Sugar withdrawals

Earlier this year, probably May, I went for a ride in a buddy's new Corvette. Being a big fella I had a hard time getting in and ended up hurting my knee. Well the weight did me no favors and I became very concerned for my health and mobility as this was a "final straw" kind of thing -- seeing myself gimping around. Cut out a lot of sugar and stopped snacking. Lost almost 50lbs! Oh and I can now get around and walk better than ever.

What has helped me with the sweet fix as of late has been tea, with cream and a half teaspoon of these flavored syrups from Amazon. Vanilla, hazelnut, caramel etc. They're sugar free and no calorie. I understand a lot of the sugar free stuff isn't ideal but in moderation it has to be somewhat OK. Cup of tea is a nice after dinner treat.

I loved pop, and one thing that has taken that place is water with lemon juice. The acidic bite gets me as did the fizz and bite of cola/lemon lime.

I also find myself looking forward to morning cashews and raisins or dried cranberries. I know those probably have excess sugar added, but just my results.

It was crazy to me how much weight I dropped basically only eating 3 regular meals and not snacking any. And that is with not changing anything else.
 
Earlier this year, probably May, I went for a ride in a buddy's new Corvette. Being a big fella I had a hard time getting in and ended up hurting my knee. Well the weight did me no favors and I became very concerned for my health and mobility as this was a "final straw" kind of thing -- seeing myself gimping around. Cut out a lot of sugar and stopped snacking. Lost almost 50lbs! Oh and I can now get around and walk better than ever.

What has helped me with the sweet fix as of late has been tea, with cream and a half teaspoon of these flavored syrups from Amazon. Vanilla, hazelnut, caramel etc. They're sugar free and no calorie. I understand a lot of the sugar free stuff isn't ideal but in moderation it has to be somewhat OK. Cup of tea is a nice after dinner treat.

I loved pop, and one thing that has taken that place is water with lemon juice. The acidic bite gets me as did the fizz and bite of cola/lemon lime.

I also find myself looking forward to morning cashews and raisins or dried cranberries. I know those probably have excess sugar added, but just my results.

It was crazy to me how much weight I dropped basically only eating 3 regular meals and not snacking any. And that is with not changing anything else.
Excellent for you! Congratulations!

Scott
 
Hands shaking etc = low blood sugar.
Will amplify after exercise.
Cure: eat sugar or peanut butter before exercising.
 
Lots of plain water and a couple of small sized Pay Day candy bars. Peanuts and caramel. Protein and carbs. It works well.

Scott
I do road bike I’m about same as far as you for feeding I like a bite of a cliff bar every 1/2 Hr after first hour of riding. I absolutely would stick to what you do on the bike the body needs that glucose to fuel the ride.
 
Lots of plain water and a couple of small sized Pay Day candy bars. Peanuts and caramel. Protein and carbs. It works well.

Scott
As a low carb guy I struggled on bicycle. Weak battery and motor...:D quickly depleted.
But never handshaking.

Carbs did help, I use typical isotonic powderdrink dissolved in water. 1L equals to 1 caramel bar. Also contains aminoacids that promote use body fat. Minerals...
Way less pain during and after ride.

I do up to 30-70km on mtb, hills.. going nuts on carbs is not healthy.

 
As a low carb guy I struggled on bicycle. Weak battery and motor...:D quickly depleted.
But never handshaking.

Carbs did help, I use typical isotonic powderdrink dissolved in water. 1L equals to 1 caramel bar. Also contains aminoacids that promote use body fat. Minerals...
Way less pain during and after ride.

I do up to 30-70km on mtb, hills.. going nuts on carbs is not healthy.


Thanks for the info.

The hand shaking is because of my dietary changes, not from riding the bike.

At age 69 I'm still riding well and have lots of power. But I've been feeling my power fade a bit over the last couple of years, just because of age. More than anywhere else in my life, I have a burning competitive desire on my bike. I'm making dietary changes so I can lose weight and improve my power to weight ratio.

