
How Giving Up Refined Sugar Changed My Brain - sajid
https://www.fastcompany.com/3050319/lessons-learned/how-giving-up-refined-sugar-changed-my-brain
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znpy
I feel this is... Well, mostly bullshitt.

First, "changed my brain" is a big, big statement and nowhere in the article
is being pointed any MRI scan or something.

Going further: I have experienced something similar (the only sugar I take in
during the day is that single pack I put in the one daily coffee I take after
lunch) yet I did not feel all this troubles. My opinion is that I did not
experience all this problems because I was not looking for it.

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oxplot
I think it's mostly bullshit if you generalize the experience of the author
for everyone. Anecdotally however, I saw the same improvements to the letter
when I stopped sugar intake (not just refined but stopped eating fruits,
etc.). I can't remember any withdrawal symptoms though. It was rather easy,
but then again I stopped because of diabetes scare.

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tzs
I've experienced the vegetables taste better thing, just be lowering sugar
rather than giving it up. I currently get about 35% of my calories from
carbohydrates, with about 6% of my calories from added sugars.

Before, when carbs were probably 60-80% of my calories, and added sugars were
a big part of that, I could taste green beans and carrots, but they were very
mild. Corn was a bit stronger, and peas were more of an aftertaste than a
taste.

These were all foods that I would eat now and then because they were good for
me, but I'd never _want_ them.

Now they taste much stronger, and I often have for dinner just a package of
frozen "steam in the bag" mixed vegetables (corn, green beans, carrots, peas)
[1]. When I do have those with meat they are an equal partner on the plate
with the meat now instead of just something there for their nutrition.

[1] [https://www.birdseye.com/vegetable-products/steamfresh-
pure-...](https://www.birdseye.com/vegetable-products/steamfresh-pure-simple-
blends/mixed-vegetables)

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FrozenVoid
People(and incredibly dieticians) still hang on to the "Calories-in calories-
out" as we are engine burning food. Sugars(and most carbs convert to sugars)
are responsible to 1.Cellular degeneration:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_glycation_end-
product](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_glycation_end-product)
2.Diabetes type 2(key factor)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Type_2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes#Type_2)
3.Severe, heroin-level addiction
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2235907)
4.Brain degeneration and cognitive decline
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15082091](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15082091)

~~~
brador
Aren't those same sugars also responsible for powering our oversized brains?

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Frondo
I've mostly given up refined sugar too. I cook a lot for myself, and almost
never have a prepared dessert (a handful of dates or figs, more likely, or an
apple).

Once or twice a week I'll have a dessert item while I'm out at a coffee shop,
and what gets me now is how unbelievably overly sweet those things taste. It's
too much some of the time, even for something as mild as a rice crispy square.
Sugared soda or a donut with icing? I simply can't take it anymore, it's far,
far too sweet.

And my hunger is sooo much more even-keeled these days, less of a
consciousness-dominating craving, more of a hint that it's time for food.

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melling
This would seem to indicate to calories in <> calories out.

"The only thing that I changed about my diet is I eliminated any calories from
refined sugars. And I lost 12 pounds in two weeks."

Has anyone else reproduced this experiment?

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balls187
"It worked, and since then I’ve remained a healthy weight primarily by making
sure I count my calories, don’t overeat, and get regular exercise."

Losing 12 pounds in 2 weeks is not "healthy" weight loss, especially for
someone who is already at a "healthy weight."

Weightloss over a long period of time is "calories in" = "calories out", but
that becomes a matter of will and control, over what your body is going to do
(which is not want to lose much weight).

~~~
melling
He already had a relatively healthy diet. He was counting calories. The
question is will replacing a couple hundred calories of sugar with something
healthy, like nuts for example, cause one to lose weight?

~~~
AstralStorm
The current scientific consensus says no unless there are issues with
digestion.

That said, there are other potential benefits and issues. People tend to
forget how energy dense sucrose is. Only fats are denser. (incl. nuts which
are mainly fat and protein) So whatever you are replacing them with, you will
eat much of, unless it is fat or oils. Or you will lose weight.

~~~
fpoling
Sugar contains just 25% more calories compared with cereals while oils and
animal fats contain over 2 times more calories. So if one just stops to eat
sugar without changing the composition of the food, it is trivial to
compensate calory loss with eating, for example, bread made without sugar but
with extra oil.

But the article is not about just removing the sugar. As the author
discovered, just by giving up on sugar one changes the whole diet. He could no
longer consume any junk food and had to start cooking himself. So the real
benefits could be in that switch, not in avoiding sugar per se.

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kardashian007
One "shortcut" isn't equivalent or "the answer" to a series of comprehensive,
corrective habit adjustments. Perhaps the issue is that it's "weird" in
Western countries, apart from high society, physical trades and cardiologists,
to favor unhealthy, convenience foods and unspoken disdain of almost all
physical effort.

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teddyh
Needs a (2015).

