I Quit Sugar Part II
My initial post on the book I Quit Sugar went up on Friday and I had lots of interesting comments and feedback. I realize that post was a bit general so this post I am going to attempt to dive more into the actual contents of the book.
I think the most important thing about this book, and what appealed to me more than anything, is the program is described as an experiment. It’s not a diet. It’s not a lifestyle change. It’s an 8-week experiment to see how you feel going off of sugar. If after eight weeks you don’t feel much different and miss chocolate too much then you go back to eating chocolate. Anybody can do anything for 8 weeks and I can certainly handle 8 weeks without fruit or chocolate if it’s going to show me a change in my energy levels and how I feel. As an aside, I’m going into week 4 right now and the cravings were pretty intense this weekend, so I’m thinking I’m not quite past the hardest part yet!
I Quit Sugar is broken up into eight sections, one for each week of the experiment. And each section addresses what you may be feeling that week. Another thing I loved about the book is that it recommends you simply cut back on sugar for the first two weeks (I however just went cold turkey from week one) and I think that’s a really realistic way to approach this, especially if you eat a lot of it.
Some things that really resonated with me…
1. Fructose makes us eat more
“This is because back when we were cave people, sugar was both highly valuable (as insta-energy) and extremely rare (a berry here and there). Thus we evolved with no fructose “full switch”.”
I really related to this because I do struggle the most with binge eating around sugar. Why stop at one cookie when there are four in front of me? Eating only one bite of cake? Pleaseeeee, give me the whole slice!
2. Fructose converts directly to fat
“The way fructose is converted in our bodies means it’s not used upfront as energy, but converted directly to fat.”
3. Sugar has been shown to muck with our hormonal systems
“This leads to cravings and deficiencies which adds to the binge cycles. When we’re in balance, and eating no sugar, our bodies find a happy homeostasis. A happy weight. We have few cravings. We get full and genuinely lose interest in food.”
This may not be true for everyone but it has certainly proved true for me. My cravings are way down since I quit eating sugar and I feel less controlled by what I WANT to eat and find it easier to eat foods I SHOULD be eating.
4. General rule of thumb is eat products with less than 3-6 g of sugar per 100g or 100mls and for dairy stay under 8g of sugar per 100g or 100mls.
I like this rule of thumb because it makes it easier for me when reading food labels.
On the whole fruit thing…
I get more negative feedback on this than anything else about this whole quitting sugar program. So rather than even try to summarize this I took some information directly out of the book. I do not intend to give up fruit forever and hope to add back in 1-2 pieces a day as a treat in the next few weeks.
So what am I eating?
For breakfast I’m having steel cut oats made with coconut milk and mixed up with some sliced almonds, shredded coconut and a small scoop of natural peanut butter (I Quit Sugar talks a lot about how awesome coconut milk/oil/cream/shavings etc are for you because they don’t contain fructose). This isn’t much different than what I used to eat other than it doesn’t include banana.
More cheese! The first week I really relied on cheese when I was having sugar cravings which is what Sarah’s book recommends. Week two is all about eating more fat and protein. I’ve since cut back my cheese consumption as I’ve gotten more used to being off sugar!
GREENS! I think it’s pretty well-known that anything green is good for you and I’ve been eating more and more vegetables and greens than ever before the last three weeks; kale, spinach, broccoli, leeks and green beans are some of my favourites!
On long runs I’ve been experimenting with almonds and coconut water. So far it’s working well for me though my longest run has only been 2 hours and 20 minutes so I’m not sure if I would need more as the mileage builds. I have some long distance races on my plate this year so I’ll need to do some research on this.
Real lattes! A non-fat vanilla latte or non-fat pumpkin spice latte used to be my signature drink. Since giving up sugar I’ve been drinking plain, full-fat lattes and dear god they are delicious and satisfying. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to sugary lattes again.
Here is some more (free!) reading on sugar if you’re not quite ready to take the plunge and buy the book:
- Is Sugar Toxic - New York Times
- Sugar: The Bitter Truth – YouTube documentary
- Time to Rethink Sugary Drinks – Heart Foundation
- Heart Surgeon speaks out on what really causes heart disease – sott.net
- Teach every child about food – Jamie Oliver’s Ted Talk
Also check out the #iqs hashtag on twitter for lots more interesting articles and knowledge 
Some reading on fat:
- Is it really OK to eat fat? – Sarah Wilson
- Big Fat Lies – a short YouTube video that’s really interesting!
- Why women need fat – Salon
I also highly recommend anyone who has Netflix check out the documentary Hungry for Change. I watched it last night. It was fascinating and served as a good reminder as to why I’m doing this whole quitting sugar experiment in the first place.