I'm a 6'5" clydesdale and in my heyday of road cycling and endurance racing I weighed as little as 189 pounds (literally). But I lost power at that weight and my parents hated it because I looked gaunt and they thought it looked like I was dying of something. No kidding. Yes, it was 30 years ago, but I rode best at about 210. That's what I'm targeting now. But will that weight work for me now that I'm 30 years older? Can I even lose that much weight at my age? Time will tell. Either way, I want to lighten up a bit.

Even more importantly, I'm going to be 70 in March. I feel like I need to treat my body with more respect and not poison it with excessive sweets. As you know the body becomes less tolerant of abuse as we age. Fortunately I've never been a big drinker, but I think the junk food has to stop given my age. An aging pancreas can only take so much.

Scott

Edit: Just for yuks, a video of me on the bike. I ride this road 5 to 6 times a week in the summertime. With all due respect to other parts of the world, I think I have some of the best cycling roads in the entire world, and they are just minutes from our house.

 
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Fruit and RAW honey! These are not the same as processed sugar in the human diet.

They are the same. It's all converted to glucose, the difference is how fast it is converted (glycemic index). Some sugars are definitely worse for you (sucralose), but fructose (sugar in fruit) is one of the worst sugars you can eat as it is hard on your liver.

Not only sugar; anything ending with "ose"; so "dextrose", "sucralose", or anything ending with "itol", like "xylitol", "sorbitol" ... it's all sugar and if you need to cut back on sugar you need to cut back on all of it.

We should all be ditching sugar in all its forms, and moving back to a lower carb higher fat type of diet. Carbs are also converted to glucose.

One of the worst catastrophes in human history is the "fat is bad for you" craze that happened in the 80's where everything started switching from fat to sugar. Heart disease has sky rocketed after this time, and it's no surprise. It's the sugar that is the problem, it causes inflammation and scarring and high cholesterol. Healthy fats from nuts, advocados, butter (milk products in moderation, separate problem there), olive oil, grass fed beef - that's what we need to be eating again.

To the OP: I also recommend doing this change in steps. The problem if you move to fast, is that your body is used to burning sugar in all its forms for making energy, you need to slowly convert to using fats for "fuel". Until your body adapts, you will have those issues you described and possibly more. You can also run into mineral defeciencies if you go to far too fast (like keto) without supplementing your sodium/potassium intake.

At your age, you need to do things carefully, with a plan, and with testing along the way.
 
They are the same. It's all converted to glucose, the difference is how fast it is converted (glycemic index). Some sugars are definitely worse for you (sucralose), but fructose (sugar in fruit) is one of the worst sugars you can eat as it is hard on your liver.

Not only sugar; anything ending with "ose"; so "dextrose", "sucralose", or anything ending with "itol", like "xylitol", "sorbitol" ... it's all sugar and if you need to cut back on sugar you need to cut back on all of it.

We should all be ditching sugar in all its forms, and moving back to a lower carb higher fat type of diet. Carbs are also converted to glucose.

One of the worst catastrophes in human history is the "fat is bad for you" craze that happened in the 80's where everything started switching from fat to sugar. Heart disease has sky rocketed after this time, and it's no surprise. It's the sugar that is the problem, it causes inflammation and scarring and high cholesterol. Healthy fats from nuts, advocados, butter (milk products in moderation, separate problem there), olive oil, grass fed beef - that's what we need to be eating again.

To the OP: I also recommend doing this change in steps. The problem if you move to fast, is that your body is used to burning sugar in all its forms for making energy, you need to slowly convert to using fats for "fuel". Until your body adapts, you will have those issues you described and possibly more. You can also run into mineral defeciencies if you go to far too fast (like keto) without supplementing your sodium/potassium intake.

At your age, you need to do things carefully, with a plan, and with testing along the way.
Home run winner winning goal TD Post
 
They are the same. It's all converted to glucose, the difference is how fast it is converted (glycemic index). Some sugars are definitely worse for you (sucralose), but fructose (sugar in fruit) is one of the worst sugars you can eat as it is hard on your liver.

Not only sugar; anything ending with "ose"; so "dextrose", "sucralose", or anything ending with "itol", like "xylitol", "sorbitol" ... it's all sugar and if you need to cut back on sugar you need to cut back on all of it.

