[Closed] Argh! Am I addicted to processed sugar and caffeine?

Are you getting fat in your diet? Cutting out carbs and sugar is great but you still need fuel. Start the day with some bacon and eggs. I'd say there's nowt wrong with caffeine though. There's some schools of thought to suggest it's an effective weight loss drug.

There's some schools of thought to suggest it's an effective weight loss drug

but yeah recently been reminded caffeine can be very useful for perking tired legs up for riding.

I think that's a thing you can get used to. I used to have two sugars in tea and coffee but haven't had any sugar in either for years now.

The problem is that sugar is an instantly available energy source; my guess is that your metabolism has to get used to looking a bit further for energy.

It's easy to lose weight by simply cutting out the sugar, sugary drinks, sweets and puddings and reducing beer intake. On top of that, cut right down on the amount of carbs you pile on your plate. If you find it difficult to prevent yourself snacking in the evenings, try flossing and cleaning your teeth after supper, which helps with the willpower.

Oh, and take up road riding.

mrsnacho is currently studying nutrition and apparently processed sugars make you fat more so than natural ones as many are difficult for the body to absorb.
Also due to the huge amounts of sugars we now consume as a society (almost every processed food we eat has them added) most of us are addicted to sugars - so, if you have cut them out in the last 3 days you are probably undergoing "cold turkey" from your sugar withdrawal. There is a growing school of thought that processed sugars will be to the next generation what cigarettes are to us now.....

I think that's a thing you can get used to.

sorry getting off topic.

If you've cut down food too much and upped the exercise likewise then yep you'll run into a fuel shortage situation. If you're normally hitting the coffee every half hour and now down to 1 a day I guess you could be suffering withdrawal too.

Now might be the time to build an underground processed sugar farm and arrange for small boys on BMX's to act as couriers. You need a cool but sinister nickname to strike fear into your competitors at Nestle and Silver Spoon. How about "Sugar Daddy"?

You might need to cut some fingers off a few people to make every aware that you mean business.

its 1930 in the evening where I am and i'm going to sleep. Good night.

..is currently studying nutrition and apparently processed sugars make you fat more so than natural ones as many are difficult for the body to absorb...

Hmm....
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DrP

..is currently studying nutrition and apparently processed sugars make you fat more so than natural ones as many are difficult for the body to absorb...

Dr.P you need to keep up with the latest advances in non scientific mumbo jumbo, I suggest you read the 'bible':

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Everything in that book is fact. You know this as she's a Doctor as stated on the cover.

She must eat a lot of horrible, sour, unhappy things then.

That's the problem with the seven year Md course. Dr P has been brain washed as part of a huge pro-evidence based science cult which totally opposes evangelists such as Dr (from a non accredited American postal degree institute) McKeith and other such great dieticians.

She not a dietician, that's a protected term, she's a nutritionist. As am I, or anyone else who wants to call themselves one.

you are what eat...where did she find a supply of whey face, jobby sniffing ferrets?

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Quick, someone put up that meme of 'You are what you eat, featuring pictures of Gillian Mckeith and Nigella Lawson..

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Yeah, dere we is!

If a particular sugar was more difficult to absorb, surely it would be less likely to make you fat?
There's a theory that too much fructose can make you fat because of the way it is metabolised.

I have a problem whenever I lose weight - I get a cold. Which usually starts with me feeling really knackered and wanting to sleep all the time.

Could this be it?

It might be a bit quick for you (unless you had one waiting in the wings) as it usually takes me a couple of weeks. It's really annoying as I do eat good quality food (v little processed, lots of veg, a reasonable amount of protein and enough butter not to want to pack in the diet 🙂 ). No idea what to do about it though, sorry.

mrsnacho is currently studying nutrition and apparently processed sugars make you fat more so than natural ones as many are difficult for the body to absorb.
Also due to the huge amounts of sugars we now consume as a society (almost every processed food we eat has them added) most of us are addicted to sugars - so, if you have cut them out in the last 3 days you are probably undergoing "cold turkey" from your sugar withdrawal. There is a growing school of thought that processed sugars will be to the next generation what cigarettes are to us now.....

