sugar addiction

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/10/2005 4:39:11 PM
Author: diamondsrock
I forgot to ask valieria, you mentioned dark chocolate. Is that healthier than milk chocolate? Does it come in a jar so I can spread it on my toast???

Dark chocolate has flavonoids which are VERY healthy for you. Trader Joes carries a brand of dark chocolate with a high cocoa concentration - like 40-60% and this is the kind of chocolate to eat for health benefits. It''s much richer than regular chocolate, but it still tastes good.

 

[moremoremore]

Diamonds- almost everything has carbs/sugar in it LOL...Hard to avoid, but some are better than others...

How about eggs, Wasa bread with a little peanut butter or cheese, cottage cheese, sugar free yogurt mixed with a little bran cereal, 4 low fat triscuts with a slice of cheese, a small apple with a slice of cheese or some nuts, my mother does sardines and cottage cheese.HUUUUURRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLL.

p.s. Yeah, it's called Nutella LOL.. YUM.

 

[Mara]

I love dark chocolate, the one we get from Whole Foods has 70% cocoa so one tiny square seriously goes a long way. It's like cocoa overdose in a small square, but not as bad for you as milk chocolate.

There actually are some sugars that aren't that bad for you in cereal...check the sugar contents along with fat and calories when you buy. I like Kashi alot in it's various forms. Greg calls it 'bug pods'..haha.

Oh I will say that I am not a sharer either, especially of desserts! GET YOUR OWN!

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 9/10/2005 8:03:41 PM
Author: Mara
Oh I will say that I am not a sharer either, especially of desserts! GET YOUR OWN!

I definitely do not share desserts!!

hehe

 

[peachy]

Date: 9/10/2005 7:53:20 PM
Author: moremoremore
Diamonds- almost everything has carbs/sugar in it LOL...Hard to avoid, but some are better than others...

How about eggs, Wasa bread with a little peanut butter or cheese, cottage cheese, sugar free yogurt mixed with a little bran cereal, 4 low fat triscuts with a slice of cheese, a small apple with a slice of cheese or some nuts, my mother does sardines and cottage cheese.HUUUUURRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLL.

p.s. Yeah, it''s called Nutella LOL.. YUM.

HaHa - My kids love Nutella spread on warm ego waffles. Now that''s a power breakfast! Can you say sugar overload??

I definitely know where you all are coming from. Not to sound snotty, but I''ve always been thin and have managed to eat just about anything I want. And for the most part, I was making good decisions, ocassionally induling but nothing too serious. Not any more... I am at home with my three girls (9, and almost 4 year old twins) - and I also work 24-30 hours/week from home as well. I am so much more sedentary than I ever have been, and the usual daily stresses have me diving into sweets, pizza, anything you can think of that you know you shouldn''t be having. Then, after a huge dinner, I drag my ever larger but into bed and all that food happily turns itself into cottage cheese - and not the good kind! I''ve gained 12 pounds in this past year alone. Uggh.

I just had a birthday (a big one at that) and I have to cut the crap and get down to business. I KNOW what to do. DOING IT is the hard part.

Have any of you noticed the absolute boom in processed foods over the last 10-15 years? (The companies coming up with healthy alternatives are most definitely in the minority.) It reminds me of the tobacco companies....IMO, they know what their foods do - affect insulin levels and drive cravings. IMO, they know that their foods have little to no nutritional value, and they see the rising rates of obesity and other health issues in this country. But they keep coming up with more and more sugary choices. It''s what drives their profits from quarter to quarter. They can''t reinvent the carrot - and there ain''t a lot of profit on it! So to take a longer term and healthier view would be corporate suicide. Short term profits would drop, and their shareholders would punish them by selling and tanking the stock price.

Of course, each of us has to be responsible for ourselves and we need to make our own decisions about what we put into our bodies. I''m not saying I''m going to sue Nabisco cause I''ve gained 12 pounds this past year. But it is very hard to resist the marketing machine of the American culture, and I think these companies bank on our ignorance about food. (Even supposed experts disagree on what constitutes the proper diet...) Just look at the way they market this stuff to kids!! If they can hook us early - they figure they''ll have guaranteed profits for life. And childhood obesity and diabetes rates continue to skyrocket...

