I think I might have an addiction issue with sugar. There was a thread not long ago that discussed some of this.
I've always had a sweet tooth. However, over this last lot of years, I'm shoveling sugar into me like it's going out of fashion. It's coupled with a pretty awful diet. I'm really struggling with it. I can't go a day without having a couple of chocolate bars and a scoop of sugar on some cereal. It sounds embarrassing to admit that I'm addicted to sugar. I'm really worried about the long term health issue it has probably already caused.
Does anyone have any advice to start tackling it? I might add that I'm a pretty boring eater, so if I need to try to replace sugar to start, it might be a very small list of options.
I used to be the same, got diagnosed pre-diabetic in March this year with an Mmol of 42 so just on the cusp, explained why I kept getting a blurry right eye which I put down to eye strain from working on computers all day, hot feet in bed and itchy legs. I was also peeing loads but just put that down to the fact I was drinking a lot of water and had also recently started taking amlodipine for high BP which makes you pee more so I literally had no idea.
Put the fear of god into me as I was only 34 when diagnosed, lost over 5 stone so far or 24% body weight to reverse it and still trying to lose more, swapped out sweets for 70% dark choc and fruit. Reduced my intake of anything with a high GI, completely changed my diet, I'm a tad lax now, scranned some terrys chocolate orange segments last night, but it is super addictive so I can sympathise with you. My best tip would be it's like quitting anything, takes about 2 weeks to get into the swing of things and new routines.
I stopped buying any sweets, binned sugar out the house, threw the sweeteners out, replaced anything high GI with low Gi alternatives IE white bread with wholemeal bread, reduced my intake of UPF food with added sugars in, the NHS signed me up to this app called second nature which teaches you loads about diet and sugars and high GI foods and its role in insulin resistance
To keep the 9 month training program short, its basically eat as much fibre as possible, second to that protein, third to that low GI carbs, then the remaining with healthy non processed fats. A balanced plate would be 50% high fibre veggies, 25% protein 15% low GI carbs like sweet potato or brown rice 10% fats
I found after two weeks fruit tasted as good as sweets, 70% dark choc tasted as good as milk choc and the fibre kept me fuller for longer and meant I was less snackish and looking for sweet treats between meals
Me too. Have tried so many times to eat better over the last decade but can only ever manage it for a few months before slipping back into my ways.
life’s hard enough as it is without willingly making it harder trying to eat well
You make it sound so simple. Just stop eating sugar and have a big plate of vegetables instead.
FYI I'm not overweight. I'm 6ft 1" and a smidge over 80kgs.
I think I might be in same boat. Always craving a fizzy drink or something sweet to eat. I do eat a lot of healthy food, but also eat a lot of shite too. Working from home (so no more commuting by bike to work, and now being too close to the biscuit tin) and stopping smoking seem to have done a number on my health and weight. I was 15st last time I weighed myself, whereas I was a happy 13st for years previously. Need to sort it out.
unfortunately its hard, the first 2 weeks is a killer.
once you identify all the crap food in the house with sugar in it, minus fruit, you are only left with boring.
Unless you are mentally ready to do this you will fail, its is a 100% commitment change.
After the first 2 weeks its fine, but whole milk versus semi, higher in fat lower in sugar.
I can't go a day without having a couple of chocolate bars and a scoop of sugar on some cereal. It sounds embarrassing to admit that I'm addicted to sugar. I'm really worried about the long term health issue it has probably already caused.
Hey mate, if this is an accurate estimate of what you're enjoying, then I doubt it's as bad as you think - especially given your healthy BMI and active lifestyle (depends on the size of your scoop though, obvs).
My GF is an NHS dietician, I could ask her if she'd consider it cause for concern if you like?
I'm 6ft 1" and a smidge over 80kgs.
I'm not, so be grateful you have a metabolism that deals with it well! I am a sugar addict, but also enjoy it. As a result I'm significantly shorter and heavier than the OP! I do also ride, run and climb a reasonable amount.
Does anyone have any advice to start tackling it?
Easiest thing is to not have it in the house.
Every night I'd have two* chocolate bars while watching TV an hour or two after tea. It had just become a habit so a couple of months ago I asked my wife not to buy any more when she did the shopping.
First week or so felt a bit weird but I don't even think about having one now. I've not replaced it with anything.
I still have a sprinkling of sugar on my Wheetabix in morning though!
