i.e. Only eating with in a small window time wise of a
day).

I would have tried it sooner but it seemed so contrarian to traditional
dieting.

------
mtw
I did this for a whole year - Oct 2015 to Oct 2016. Cold turkey like the
author.

It's nothing extraordinary. Or at least nothing as challenging as launching a
startup. It's all about willpower and willing to do the extra work. I found
only eating what you cook, and sticking to whole natural foods (un-processed)
makes this extremely easy.

I didn't manage a total of three or four times. Those were social events: a
wedding, a birthday, and during a trip to another another country.

In terms of benefits, you lose quickly a lot of weight, and perhaps a bit more
energy during the day. Overall a very interesting experience. I would say
thought that if you're looking for a healther lifestyle, committing to regular
moderate or intense exercise has a better ROI than cutting sugar.

------
gbil
I'm really confused on including Honey in the list unless we are talking about
processed honey or something like that. Is it so common in the US that the
honey you buy is processed and not raw?

------
fallinghawks
> I missed ice cream, chocolate squares, Chinese restaurants and cocktails.

I'm a bit mystified how "Chinese restaurants" fits in to this list -- could
someone explain? Did the author at some other point in time give up Chinese
food for a month, or is he suggesting that Chinese food all has added sugar?
(Personally, I can think of only a few Chinese dishes that typically have
sugar added, and it's maybe a tablespoon at most for a dish that would serve
2-4 people.)

~~~
twblalock
A lot of American Chinese restaurant food has sugary sauces.

~~~
fallinghawks
News to me. I guess he means Panda Express or something like that. Thank you

------
peter_retief
Sugar is really not needed in the human diet and is in fact harmful. Its also
highly addictive and is the reason for metabolic syndrome, which is a range of
illnesses like diabetes, certain cancers, dementia, stroke, heart disease,
hypertension some have even made a link to Alzheimer's. If you were to do one
good thing for yourself or your family cut way back on sugars and High
Glycemic Carbohydrates. This is not my opinion this is well known scientific
fact

~~~
tonyedgecombe
Type 2 diabetes, type 1 has different origins.

~~~
peter_retief
Diet is as important for type 1 as it is for type 2 diabetes

------
daegloe
After suffering from digestive and autoimmune issues since adolescence, and
having a very difficult 2015 (in and out of hospitals), I took the bold step
of drastically altering my diet. I've been sugar free, grain free, soy free,
alcohol free and dairy free (save for soft goat cheese and Greek yogurt) for
1.5 yrs now. It wasn't an easy adjustment to make, but I was at rock bottom.
The improvement has been dramatic and life altering.

------
b212
Around the age of 13, the lazy side of me figured out that in life you can
actually gain something by not doing something else. This was the day when I
decided I wouldn't touch the alcohol or cigarettes (not to mention soft and
hard drugs). Ever. I've tried alcohol since then maybe two times actually and
I've never been drunk, never tried to smoke, I don't even drink coffee (just
don't like the taste of it).

Anyway, it took me 27 years to realise I've been addicted to sugar the whole
time. I dropped refined sugar from my diet last February, I'd say I'm quite
strict here as I've ate sugar only two times in these 11 months (one
traditional Christmas Eve dish and one for Easter). Maybe a few times more
when I wasn't sure what I was eating (eating out).

My sugar problems became really obvious when I was super strict about my oral
hygiene yet I was spending thousands of dollars yearly on dentists. I was
getting a few cavities filled yearly for the last 10 years or so. It seemed
normal to me but the red flag was a cavity between my incisors, it was tiny, I
couldn't even see it but every time I ate something with refined sugar I felt
this particular type of pain you got when you have a cavity in your teeth. I
could barely feel it with any other food, but sugars - hell yea, it was just
simply painful. And then I got scared and thinking "damn, I'm 27 and I've
already had root canal treatment once - and now this?". I've been reading a
lot about people who have super healthy teeth because they don't eat that much
sugar (or no refined sugars at all) and somehow without sugar tooth decay is
processing very slowly if at all.

During the last 11 months I've seen my dentist twice and looks like if I will
keep sugar out of my diet I'd just have to replace my fillings every few years
or so. No new cavities, no signs of teeth decay, I feel like a new man.

What's even better I'm reading ALL the product labels before I eat anything
now and I'm generally MUCH better because I've dropped refined/palm oils too.
I'm living in Poland and our food is dirt cheap and of superb quality, anyway
it really opened my eyes in many cases, when I was for example looking for
sausages and about 50% had sugar in them, when and why the heck we decided to
put sugar in our meat?! :( Same goes for bread and so much processed food
you'd be surprised.

(if you're planning of dropping sugar it won't be easy - the first 3 weeks
were nightmare for me, but I got by eating sweets sweetened with sorbitol,
aspartam etc. - after that it was just like a walk in the park - I don't even
miss Nutella sandwiches I used to eat every morning - try oatmeal with nuts
and honey or in the worst case - mascarpone sandwiches with some honey on top
of it - delicious :D)

~~~
chris_7
Coffee is so weird, because people just become dependent on it, and start
talking about how they "need their coffee" in the morning before they can
function. It just seems to reset back to the original state, except now you
need to spend money on coffee and your teeth are stained. Just sleep more and
exercise.

~~~
b212
Exactly.

What's worth adding here is I generally have huge logical problem with the
whole "acquired taste" thing, I mean if something tastes like crap (I'm
referring to coffee, alcohol, marmite etc.) why would ANYONE want to acquire
the taste? What's the point of it? When I don't like something I just simply
try it once, maybe twice and then I'm like "no, thank you, it's gross".