We should all be ditching sugar in all its forms, and moving back to a lower carb higher fat type of diet. Carbs are also converted to glucose.

One of the worst catastrophes in human history is the "fat is bad for you" craze that happened in the 80's where everything started switching from fat to sugar. Heart disease has sky rocketed after this time, and it's no surprise. It's the sugar that is the problem, it causes inflammation and scarring and high cholesterol. Healthy fats from nuts, advocados, butter (milk products in moderation, separate problem there), olive oil, grass fed beef - that's what we need to be eating again.

To the OP: I also recommend doing this change in steps. The problem if you move to fast, is that your body is used to burning sugar in all its forms for making energy, you need to slowly convert to using fats for "fuel". Until your body adapts, you will have those issues you described and possibly more. You can also run into mineral defeciencies if you go to far too fast (like keto) without supplementing your sodium/potassium intake.

At your age, you need to do things carefully, with a plan, and with testing along the way.
Your comments mirror my wife's to the letter.

Scott
 
Even more importantly, I'm going to be 70 in March. I feel like I need to treat my body with more respect and not poison it with excessive sweets.
The hand shaking is because of my dietary changes, not from riding the bike.
it´s been few years since when i´m on the keto wagon. many health issues, big of small got better or disappear.
now i started eating again a bit crap, and hello again eczema, sore eyes...
for me keto did not big change in weight, but in health is was huge.
(but doing it one month is not enough, for example half life of pufa stored in body is 600days..)
 
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They are the same. It's all converted to glucose, the difference is how fast it is converted (glycemic index). Some sugars are definitely worse for you (sucralose), but fructose (sugar in fruit) is one of the worst sugars you can eat as it is hard on your liver.

Not only sugar; anything ending with "ose"; so "dextrose", "sucralose", or anything ending with "itol", like "xylitol", "sorbitol" ... it's all sugar and if you need to cut back on sugar you need to cut back on all of it.

We should all be ditching sugar in all its forms, and moving back to a lower carb higher fat type of diet. Carbs are also converted to glucose.

One of the worst catastrophes in human history is the "fat is bad for you" craze that happened in the 80's where everything started switching from fat to sugar. Heart disease has sky rocketed after this time, and it's no surprise. It's the sugar that is the problem, it causes inflammation and scarring and high cholesterol. Healthy fats from nuts, advocados, butter (milk products in moderation, separate problem there), olive oil, grass fed beef - that's what we need to be eating again.

To the OP: I also recommend doing this change in steps. The problem if you move to fast, is that your body is used to burning sugar in all its forms for making energy, you need to slowly convert to using fats for "fuel". Until your body adapts, you will have those issues you described and possibly more. You can also run into mineral defeciencies if you go to far too fast (like keto) without supplementing your sodium/potassium intake.

At your age, you need to do things carefully, with a plan, and with testing along the way.
ERR wrong. Fruit and raw honey are NOT processed by the body in the same way as processed sugar is. Fructose in whole foods is not detrimental to humans. They are both evolutionarily consistent sources of carbohydrates. Multiple weight loss studies to prove this. You do not need to be on a low carb diet to lose weight permanently. Your athletic performance will be superior with carbohydrates in the diet. This is not debatable, it is fact.


In the above study, the people who had whole, natural sources of fructose in their diet lost more weight than the no-fructose dieters.

I agree with the "fat is bad for you" thing being evil. What we need to avoid is linoleic acid from seed oils. Saturated fat is excellent for you.

Caffeine also causes mineral loss and will increase carb cravings if you drink it.
 
If you have some sugar with something of fiber like oatmeal then that will alleviate the symptoms some. The key is moderation. Right now I’m eating breakfast which consists of one packet of instant oatmeal.

Flavored seltzer waters are the better choice over soda pop. Tons of flavor choices out there.
 
ERR wrong. Fruit and raw honey are NOT processed by the body in the same way as processed sugar is. Fructose in whole foods is not detrimental to humans.