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If you are intrigued by what I’ve been talking about in these last couple of posts the I Quit Sugar book and cookbook (or you can purchase the bundle deal!) are 50% off until tomorrow! I bought the cookbook this weekend and I’m very excited to try some recipes from it.
Hopefully this answered some of the questions from Friday. Let me know if you have any more. Happy Monday!
Full disclosure: I’m a part of the affiliate program for the book so will receive a small amount of compensation if you buy the book using the links above.
I think it is great that this experiment has been so good for you! It definitely would be challenging for me. I think the hardest part for me would be giving up fruit as that is a treat that I love to have since I don’t eat many sweets as is. But if I could give up dairy, I am sure I could give up fruit and adjust!
That salad you showed a picture of looks awesome! I need to get better at getting veggies and prepping them on the weekend so I can easily throw a salad together!
Hey Amber – definitely an interesting experiment and I definitely agree that most of us probably eat too much sugar. But the “fructose to fat” thing is sort of a half truth. I don’t know how the author phrased it, because I haven’t read it, but if it says that all fructose that you eat is converted directly to fat, that’s a little (ok, a lot) misleading.
Fructose is definitely metabolized differently than glucose, and your muscles and your liver can’t store fructose like they can glucose. But, what your body can do is metabolize fructose and convert it to glucose and use it (and store it). If you’re “all full up” of glucose and glycogen, then the fat conversion will happen. This is not a terrible thing all the time – we do need some fat. So it isn’t like every time a bit of fructose passes your lips, it will automatically convert to fat. Especially if you do a lot of activity.
All that to say – the fructose in fruit isn’t really a huge deal. The HFCS is probably great to avoid, but the fructose in fruit is not a bad thing. (obviously with this experiment, you’re following the book – so I understand why you’re cutting out fruit for now)
Your salads look delicious – I love a good salad
Just reading that again – i know for sure you aren’t demonizing fruit…and I’m now really curious as to how the author phrased the fructose/fat information. I am definitely enjoying your updates and experiences with this.
Hi! I’m glad you commented because it forced me to research further. The e-book I Quit Sugar doesn’t really say much more about the “fructose to fat” thing but references the book Sweet Poison to read more about it. Here is an excerpt from that book: http://sweetpoison.wikidot.com/fructose
HOWEVER, it says: “Every gram of fructose we eat will be directly converted to fat.” which is obviously misleading.
I think, based on other information in I Quit Sugar, what the author is getting at is that we eat SO much fructose in North America because it’s hidden in so many things so often we are “full up” on glycogen and glucose and the fat conversion is happening more often and more rapidly than it should be or than we realize.
I so agree about the use of coconut to substitute any sweetness. I cup cugar out for 8 weeks a few summers ago, but I still ate fruit. I really commend you for doing this all in! I could never not eat fruit. I probably could even scale mine back…oh then there is dark chocolate. My weakness. Do you know if chocolate that is 75% cacao has tons of sugar?
After the 8 weeks are up (the 8 weeks are really just to “detox” sugar from your body) then she suggests playing around with the high cacao chocolates and seeing how you feel after eating it. I definitely am not planning on giving up chocolate (one of my favourite things) for LIFE so I’m interested to see how it will taste/affect me after the experiment is up!
I appreciate your explanations, Amber! I’m still not sure I’m on board with some of it… and again, as I’ve said ad nauseum, i see sugar differently than other folks. To me, ANYTHING that raises BG is suspect, including steal cut oats! But I think I understand a little bit more about what the author was getting at, which focusing on foods that are sweet and more heavily leaning toward simple sugars.
But I agree with Kristen that her demonization (not yours) of sugar is not accurate and that the body metabolizes natural fructose much differently than HFCS, and this is something they are actually just learning about so I’m not surprised it’s in her book. After having just read In Defense of Food, I’m learning more and more than you can not separate out nutrients but that you must look at food as a whole in order to build your diet, because nutrients do not live in isolation, but can work together to give the effects that people have come to expect. Hopefully that makes sense… but if not, I think you’d really like the book if you haven’t read it!
Sorry, I meant to write “demonizaton of fructose” not sugar! Whoops!
I think my biggest thing is that I FEEL so much better! I have more energy and I’m feeling more satisfied with my meals than I have in a long time. Since I’ve dealt with binge eating in the past (especially sugary foods) this is huge for me. So regardless of the science behind it, it’s making ME feel better for now and that was the most important part for me! I actually own In Defense of Food but just haven’t gotten around to reading it. I’ll have to do that!
I totally feel you. I’m the same way with my new Paleo diet! I’ve been eating so much more protein, and hardly any carbs (my only carbs come from fruit and starchy veggies) and I feel a lot better too. I do think that a lot of our processed junk food, high-carb diets are doing a disservice to us. So I’m definitely glad you tried something, even if the author’s explanations are a little shaky.