I used to think I'm beginning to like coffee because I really liked coffee
cakes or Kopikos (not sure if you have them in the US), but once you realise
these things are 60-80% SUGAR (!) then it's not the coffee you like in it at
all, you most likely just carve sugar.

~~~
avar
I don't drink coffee, so this is not a defense of coffee, just a reply to your
comments about "acquired taste".

Your taste buds and your palate gets used to certain food, so the food you
think is delicious is largely impacted by your acquired taste.

You're really missing out _a lot_ with food given your attitude to acquired
taste. You don't get to not have acquired taste, everyone has it, it's just a
function of the food you keep eating, usually to do with where you're from.

There's a definite plus in acquiring certain tastes, because it'll open up
whole new worlds of food & drink for you that you can't believe you previously
did without. Examples include: Spicy food, fermented food, dried
beef/fish/whatever, heavily fried foods, sweet, savory, stinky cheeses etc.
etc.

Some things you really can't just try once. One good example is spicy food
(containing capsaicin). Where I grew up there was none of that at all, but as
an adult I made a concerted effort to try to wean myself on it because there
had to be something to it if so many people were eating it. Today spiciness is
one of my favorite food attributes.

------
edoceo
There is a good movie about it: Fed Up

Made me watch my processed foods, and especially sugar intake.

Still think balanced diet and exercise are a very good idea

~~~
sdfin
I learned about that documentary thanks to a previous HN thread. I highly
recommend it to anyone interested in the topic. The amount of sugar added to
many processed foods is insane.

------
sandyjenkins
I find my taste buds adjust after a period of time, I also look for products
that are my favourite foods only sweetened with stevia. I found one healthy
candy called SmartSweets, gummy bears only using stevia that are natural and
they've really helped me.

------
edtechdev
If you think there's a chance your blood sugar might be high, you can get an
A1C test kit at the pharmacy or grocery store or Amazon (or visit your doctor,
of course). That tests your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months
or so.

------
shorttime
Another year, another demon food. It seems every few years we switch it up,
now it's sugar, before it was glutten, then it was fats, then it was carbs. It
seems like nobody really has a clue what is "good" for us. The only thing that
makes sense to me anymore is eating a balanced diet from a variety of food
sources while also maintaining a decent exercise regimen. Not over doing it,
frequently, is also an important aspect. I've found it's OK to eat junk food
once in awhile, as long it's not a habit.

~~~
mdgrech23
Could not agree w/ this comment more. Writing a New York Times article
suggesting people count calories, weigh their food, and exercise 3-5 times per
week is boring and doesn't sell. The public is dying for a guru w/ a new
methodology or academia to emerge w/ a new "scientific breakthrough" to save
them from the obesity epidemic. The answer is simple but yet so many people
refuse to believe eating less calories than their body needs is the
cornerstone to weight loss.

~~~
munificent
A couple of years ago, in a show of solidarity with my wife, I did a Whole 30.
It's a 30 day elimination diet that cuts out all sugar (except for naturally
occurring in whole fruit). I'm in my thirties and very slim.

The Whole 30 lets you have as much fat, meat and calories as you want. I
plowed through eggs, homemade mayo, meat, and other calorie dense food. I'm
skinny enough that I don't have much weight to lose. Even so, I dropped ten
pounds effortlessly.

I don't know if this generalizes to other people and their physiques, but it
was enough to convince me that sugar/simple carbs really do correlate more
directly to my waistline than just counting calories does. I'm sure what the
right metric to pay attention to is. My hunch is that it's glycemic load.

Either way, I cut down on my sugar and carbs since then, and I've lost of a
lot of the middle-aged Dad belly I was starting to develop. I don't count
calories at all. It seems to work for me.

~~~
chris_7
If you didn't count your calories, there's no way to tell where you were
eating relative to your TDEE. People think they're eating more than they are
all the time, it's an incredibly common thread on any fitness forum.

~~~
SilasX
Isn't that still a point in favor of the diet, though? That it's much harder
to overeat on it?

~~~
chris_7
Of course, but it's pretty well accepted that fibrous and fatty foods are
typically more filling that sugary foods, with fewer calories (especially for
fibrous foods). It doesn't invalidate intake with respect to TDEE being the
primary cause of weight gain and loss.

------
zizzles
I do not know what is so difficult about not eating sugar. If "without sugar"
means no added artificial sweetener or added sugar (as according to this
article) then I have not consumed sugar for many many years; the same goes for
our ancestors, farmers, etc. I do not know if this is a case of crack-like
addiction, or a case of "what is the point? you only live once, you should
indulge in pleasures" either way it need not be difficult if you simply, as an
example, substitute your candy for fruits (fruit cultivation is a far-cry from
what it used to be, but I do not want to get into an argument about this)

Despite all of this, take it from me: The benefits are overrated

Ironically and amusingly enough, I was my happiest (and seemingly healthier)
when I was a little boy running around all day outside eating candy or
chocolate to my hearts content.

~~~
prodmerc
> Ironically and amusingly enough, I was my happiest (and seemingly healthier)
> when I was a little boy running around all day outside eating candy or
> chocolate to my hearts content.

That's a dangerous thought that everyone has. You were indeed happier and
healthier, because you had a new body that could heal more faster, and your
metabolism was through the roof.

After 25, wear and tear starts to become noticeable, metabolism slows down,
physical damage heals slower, pain lingers for way longer, you get less
endorphins.

But these days everything is over-sweetened, fucking bread is sweet as hell
for some reason. So cutting down on sugar is more than just not putting it in
your tea/coffee and not eating cookies.

------
randyrand
Lets get something straight. He did not avoid sugar. And no one should.

Food falls into 3 main categories: Carbs, proteins, fats.

Carbs fall into 2 categories, Sugars and Starches (which are just a chain of
sugar molecules).

Yes, it is possible to survive for awhile on just protein and fat, but NO ONE
should be doing that. Sugar is necessary and good for you.

