What do you eat if you don't eat sugar?

[BewareTheBeardedDragon]

I don't need to lose any weight, but I do need to cut out sugar because I realise it is giving me really bad headaches (direct correlation between eating sugar and developing a headache which I can no longer ignore).

Trouble is I have a real sweet tooth so I find it really hard. I like fruit, I like cheese, I like nuts. I know I can have these things when I'm craving sugar, or to round off a meal.

Are there any other things which will help me? Any tips or tricks welcome

@MrsMariaReynolds

The thing is, the more you avoid sugar, the more sensitive your taste buds become to things that are naturally sweet. So fruit and veg start tasting sweeter and seem to satisfy a sweet tooth. And as an added bonus, you stop craving sugar itself.

Totally this. It takes a few weeks for your sensitivity to change, but after a while just adding milk to coffee will make it seem as sweet as milk+sugar before.

@MrsMariaReynolds

The thing is, the more you avoid sugar, the more sensitive your taste buds become to things that are naturally sweet. So fruit and veg start tasting sweeter and seem to satisfy a sweet tooth. And as an added bonus, you stop craving sugar itself.

Completely true 👍

Xylitol tastes exactly like sugar by the way. It’s a great substitute.

@BalloonSlayer

I have sugar free high fat yogurt with a little of that concentrated sugar free squash that comes in the tiny pack squirted in.

I like the passionfruit and mango best - it smells like cats' piss, but it tastes like a normal tropical yogurt but is sugar free.

What a great idea!

I like crisps and cups of tea. Thick-sliced hot buttered toast with proper butter on nice bakery seeded bread, crumpets and butter. Lizi's low sugar granola with full fat Greek yoghurt works well as a breakfast and as a snack/pudding. Oh, and nuts, I love KP salt & vinegar nuts.

Honey is sugar isn’t it?

I go for full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts & seeds. Porridge with cinnamon and cream. Oatcakes with nut butter. Homemade popcorn with cinnamon occasionally.

Oh god the sad truth is that you just have to wait for your tastes to change and the cravings to go, which is easier said than done.

I remember reading on here about someone who never ever touched sugar and would have a tomato ‘as a sweet treat’.

It just made me want to give up and stuff my face with mars bars.

I make my own ice cream with evaporated milk, double cream, frozen berries, erythritol sweetener, vanilla essence, whey protein and xantham gum. You mix it all together (I use an electric whisk) then freeze, stirring with a fork every half an hour to break up any ice crystals.

When I want to get some, I just put it on defrost in the microwave for two minutes to make it soft enough to scoop out.

It tastes amazing and, apart from some berries, is sugar free.

@FreeBritnee

My favourite thing at the moment is an omelette made in 1.5 mins in the microwave 🤣

I’m the laziest sod that ever did exist when it comes to feeding myself. So this is brilliant for my first meal of the day. I put some butter over the top as i LOVE butter and a sprinkling of cheese. Job done.

Hiya, how do you make this?

I love a date or two after dinner. The ones from M&S are the best!

My all time favorite is MEDJOOL DATES
I typed it in caps lock because that’s how amazing they are!
Also, if you like ice cream - frozen banana, 100% peanut butter, a splash of unsweetened almond milk - all blended together, yummy! 😋😋

Many of the items suggested (honey, dates, grapes) etc contain sugar. A real sugar free diet is pretty difficult to attain.

@BrilliantBulb

Oh god the sad truth is that you just have to wait for your tastes to change and the cravings to go, which is easier said than done.

I remember reading on here about someone who never ever touched sugar and would have a tomato ‘as a sweet treat’.

It just made me want to give up and stuff my face with mars bars.

😂

Fruit...berries with cream is a favourite!

Vegetable crisps

Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger on porridge

Spices in meals - they leave you feeling much more satisfied. Also a cube or finger of cheese. The odd square of dark chocolate.

I don't think fruit sugar - when it's accompanied by the fibre in a whole fruit, is a problem. It's free sugar, particularly when it's in any kind of processed food, which is the killer for me.

I don't eat dates but I will try the frozen stuffed with peanut butter idea and see if it's ok since there's fibre and nut accompanying.

I did think honey was just pure sugar, and interested in the idea from pp that raw honey is different to pasteurised, though given the price of raw honey I wouldn't be able to over indulge on that in any case 😂. We have some for sore throats and it is strictly known as 'medicine honey' and off limits for ordinary consumption...

I know grapes are the most sugary fruit but I thought they were ok in moderation because of being a whole fruit again.

Lots of interesting ideas? I will try the banana 'ice cream' I think since I have some going soft bananas!

I try to avoid processed sugar but I'm not interested in cutting out unprocessed foods like fruit in which there are naturally occurring sugars, so if I want something sweet I have dates.

I think the needing to round off a meal is a habit that can easily be broken, but as you don't need to lose weight you might not want to break it of course! In which case full fat plain Greek yoghurt (with a chopped banana if not avoiding fruit sugar) or cheese and crackers would be my choices. Between meals walnuts and almonds if I need something.

Not very original I'm afraid.

I'm completely addicted to porridge and if i didn't have other people to eat with I'd eat it almost every meal I make it with milk and eat it with plain quark, stewed apple (bought, just apple, no sugar) and a chopped banana, or plain Greek yogurt if no quark.

Yacon syrup.

Tastes just like dark caramel and is 50% fibre so has much less digestible sugar than other syrups like treacle etc.

Low GI so less of an impact on blood sugars.

Might try Yacon syrup, there was me thinking honey was a better alternative

I don't understand. Most if not all of the foods mentioned on this thread contain sugar?

OP, just try to eat sugary foods in moderation.

My latest thing is frozen cherries dipped in melted montezuma 100% dark chocolate or mixed with chopped nuts and sugar free puffed rice. For a chocoholic trying to avoid sugar it's a life saver. Some dark chocolate seems to give me a headache but this doesn't even though it's completely dark.

Frozen cherries are my current go to, as well. I wish I had the patience to dip them in things like @Tal45 because that sounds amazing, but just the cherries do me for an evening snack.

(I'm not particularly sugar-free in general, just trying to maintain my weight while craving snacks way too often.)

Unfortunately it seems that sugary foods in moderation doesn't work for me. I really wish it did.

Naturally occurring sugars, in their naturally occurring forms (eg fruit, lactose in dairy etc) do not appear to be problematic for me - but added sugar is. I can eat fruit all day long without an issue but if I eat a biscuit I will almost certainly develop a headache within an hour of doing so.
If I eat lots of added sugary foods then the headache will last until I've been able to sleep, sometimes it will carry on in the morning. And sadly although sleep usually does solve the problem it is a valuable and rare commodity being a single parent of 4dc.

Frozen cherries, interesting!

Honestly, keep at it, and as others have said, things like carrots and cucumber and lettuce become tasty.

I wouldn't have believed this myself but it's worked for me, and these days when I try my old favourite foods as a "treat", I never enjoy them as much as I always expect to because my taste buds have adapted so much. I had a much-looked-forward-to Mars Bar yesterday and felt cheated!