Awesome Amber!! I’m curious so see how this sort of experiment would affect children. There is sugar EVERYWHERE! I’m sure there would be less behavioral problems and the attention span of children would increase dramatically.
Oddly enough there is an accronym called FODMAPs, and it stands for Fermentable Oligo- Mono- and Polysacharides; it’s a diet for people with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)… Basically what they’ve found is that for a lot of people certain types of sugar (including the natural fruit sugars) create IBS symptoms, and that cutting them out helps symptoms IMMENSELY.
So as a dietitian I feel “required” to point out research doesn’t completely support the claims being made by Sarah Wilson about fruit/sugar… But as someone who believes we are still discovering more about food and it’s effects on our bodies every day, I’d say there may be something to her theory. I mean when you think about it fruit used to be a rare treat, in places like Canada with seasonal growth patterns, we’d only get fruit for maybe 1/2 the year, so it makes sense we ate less…
Anyway it’s interesting to hear about your experience.
Totally!! And as someone who used to eat 4-5 pieces of fruit a day PLUS other sweet treats (baked goods, chocolate chips, honey etc. etc.) I think that by cutting it out completely for 8 weeks it will allow me to add it back in as a TREAT afterwards, which is what I want. I definitely have no intentions of cutting out fruit forever.
My lunch today was 3 bananas and 3 apples. I love all fruit days (or meals). not sugar added juices, just whole raw fruit.
I think it’s an interesting concept for sure and I’m interested to keep reading about your experience with it. The naturopath I’ve been seeing talks a lot about sugar—and it’s interesting how even when we think we’re not eating much of it….we’re still eating a ton of it. I totally know I have a fruit addiction and I’m okay with it—but I’m sure it’s partly cause of that sweet spot
Looking forward to reading more!! And thanks for sharing!
I’m very intrigued by this book now! I did so-so when I tried cutting out sugar on my own but I saw amazing results from it that I really want to try it again, with a better program to guide me. I may have to buy this book!
The no fruit thing doesn’t really bug me since I love veggies way more than fruit so I think I could easily adjust to that. And veggies are so much more filling than fruit, at least in my experience.
Great analysis of it all so thanks for posting it! I quit sugar once or twice a year and the first few weeks are totally intense and I hate the cravings, but I adjust by the end. I’m also much better at not shoving sugar in my mouth all the time, too. My sugar quitting is coming up soon (it’s Lent for me) and I know it will be tough, again, but I also know that I can do it.
I’ve recently started eating even more greens and I love it. Broccoli, spinach, green beans. So delicious and so yummy.
Amber, I think this is a great idea! Her book does sound interesting. I know that the more sugary stuff I eat…fruit, cookies, candy, etc. the more I want! ANd, once you’ve blown your diet for the day, it’s easy to say, “eh, what’s another cookie when I’ve been eating so so already today?”
Lately, I’ve been trying to be more mindful about sugar and am tending to drink more full fat lattes these days as well. Also, a good tip if you do go back to having flavored lattes is to specify that you only want 1.5-2 pumps.
-I heartily told the doc I had (a young guy about my age at the time), that, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Then I laughed and he instantly followed up with the fact that he kept a box of apples at the back door -where you go out onto a cooler screened in patio, before leaving the house- and he said that, “That way I (and the family) can grab an apple whenever it pleased them to eat one.” He also said that there was a natural level of boron associated only with eating the fruit itself that the body couldn’t derive otherwise, so that the the saying about the doc, the apple and staying healthy was actually quite true. [http://www.algaecal.com/boron/boron-sources.html]
I definitely find this whole thing interesting. I learned pretty long ago that there is certain sugar my body cannot handle. For example, even when I was a kid if I had soda with sugar (I can do diet coke but haven’t had it in years) I would be immediately sick… I wouldn’t throw up but I would definitely feel like I was going to. I have now basically figured out (I think) what sugar bothers me and what does not, but in hindsight it would’ve probably been better to cut it all out and add it back in. Fat seems to bother me MORE than sugar sometimes, but I think I really have to be careful with both of them. Which in the end is a blessing really!
Glad this is working so well for you !
I am with CJ! I eat at least 3 pieces of fruit a day! At least! And a ton of veggies too. I don’t know what I would do without fruit. What do you snack on? And what about pasta? Is that cut out totally? Or rice? I think, aside from fruit, I would be able to do this pretty easily since I mostly live on greens and beans anyway.
This is absolutely fascinating, and although it sounds like a tough challenge, I only see that it could bring positive results. I’m not entirely sure how I would handle the cravings, but knowing that I can still enjoy things like coffee help quite a bit. But I love fruit… I’m surprised to hear I may be eating too much of it! Interesting.
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