They most certainly are. They have different absorption rates and they're not chemically the same sugars, but as far as it effecting your health or weight then sugar is sugar. All sugars are converted to glucose. If you have diabetes or a gut disorder/disease you will learn quickly that sugar is sugar and carbs are sugar. I've lived with gut issues my entire life so I kinda have a front row seat to this discussion.

And fructose is one of the worst sugars as it is also hard on your liver, which may not have been a problem for a caveman eating an apple a day, but is most certainly a problem for us who are already overtaxing our liver with excess alcohol and pill popping etc etc.
 
sugar IS a drug + its EVERYWHERE + very addictive!! Dr Sten Ekburg recently posted a chart for 165 names for SUGAR!!! theres also whats noted as skinny-fat you are trim BUT you have a fatty liver + or pancreas from poor eating + overconsumption . one look around you can see unhealthy + obesity everywhere but its also noted that a small minority of overweight people can actually be healthy!! as noted its ALL about your insulin levels that are rarely tested as very FEW mainstream docs know much about REAL HEALTH + care less because the $$$$$ come from unhealthy people with kronic diseases that take medications for a LOOOONG time. i look at diabetes in my family + friends type II which is said to be CURABLE as it is a LIFESTYLE disease caused by YOURSELF!! even myself being decently healthy compared to my overeating junk food younger days saw a BIG DROP in blood pressure by eating less carbs + only loosing s few lbs!!! DR William Davis notes in his book "undoctored" that ALL grains are BAD + it only takes a few more minutes for whole grains to turn into SUGAR + cause an insulin response!! depending on your ISSUES varying types of eating changes can work + its noted that time restricted eating works best. as you teach your body by less carbs etc + NO between meals snacks + for me two meals daily works as each time you eat or drink most anything an insulin rise is needed to control glucose levels, so NO food or carby drinks = a stable insulin level for BEST health as noted by many REAL nutritional pros!!
 
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Thanks for the info.

The hand shaking is because of my dietary changes, not from riding the bike.

At age 69 I'm still riding well and have lots of power. But I've been feeling my power fade a bit over the last couple of years, just because of age. More than anywhere else in my life, I have a burning competitive desire on my bike. I'm making dietary changes so I can lose weight and improve my power to weight ratio.

I'm a 6'5" clydesdale and in my heyday of road cycling and endurance racing I weighed as little as 189 pounds (literally). But I lost power at that weight and my parents hated it because I looked gaunt and they thought it looked like I was dying of something. No kidding. Yes, it was 30 years ago, but I rode best at about 210. That's what I'm targeting now. But will that weight work for me now that I'm 30 years older? Can I even lose that much weight at my age? Time will tell. Either way, I want to lighten up a bit.

Even more importantly, I'm going to be 70 in March. I feel like I need to treat my body with more respect and not poison it with excessive sweets. As you know the body becomes less tolerant of abuse as we age. Fortunately I've never been a big drinker, but I think the junk food has to stop given my age. An aging pancreas can only take so much.

Scott

Edit: Just for yuks, a video of me on the bike. I ride this road 5 to 6 times a week in the summertime. With all due respect to other parts of the world, I think I have some of the best cycling roads in the entire world, and they are just minutes from our house.


Man you're in incredible shape! Keep on keeping on! (y)
 
Man I bet nobody ever ever messes with you!(y)
Your comment about me being a 6'5" 240 pounds clydesdale. A true story, a funny story.

Back in my early 20s (the early '70s) I had a relationship with a 4'10" 85 pound girl. She was a really great gal and super smart (high intelligence was always mandatory for me). Even with her pint sized physique she was strikingly attractive and physically fit to the point of being "buffed" - plus she was a brown belt in Jujitsu.

Let's just say we had a "loving relationship", but sometimes it felt like we had escaped the zoo when people saw us together in public.

On our way back from a camping trip in Lake Tahoe I vividly remember the two of us walking into a restaurant for lunch in California's Sierra Foothills. Clearly we were boyfriend and girlfriend. As we walked in, the entire place turned and stared shamelessly at us. You could tell what they were thinking. It was embarrassing.

Scott
 
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