It'' so hard - and often so much less fun - doing the right things for our bodies. Ho hum. Sorry for the rant. It''s 6am here on the East Coast. I''ve got to start the brownies for breakfast...

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Diamondsrock -

I have a few suggestions to help curb cravings and to help wean yourself off of sugar. As I said before, you want to be able to regulate your body's insulin response. These things will help. In no particular order:

-every time you must eat something sweet [or something else of high glycemic index], eat some protein first - this will dampen the rise in blood sugar

-eat something every 2 hours [this will help prevent your blood sugar level from crashing]

-find yourself a tasty high protein snack - I have a chocolate shake that I use that has 22g of protein, 8g of carbs, 3g of fat. It takes care of the hunger in a pinch

-instead of brownies have some real ice cream [not the fat free stuff] - the fat and protein in it will make your blood sugar rise more slowly - you can add some nuts to it

-don't eat or drink [besides water] after 7 or 8 PM

-eat a low glycemic breakfast [real oatmeal - not the quick cooking stuff - is good; blueberries are good; make an omelet; left over salmon is good]

-if you are out of the house all day bring your own food [so you are not tempted by the candy/other junk machine]

-reduce your caffeine intake

-drink green tea

-take a goos glucose balancing supplement

-each day eat less sugar/high glycemic foods until you are off of them [quitting it and other high glycemic index foods cold turkey is better/faster - you will suffer for 2-3 days but the cravings should be basically gone in short order]

These are some of the books I have read which I found useful - there are many others that I can't put my hands on now - my library is a mess - sorry [along with countless newsletter, health alerts and conversations with experts in the field]

The Perricone Prescription by Nicholas Pericone [describes sugar, its relation to insulin and their role in inflammation - very important]

The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston [first chapter talks about how the body reacts to foods - has recommended foods and recipes you may find of use]

Enter The Zone by Barry Sears [hormonal effects of foods among other things]

Each of these people has a web site you may want to check out.

Anyway, just my .02. Hope this helps.

Blu

 

[diamondsrock]

blu, thank you so much for taking the time to put together that info. for me. I really appreciate it and will be looking into it all.
Thanks again to everyone for their advice. I have a lot of changes to make!

 

[ame]

I have kind of become a real conneisuer of dark chocolate. I generally go in the 80-85% cocoa range. I have eaten up to 100% and ...once you pass 90...its not so yummy anymore. heh.

I like Lindt''s 85% and Amedei makes some great ones, Chuao is awesome, fruity almost. Scharffen Berger is also great. There is a great little chocolate shop in STL on Delmar in the Loop and my husband and I went in again not long ago. The owner remembers me bec I am one of the few folks who actually KNEW what I was discussing! When I asked for some 85+% he asked me brands and I rattled off a few I had tried...he showed me all the brands he had and I bought about $50 bucks in squares.

The best ones are single origin (chocolate created from cocoa from one particular region), and I tend to like the single-origin ones from Madagascar and Venezuela.

 

[Mara]

ame we LOVE Scharffen Berger, their plant is local I think. Anyway we adore the nibby bars and eat them alot!

 

[ame]

They are good. I love those things.

I buy lots of the 1oz bars and the little squares. I find that in higher percentages a square or two is just right. The 1 oz is just a great size.

 

[Mara]

we buy the 1oz bars and they last a week sometimes between the two of us. honestly, i can''t eat too much of that super dark choco but i really like it and it does soothe the savage choco beast!

 

[ame]

I don''t think I can go above a 1oz bar without wasting. I try to eat half at a time because Im usually DYING for chocolate when I bust one out, and I figure that if leave half for later I have better luck finishing and not throwing it out.

 

[AndyRosse]

Hmmmm....dark chocolate........