(*two because modern chocolate bars are all 'fun-size'! 🤣 )
I was definitely an addict. The first thing i did was to bin the sugary drinks which were my biggest problem. I always wanted that glucose hit to perk me up and it'd have to be the sugariest available. Mountain Dew was my go to post sugar tax. At some point I just wondered what I was doing paying decent money to damage my health and make me dependent on that sugar hit, so I stopped. It wasn't easy, but I kept track of the days at first and told myself "not today, maybe tomorrow" on the tough days. Usually the next day would be easier and as the number grows you don't want to go back to zero. I have swapped now to not drinking calories (pretty much) water, black coffee, maybe 1 tea a day with the lightest splash of milk, sparkling water is nice to mix it up. I feel much better for it.
For chocolate and sweets, I've cut out all snacking other than fruit and plain nuts, but only if I feel I really need something. it';s ok to feel hungry and grazing throughout the day makes me think too much about food. Staying on top of hydration really helps and I find my energy levels are so much more consistent now which has been such a welcome change.
It was far far harder (for me) than any of the contributors have made it sound.
All of the above is true - that's how you do it, but for me it took a lot of hard work to stop eating chocolate and biscuits.
Identifying when I was 'desperate for a sugar hit' helped me make better choices. But it didn't make those choices any easier.
I replaced sugary snacks and I started eating more fibre/protein but it has taken years to get it to be 2nd nature. I don't think it will ever be 'easy' but it is getting easier. I still have an occasional chocolate bar and I eat sweet things but I do it a lot less.
My plan is for the less to become even-less but it will probably never be never 🙂
I'm 178cm and 82kgs - but it's the composition of that mass that has changed not the overall value.
Do you live with a partner / someone also struggling with this?
It'll be twice as hard if you're not backing each other up in just not buying the stuff in the first place and having it in the house. Same with booze, I can resist a post work drink if none in the house and I'd have to get to the off-license just for myself but I'll fail if she's got a nice bottle of wine in or I've got some beers in the last shop.
My GF is an NHS dietician, I could ask her if she'd consider it cause for concern if you like?
I'd appreciate that mate, thanks.
Not so active these days, but there's various reasons for that - one is currently man flu.
I don't drink soft drinks thankfully, or any of the energy drinks. This is mostly a chocolate addiction, with other sugary snacks on top.
You make it sound so simple. Just stop eating sugar and have a big plate of vegetables instead.
FYI I'm not overweight. I'm 6ft 1" and a smidge over 80kgs.
Oh it definitely wasn't simple, it was two weeks of pure psychological torture. All I could think about was milkshakes, beer, haribos, galaxy chocolate, cake, donuts, ice cream, nutella spread, biscuits, honey, jam on toast you name it. Then once that first two weeks was over at home was easier but walking down the sweets aisle in aldi was like resisting the temptation to have a sin free no strings attached wild one stand with your hottest ex gf who you've been having x-rated dreams about all week, can't stop thinking about after you've seen her and would do absolutely anything you wanted to be with you. Believe me the willpower was the hardest part, and that went on for 5-6 months until I could no longer live like a saint, had lost 15% body fat so allowed myself to give in to partial temptation.
The only difference now is instead of sat on the sofa after a fast digesting UPF meal then smashing off a whole sharing bag of haribo and half a bar of galaxy followed by a jam donut I'll eat a nutritionally sound low processed meal high in fibre which is more filling, have maybe 6 or 7 haribos and a couple of squares of dark choc, followed by an easy peeler as for some reason those stop me craving more choc n sweets over the rest of the evening, I also calorie count everything in nutracheck and I look forward to having those on an evening so I know if eat them throughout the day I wont get the joy in the evening. The easiest way to prevent it though I find is just not buying it and not having it in the house in the first place
For context when I was diagnosed, 6ft 3" 137kg, still 6ft 3" believe it or not now 103kg so still got a ways to go, and need to get back on track tbh, found myself in M&S and ended up buying a packet of mini colin caterpillar cakes, that was Saturday and I've thought about them probably 6 or 7 times a day since and mentally fighting with myself to not open them and I already regret buying them
I'd appreciate that mate, thanks.
No worries. Ping me a message on WhatsApp with just a bit more detail?
I'm off up to see her this weekend.
I think of my brain like a sugar loving Labrador, it has no off switch once it get a sugar craving and would be happy to be a sugar laden wobbly bollock.
working long hours with a lot of travel doesn't help either, as it's difficult to eat clean when out and about.
I found stuff like the old flow sports performance/Idave diet really handy as I'm not denying myself that lovely sweet treat, I'm just saving it for the cheat day.
