For those of you that have gone sugar free..

[rickandmorts]

How far did you take it? Did you replace your sugary treats with 'healthier' stuff like dates or dark chocolate? Or did you go completely cold turkey? Did you cut stuff out like ketchup which is high sugar?

Since quitting smoking my sweet tooth has increased massively and I'm fully addicted to sugar now 😔 I need to stop for my health and my teeth but don't know whether to try other sweet options like medjool dates etc or go cold turkey and cut everything out. I neeeeed something sweet after a meal though and get headaches when I try cut it out 😭

Keto without any sweeteners is the only thing that keeps my carb addiction under control.

I eat 90% dark chocolate but literally nothing else sweet. Otherwise it quickly spins out of control.

I'll look into that thank you @EspressoMacchiato. Do you not crave refined sugar anymore? I'm the same, I have no control over my sweet tooth and can easily eat a full tub of ice cream or pack of biscuits. Doesn't help that I'm chronically sleep deprived so reach for sugar when I need a boost. Really need to sort myself out 😩

I haven't consciously cut sugar out but DH doesn't have a sweet tooth, so when we got together I naturally cut way down on sweet stuff as he just didn't want to eat it. I did find that after a few weeks I stopped wanting anything sweet and then when I tried what I'd been eating before it was absolutely overpoweringly too sweet for me. I think you need to retrain your taste buds and also your brain/habits since you now expect sweet things at particular times eg. after meals.

I'd try replacing with two squares of dark chocolate after dinner, or some fruit (or both). And just don't buy any biscuits or ice cream so no temptation. After a few weeks see how you feel. For the headaches I'd drink a massive glass of water and go do something to distract yourself eg. a hobby, a craft, exercise.

@Xiaoxiong my DP is the same, he is repulsed by how much sugar I eat 😂. So it's literally just me buying it in. Which I know I need to stop!! It's just hard when I'm so tired and need it for a boost. And I do love a cup of tea and something sweet in bed before I go to sleep which is a TERRIBLE habit. But it's replaced my nighttime smoking. I've basically replaced one addiction with another.

I'm completely sugar free. No agave, maple, honey and can't eat dark chocolate due to migraine. I have nuts and fruit, some figs and prunes & to me now these taste quite sweet. An immunologist told me all sugars even natural ones are inflammatory.

Forgot to add I used to absolutely crave sweet stuff after a meal but not any more, I must have broken the addiction.

I make chocolate brownies and cakes with coconut sugar - it's a good compromise

That's interesting @CherryRipe1 as I have an autoimmune condition so I bet it would improve if I cut sugar out. Did you struggle when you stopped eating it?

Sugar free for me, which is no chocolate/biscuits/cakes/sweets regularly.
I personally have to go cold turkey - first couple of weeks are very hard but after that not so bad, then maybe after a month I can start having one treat a week again, but i dont buy share bags of chocolate like i used to - il buy a standard chocolate bar or cake to get the hit. I drink loads of water when I get a craving, so I'm still doing something with my hands/mouth, and I did allow myself 1 sugar in tea 3x a day.
If I had a square of dark chocolate every day, my body still expects the sweetness.
I have in the last year found it much easier to be sugar free when I reduced the amount of processed stuff in my diet in general, and drank loads of water. It's really made a difference to the cravings - I think because the contrast feels more impactful? If I'm constantly eating crisps, I'm used to a strong synthetic taste, then I get thirsty then I want something sweet. Without that stuff (regularly, to be clear, I will still smash through a buffet table on occasion) it's much easier.

I did find that after a few weeks I stopped wanting anything sweet and then when I tried what I'd been eating before it was absolutely overpoweringly too sweet for me. I think you need to retrain your taste buds and also your brain/habits since you now expect sweet things at particular times eg. after meals.

This.

I cut out sugar and almost all processed foods a year ago. Now the thought of eating anything sugary really doesn't appeal. I do occasionally have a slice of birthday cake but I don't enjoy it! I was a sugar fiend before so it's been a revelation to find that sugary stuff tastes awful!

I'm sure that you'll feel soooo much better if you can make it through three weeks without sugar. It's really hard to start with but cold turkey works. I eat fruit after every meal and that really satisfies my sweet taste now.

Not sure if this helps but my ds has a kidney condition so he and my whole family are low sugar. We do make sugar free cakes etc but rarely.

The one thing I’d warn about is the amount of books and places that claim other sugar isn’t sugar (eg. Agave syrup/nectar). A lot of recipes contain huge amounts of sugar but claim to be ‘sugar free’ simply because they haven’t listed table sugar.

Not really. I had the odd sweet thing but just gradually lost the craving & now find it unpleasant! My partner scoffs all sorts of sweet stuff but I'm not tempted. I've always been more of a savoury person, even as a child. I baked a chocolate smartie cake at school aged 14 & had a dreadful migraine, thought I'd had a brain hemorrhage! Scary. Anyway, yes I have an autoimmune condition too, possibility fibro or cfs as well. I was doing well, came out of a flare for a while but just had Covid & it's come back with a vengeance. I think cutting sugar could help you but there are other inflammatory foods that should gradually be phased out. I had an holistic nutritionist to coach me and that helped a lot.

I've cut sugar but never so nit picky to not have ketchup and I'll have sweetener in my tea and drink diet drinks. The first few days I felt very ropey, weak and had a headache. But after that it was fine and I could go hours without feeling hungry.

Now I still like sugar but I don't crave it like I used to. Some things no longer appeal at all. At Christmas I had sweet treats and found I could no longer eat any sweet stuff in quantity. The chocolate Yule log and mince pies tasted pretty sickly very quickly, but ginger bread was devine.

Going sugar free has done wonders for my health as my skin is really clear and my anxiety is under control. I've also lost 3 stone.

I think if you cut sugar you'll be amazed at how quickly you just don't want it. But if you desperately need a sweet treat a few berries with cream should see you through. Cream actually tastes very sweet when you haven't had other sweet stuff.