I'm thinking that a sugar free diet isn't that unusual?

[Twartyvajitus]

NC for this as its quite outing (not that I'm that interesting to be 'outed')

I've just had an operation via the NHS, but at a private hospital, I'd done the usual fasting before and was starving a few hours after coming to.

I asked for something to eat and was given a fruit corner, I queried if there was alternative, explaining that I don't eat sugar or sweeteners (a dietary choice made 18mths ago resulting in me dropping my BMI from 49 to 34) and was made to feel like an absolute pain in the arse - and told there was nothing else!

I was reluctantly given a latte - but one of those sachet sweetened ones.

Was I being really princessy? I've never struggled with not being able to eat anything offered to me before, I'll eat anything savoury. Has anyone else given up all things sweet?

YANBU! If that’s your diet then you should be accommodated for. They wouldn’t expect a vegan to eat meat because they ‘haven’t got anything else’ would they? I imagine you wouldn’t have got the same response if you said ‘i don’t eat gluten’. They probably would have rushed off somewhere to find something gluten free. I’m trying to get back to that stage now as I’ve shamelessly slipped into the endless abyss of cake and chocolate again I went 2 years not eating a single thing that had added sugar. My friends would always when offering me sweets or asking if I wanted a dessert. Everyone is always shell shocked that you can live without sugary crap

And to complicate matters, a lot of Muller yoghurts are unsuitable for vegetarians/vegans/not halal, so not a great choice for hospital to offer. I got so irritated reading their varying small print that I avoid all of them.

That is worrying op

I don't think it's particularly unusual but I think YAB a little U to expect a hospital to cater for anything other than a standard diet unless you give them advance notice. Usually I thought hospital food was three meals a day and anything else you buy yourself.

Greenlily, I get that abject horror and surprise that I can live without it too. Get back on it 👍🏻

I don't think I realised how damaging sugar was to me, it caused massive hunger highs and lows and I was eating a 'grab bag' of chocolate each night as well as all sorts of shot during the day too and then waking up the next morning ravenous, eating more crap .. and so the cycle continued.

Maybe subconsciously I'm really scared of having those out of control eating habits resurface and that's why the muller became such a big deal to me. Having my gastric band removed was a big deal too I suppose, even though it hasn't actually been active for over 4 years it was a daily reminder (I had quite serious displacement of the port) that I didn't want to go back to being so unhealthily fat. So removing that and then trying to 'force' me to eat a sugary snack played up to all my, admittedly morphine enhanced!, insecurities.

sugar free is impossible. Your body makes it anyway.

less refined sugar isnt a bad idea. dont eat low fat food or smoothies for a start.

Twartyvajitus I have fairly recently given up most refined sugar. It's hard to avoid it completely and I still like a bit of barbecue sauce to dip my chips in but I don't eat any sweets, chocolate, cakes etc and definitely not yogurts that are full of sugar, jars of pasta sauces, that sort of thing. I feel like a completely different person. No hunger spikes, no cravings, no snacking unless I'm genuinely hungry, no mood swings, far more energy and motivation to do things, and I seem to need less sleep. The weight has also dropped off me but I haven't been consciously counting calories or anything like that.

I don't know if YABU to want a hospital to cater for a sugar free diet but I wouldn't have eaten the muller corner either!

soup band out does matter because it doesn’t require a special diet post operation like some. You just eat the same as the person who has had keyhole on their knee

Unless you think they should have a special “fatty” diet full of sugar free items

evillharpy we are dietary twins (thank goodness I checked that, and changed it from dirty twins before I sent it!)

Which are two completely and utterly different things and you'd have to be some sort of numpty to try and conflate them as one!

How are they two completely different things? Sugar is sugar, whether it’s naturally occurring or purified from naturally occuring (which is what refined sugar is).

I think you missed my point glintandglide

t is extremely unusual to eat a very low sugar diet

I agree. I don't know a single person who does.

Affluent SE town here and so many on low sugar diet.

Good thing too I reckon.

Sugar is sugar, whether it’s naturally occurring or purified from naturally occuring (which is what refined sugar is).

Wrong

Fructose is broken down in the liver, and there is no big insulin response from it. Glucose, on the other hand, is broken down in the stomach, and needs insulin to be released into the bloodstream to properly metabolize.

Whatever kind of special diet, I would personally make sure I can go without food, eat what is offered or bring my own food.

Eating tons of sugar is totally a British thing. In other countries they wouldn't even know what you mwant: in the sense that people just eat non processed food anyway.

Plus in the refining process, the nutrients are lost

It's not only British - look at the high fructose corn syrup American food manufacturers shoved in everything in order to prop up farmers growing maize in the US. It's in mayonnaise and all sorts.

Another one here who does not know anyone on a low sugar diet, but if it works for you that's none of my business, but I do think sometimes you will face this problem.

I am curious however did the NHS provide your gastric band initially and then you had it removed on the NHS at a private hospital or did you pay for the band to be fitted and removed?

*Wrong

Fructose is broken down in the liver, and there is no big insulin response from it. Glucose, on the other hand, is broken down in the stomach, and needs insulin to be released into the bloodstream to properly
Metabolise*

I don’t get it. How am I wrong? Fructose is still a sugar molecule. Just because they are netabolised differently doesn't make it not sugar- i have not said that isn’t the case.

You can’t cut out glucose and say you have a “sugar free” diet?

A truly sugar free diet would mean no carbs at all and the NHS can't be expected to cater for that.

You could have taken food with you.

The latte would have contained sugar even if it hadn't been sweetened.

NHS food is very high in carbs and there's not much point eliminating sugar without eliminating carbs.

Whenever I’ve been in hospital they offer toast which is always fucking amazing, NGL and since I’m absolutely starving it’s a godsend. Bread has sugar so you’d be a bit screwed there too...

Fructose - may not stimulate an insulin response but it does appear to have a negative effect on cholesterol

No idea why you didn't bring your own snacks then.

It was a private hospital - with a posh housekeeper button on the nurse call bell!!

That the NHS paid for. It's so edifying to know that people are going without so many vital operations from an NHS on its knees but it's still paying out gastric sleeves and that ilk in private hospitals.

I am eating a low carb diet at the moment because I have gestational diabetes so I'm following a pairing diet eg I'm having all my complex carbs in combination with high protein or fat eg brown basmati rice in combo with chicken or seeded bread with loads of full fat cheese or granny smiths apple with seeds. It is notorious in the GD community that hospitals do not cater for GD food and all the advice you get is based on t2 diabetes which is a totally different condition. The NHS cannot justify telling a t2 diabetic to eat full fat foods yet GD is hormonal nothing directly to do with weight although that is a risk factor. My hospital bag is packed with foods to try to see me through delivery without causing issues for the baby. I have lost weight I weigh less now than I did at booking in and I'm 39 weeks. I am also totally diet controlled. I couldn't eat a muller yogurt that would spike my bloods, for example I can't eat diabetic jam either or whatever else they will offer me.

HeadsDown .. why does the funding of my gastric band pique your curiosity?

Happy to state that the fantastic NHS paid for, fitted, mended and finally removed it in both Private hospitals and once in an NHS hospital.

If it's relevant, if necessary, I'd have willingly paid for a slice of toast or a bowl of porridge 🥣