It also helps as it makes me meal prep and plan, which makes being on the road easier for me as well.
Then when cheat day rocks up , I may go mad and a slice of cake with my post ride coffee and that seems to give me a really noticeable sugar spike and crash, which give me some positive re-enforcement about my sugar reduction.
Understanding why you are snacking helps as well, is it habit, boredom, actual craving/addiction etc.. changing the triggers can really help.
Previously I'd have been scoffing my way through biscuits like Pac-Man with a bad case of the munchies.
+1 here
I have slipped back to having 2 sugars in my tea and crave something sweet after meals - I'm by no means overweight fortunately as I do a reasonable amount of exercise - at least in the summer anyway but I would like to be slimmer and get back into a 30" waist.
I did iDave for a while and remember that i didn't miss the sugar after a while - the cinnamon in porridge thing was pretty good substitute - amazing what you can get used to.
Cycling is a bit dangerous for sugar consumption, for longer rides the easiest way to fuel is jelly babies, gels, sugar drinks. But I find after big day of riding and sugar, my brain remains addicted for the days afterwards and it feels easier to justify buying and eating more. Not sure what the solution is really.
Yes totally addicted to the f*©€in sweet stuff.
I try to not have it in the house then mum "buys" some chocolate cause it was on offer.
When I say I need to loose weight I get the "just don't eat it, have you no control?".
Which proper winds me up, if I could do that I wouldnt be trying to not have it in the house.
Anyway, I have in the past kicked the habbit, it's horrible. But after two weeks or so everything gets so much sweeter naturally you don't miss it.
That initial break is a killer though, I've not managed it since before Easter and Christmas won't help.
My wife said I was addicted to sugar..I said I wasn't and set out to prove her wrong.
She was right! It was horrible giving it up. I gave up and have now accepted I'm addicted.
I deal with it by not doing the shopping hungry, and trying to avoid sugar.
Good luck op! Get some will power and some targets to help.
I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Nothing you'd call an addiction, but very easy to slide into "taking the piss" territory, especially at this time of year. So, I try to have long stretches of abstinence, i.e. no sweets, cakes, biscuits or preserves (can't have marmalade in the house for the same reason I can't have crack cocaine in the house).
The cravings subside after a few days and then I'm generally not bothered. For the OP, why not see if you can do without for a week and see how you feel? I definitely feel better when I'm "aff it".
I was pretty into the sweet stuff, especially in tea. I hadn't realised how much I was putting in myself.
It came to a head when I was out of work, I'd been drinking tea all day and suddenly had a massive sugar crash. Never felt so ill. It was so bad I stopped sugar in tea there and then and have never looked back.
Other stuff I have got off sugar phycologicaly, I look at a lot of stuff and think what else is in there. Lots of ingredients that you wouldn't ever have at home, and that just massively puts me off eating it.
So these days I eat cake that the oh makes, flapjack etc. never touch pop unless it's on a ride. A bit of nice chocolate now and then.
I think the less sugar you eat, the less you want. I still drink a lot of tea but the thought of sugar in it makes me boke
Hi, my name is Doom and I’m a depressive, comfort eating sugar addict. I’m currently two weeks into a keto diet because it’s the only thing that works for me. It’s definitely not easy though, especially as I do all the cooking for the family.
I've cut out almost all processed food and sugar for a year or so and my Haemoglobin A1c is still 42! I'm trying low carb now. Kept porridge in mornings (no sugar, honey etc) but bread replaced with salad, rice/pasta/potatoes replaced with kale and spinach and other veg. i'm bipolar which adds some extra risk
Thought about keto but not sure I'd ever stick to it plus apparently not great for cholesterol (mine already high). Don't you need blood tests too?
Thought about keto but not sure I'd ever stick to it plus apparently not great for cholesterol (mine already high). Don't you need blood tests too?
I did keto during lockdown and lost over 30kg. Unfortunately my father died and I dealt by comfort eating with a passion and put it all back on. My cholesterol wasn’t high before I lost the weight and had actually dropped by 25% when I asked for a test.
It is a hard diet to stick to for sure but the discipline required means absolutely no cheat days. Which IME turn into cheat weeks, which turn into cheat months…
I'm eating things that I turned my nose up at before, mostly through necessity, but my palate has changed for the better because of it.
life’s hard enough as it is without willingly making it harder trying to eat well
Terrible excuse! Life is harder when you don't eat well!