Refined sugars are not easier to absorb / metabolise that "natural sugars". Fructose (think dried fruit) is a natural as it comes - and a real no-no if you are anything like diabetic. Generally the shorter change the sugar , the easier it is to absorb. Glucose is a monomer, fructose a dimer.

People are not addicted to sugare - you have been reading too many "what tree hugger weekly" magazines.
Sugar is a great driver of liking ( as is salt for example). There are very good natural reasons for this. However, as we have more of it , our threshold and tolerances have increased. I have no doubt that the increased level of sugar in the diet is a great contributor to the cause of obesity - but I will challenge the "addictive".

You can give up sugar overnight - you still get blood sugar from other items. If you have had a really sugar laden diet - I guess you may have after effects .

Real sluggishness may suggest other issues - such as diabetes

As a qualified nutritionist then, I'd recommend avoiding big carbs and refined sugars through the week. Keep your energy up by eating dairy products and bacon. As much chicken and eggs as you can stomach plus plenty of fruit and veg. Nuts are OK in moderation.

If you fancy drinking then red wine is fine.

At weekend I'd suggest biffing out a little, get some beers down you, crisps and chocolate too. On Monday go back to your regime. Life is for living after all, not for getting somewhere.

edit: Oh, and exercise like you're being graded on how much pain you're going through.

I had sausage and eggs for breakfast and feel MUCH MUCH MUCH better today. Also had a can of Monster sugar free to get millions of caffeines. Feel awesome! Full POWER!

😐

Sugar affects your brain in loads of ways, not just your metabolism. Just treat sugar like say fags or any other drug. Cold turkey is hard.

As above though, you still need fuel, especially if you are exercising a lot or at high intensity. If you do intense exercise you need some high GI carbs afterwards to re-fuel (or during if it's long). That's when high GI is good.

If you are not good at fat burning, then you need to train your metabolism to be better at it. Several ways to do this imo.

As a similarly qualified nutritioinist, i'd not recommend lots of milk or yoghurt - they stimulate the release of insulin which inhibits the burning of fat for fuel, and makes you burn sugar even though they don't contain much. So you can end up with low blood sugar whihc makes you huuuungry and tired.

Joe: Google caffiene withdrawal, and see if those symptoms relate to your current state. When I went cold turkey on caffeine, I felt dreadful.

😆 @ Joe

I'm doing a similar thing at the moment

howsabout subbing the sausages for lean bacon medallions or turkey rashers if you can find em. I like to replace at least one of the eggs for egg white (cartons of '[url= http://www.twochicks.co.uk/ ]two chicks[/url]' in the fridge isle)

EDIT: Oh and I just made my own half caff blend, one bag o full caff, one bag of Decaffinato all mixed together in one big tub so I don't suffer a smacking headache.

I think that a dramatic reduction in your intake of carbs in combination with more exercise than you're used to could be making you feel crappy.

I try keep down the amount of carbs in my diet unless around exercise - i.e. before, during or after exercise when I make sure that I do take on some carbs (and protein e.g. milk, meat etc).

Not sure about processed sugars - not good for you and do turn to fat is my opinion.

PS fat's not all that bad. It slows down the processing of food so lowers the GI of anything you eat. The only risk is eating loads of it cos it has a lot of calories and may result in you consuming loads. But it probably won't if you exercise a bit of restraint - eating fattier food should make it much easier for you to eat less food in general.

So keep the sausages 🙂

Joe - Member
I had sausage and eggs for breakfast and feel MUCH MUCH MUCH better today. Also had a can of Monster sugar free to get millions of caffeines. Feel awesome! Full POWER!

Sounds like a load better idea.
Can't cut out every thing at the same time and not expect feel bad. Like above, if you're cutting the carbs then eat fat and protein.
Don't cut the caffeine at the same time.
Let your body get used to fuelling from these for a couple of weeks then maybe have another crack at the caffeine then if you still want to.