I've struggled with sugar cravings. But we all know that we will temporarily feel better (minutes at best) before feeling lethargic and wanting more. Go cold turkey and cut the simple carbs out too. After a few weeks sugar will almost hurt your mouth when you eat it.
What helped me was learning how sugar feeds my cancer, has little nutritional benefits, causes inflammation and wreaks havoc on the body and mind. This modern, refined sugar really is the bane of today's world. Remember, the manufacturers use it to make money; they do not care that it's killing you!
I might add that I'm a pretty boring eater, so if I need to try to replace sugar to start, it might be a very small list of options.
I suspect that might be part of the problem. I think if you can bring yourself to eat a varied diet it will make the loss of sugar easier to bear. I do like a decent dollop of golden syrup on my porridge though.
I've said before on here that years ago I stopped eating standard chocolate and only bought the food stuff.
After a few months I tried a dairy milk and it was this horrible sickly sticky greasy bar.... Unfortunately they're moreish.
After a few months I tried a dairy milk and it was this horrible sickly sticky greasy bar.... Unfortunately they're moreish.
It's the sugar-cream combination innit. The combination doesn't really exist naturally other than in mammal's milk (I think) but human brains appear to be hardwired to crave it.
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got diagnosed pre-diabetic in March this year with an Mmol of 42 so just on the cusp
You had bloods that showed 42 mmol/L????
You had bloods that showed 42 mmol/L????
A HbA1c of 42mmol/mol is ok, lower is obviously better. I have that sort of level normally, despite not eating anything sweet (not self-discipline, I just hate sweet things!), not much I can do to bring it down.
I used to drink full fat coke every day and eat lots of cake / chocolate
There is no easy way out or alternative/ substitute. It’s a simple fact of will power
I would always make sure I had water to hand for the coke substitute or fruit for the cake / chocolate
You feel shot at first and the craving is terrible. Eventually though you start to feel less tired, less shit. (From not having too much sugar) the difficult bit is staying clean. I am a believer though or at least for me it’s good to have some every so often
I try to not have it in the house then mum "buys" some chocolate cause it was on offer.
Throw it in the bin.
It was 'free' so you've lost nothing.
I used to drink full fat coke every day and eat lots of cake / chocolate
There is no easy way out or alternative/ substitute.
Huh?
Coke is the easiest thing of them all to substitute, Diet Coke has been around since the 1980s (I think it actually outsells Coke these days). Diabetic chocolate exists, though I can't attest to its quality. When my ex was dieting she used to buy diabetic jam which was fine if a little on the thin side.
This modern, refined sugar really is the bane of today's world.
It's not helped that there's far too many people hysterically screaming "yes but chemicals" when faced with alternative sweeteners. (I'm not suggesting anyone here is, at least so far, but plenty do.)
A HbA1c of 42mmol/mol is ok, lower is obviously better
I've never seen /mol before. All my results come back as mmol/L or as a percentage for my a1c.
UK uses mmol/L and US uses mg/dL.
If you had a BSL of 42 mmol/L I'd call an ambo for you right now!
(30+ years as T1 - dx'd with levels of mid thirties for a couple of months and just a touch of DKA. Which was nice).
I've had Seasonal Affective Disorder for decades, which brings on frequent irrational sugar/carb cravings in the autumn/winter evenings, I can be absolutely stuffed after dinner but the cravings kick in. Then I got horribly addicted to demolishing hot cross bun 6-packs at work and home around '19-'22, along with ~250g packs of chocolate raisins, they were like crack cocaine but fortunately I burned enough Calories as a walking postie and through cycling to not let my weight get out of control.
Had to stop buying them once long covid kicked in and I went on Mirtazapine then Sertraline, but then I gained a load of weight anyway because I was unable to exercise much at all and I simply found other food to satisfy the cravings. Went from ~80Kg to a high of ~98Kg briefly in Jan '25.
Now ~91Kg, able to exercise more, plus not snacking so much in the evenings. Sometimes it seems like my carb cravings reduce if my dinner is high in protein, or I have a one egg omlette mid evening.
I keep asking not to get sweets/chocolate for Xmas because I have no self control, but I expect I'll get some again in a couple of weeks!
One of things we've done is make the unhealthy food less accessible. We hardly buy chocolate or biscuits and if we get given some - eg a tub of quality street they live in the boot of the car to stop mindless picking.
We also keep bread in the freezer, one of my big mindless grazing foods - partly to reduce water but mainly to put a small barrier between impulse to eat and availability.
It's only at the margins but it does help drive better behaviours over time. Then again I've been known to spoon peanut butter from jar now - at least it's the healthy sort which is 100% peanuts.
This modern, refined sugar really is the bane of today's world.
It's not helped that there's far too many people hysterically screaming "yes but chemicals" when faced with alternative sweeteners. (I'm not suggesting anyone here is, at least so far, but plenty do.)
That'll be me, except without the hysterical screaming. For me the alternative to sugar is "nothing". I am not sure why anyone would think that a chemical non-natural alternative to refined sugar (that is itself non-natural) which is designed to fool your brain, might be a good idea.
I do occasionally use xylitol in coffee when I want to do a "fasting" bike ride and keep my blood sugar levels as low as possible, but I am aware that although xylitol is no more natural than refined sugar it does have potentially negative health implications which appear to be worse than refined sugar.
I certainly wouldn't touch artificial sweetness such as aspartame. I would rather drink unsweetened coffee, might not be quite as nice but it's not the end of the world.
I use erythritol when baking or making deserts and I drink the occasional Pepsi Max which has aspartame. At my current body weight I'd need to drink around 33 cans a day to get to the ADI so I'm not too bothered about it. I do like winding up the Keto-Nazis on ArseBook about it though. 😆
Thanks for all the replies.
Haven't eaten too much crap these last few days due to having the flu.
I am not sure why anyone would think that a chemical non-natural alternative to refined sugar (that is itself non-natural) which is designed to fool your brain, might be a good idea.
Because literally everything is chemicals and the idea that "natural=good, non-natural=bad" is nonsense, which I'm sure you know full well. Would you either eat [C12 H22 O11] or mercury?
Avoiding both sugar and sweetener is preferable of course, but that's a step too far for many people. You're out and about and need to buy a cold drink, what are your options? £2.50 for 500ml of water?
I'm not sure as I'd be preloading xylitol before a bike ride, IIRC it's known to have laxative properties.
I'm not sure as I'd be preloading xylitol before a bike ride, IIRC it's known to have laxative properties.
One level teaspoon won't have that effect! If it did it would be sold as laxative rather than a sweetener!
Because literally everything is chemicals and the idea that "natural=good, non-natural=bad" is nonsense,
I know that you keep making this point cougar but even if you claim not to know the difference modern medical science does.
There is a significant difference in the effect on your body from say the naturally occurring sugar in an apple and refined sugar. Likewise the difference between whole food which has had minimal or no cooking and food which has a multitude of non-naturally occurring additives and has gone through multiple processes.
And I also know that you reject the term "ultra-processed food" but it is a recognised thing in medical science.
Agree, sweeteners and ultra processed food are in the same camp. I don't really care what Cougar thinks about it or what he eats so no need for debate on it.
I have had an addiction to sugar since I was around 5 (52 years ago). Through my life I have given up many things (meat at 15, smoking at 30, alcohol at 40) and all were fairly easy, smoking being slightly more difficult.
Recently drastically cut down on saturated fats as cholesterol was 6.4. After two months it is now at 4.0. Also found that an easy change.
However, sugar is a different story and I can give it up for a while but slowly it comes back and then I have to give it all up again. I luckily don't seem to have health issues because of it but I feel better when not consuming much sugar.
Guess it is my only true addiction as I never conquer it.
Me and Mrs DB used to have a regular sweetie binge, but with COVID and not getting as much exercise (particularly over winter) we’d both put on a bit of extra weight in the last few years. People were always leaving cakes and chocolate in the shop too.
My cancer diagnosis this year meant we decided to ditch the sugars, saturated fats and ultra-processed foods and focus more on a non-inflammatory diet - lots of natural foods, mixed grains, fresh fruit and veg. The weight has just fallen off but fortunately so have the food cravings. We generally don’t eat between 7pm and 7am and our weight has continued to decrease even though we might share a cocoa-rich chocolate bar and enjoy a glass of wine now and again.
I've always craved sugar. We don't have biscuits in the house or sweets. Chocolate is kept in a cupboard and is so expensive nowadays that I eeek it out.
My teeth are in such a bad way from eating sweets as a child (along with dreadful dentistry in the 1960's and 70's). If I could turn the clock back, sugar is the one thing I'd try and lose from the diet. Dropping sugar is so hard as it's in so many foodstuffs. This time of the year is really back for getting sugar urges. I now find I get sugar sweats if I accidentally eat too much.
Hard but the best way is to shop for the basics and not be tempted by supermarket rubbish. Always make your own meals (where possible).