The FastDay Forum

Another truth is that if coffee had been introduced today it would have been banned due to "poisons"

OK of my soapbox

I differ in view on coffee as there are so many conflicting pieces of research these days I have decided that I support the ones that advocate it given there is no way I could fast without it

According to this article while there is no evidence that artificial sweeteners evoke an insulin response they may cause metabolic derangements.

Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements

My personal view is that it is better to eat natural foods as much as possible, and while sugar comes from natural products, that doesn't mean it is "natural", it is a processed food that goes into further processed foods. Having said that, I will continue to enjoy the occasional treat but no way made with artificial sweeteners (and I used to be a big fan of diet drinks)

And I can't find it in me to believe that synthetic things like aspartam is better than real sugar.

I am with you on this one. I don't touch artificial sweeteners and spend a lot of time going over ingredients labels to make sure I avoid them. I get the filthiest headache when I have consumed something with sweeteners in, especially aspartame, which is not the case with unrefined sugar.

Giving up or even cutting down on sugar is EVEN harder than stopping smoking . to stop smoking you stop buying cigarettes and climb the wall for a few weeks. Sugar is in everything now, hidden in all sorts of things and if (like me ) you are a sugar addict once you have even inadvertently taken some, the cravings start. Sometimes the only thing that stops a sugar feast is a fast day, that thank goodness seems to settle things down and you can get back to an even keel. I can stop a one piece of Birthday cake but I guarantee two hours later I will be desperately looking for another sweet treat, and another, and another But I battle on, I am on maintenance now but still have to fast 2days a week sometimes 2 1/2 days just to undo the dreaded sugar overdose. At the moment I am writing down in my diary all the sugar things I eat in any given day and it can be as 900 Cals on a bad day. I only hope by writing it down and considering all the damage I am doing to myself I will eventually beat this.

Summed up my experiences exactly! If on a day I have something sugary my appetite increases substantially. I have a friend who is a diabetic who told me to look at sugar in food (irrelevant of whether it is natural or hidden). Her message from the various specialists has been consistent - 10g sugar per 100g of food is OK, 15g is high, over 15g is very high.

Since that discussion I completely reviewed the sugar content of everything on my weekly online shop - I was shocked. The range of sugar content was staggering. The good ones were around 11-13g of sugar per 100g; some of the market leading brands were circa 19 to 20g, and some extreme ones were in the 26-28g range.

Think about that - picture a yoghurt pot a quarter to a third full of sugar. Would you eat it now?

5:2 plus watching grams of sugar per 100 g and only eating things below 15g is causing the weight to drop off me. I no longer look for low fat or 0 fat labels, in fact exactly the opposite, I avoid them like the plague. I always look sugars per 100g on the nutritional label and don't touch anything over 15g.

The really strange thing is that I really don't want to eat sugar. My body has changed and actually I find the thought of something sugary quite off putting.

I am now in my fourth month of this regime and have lost the desire to eat sugary things. Almost not a day goes by at work where people say to me "wow you look great you have lost so much weight". When someone offers me a biscuit or chocolate I happily say no.

Nuff said!

Well firstly there is no need for artificial sweeteners - use Stevia - natural herb. I have been using Stevia for about 13 years - prefer the drops from health food shop for taste. But strangely I eat more sugar now than I did before Fasting. This is simply because I lost weight whilst fasting and eating sugar. Before I was always trying to give up sugar/high GI carbs. Now I eat what I want. I used to be so down on sugar, but hey now I don't see the problem with it - I don't break into houses to get my fix, I don't get bad physical reactions after my daily cake (never have it in coffee/tea, that would be like having sweet beer ;>) I'm slim and my blood sugar is fine. But in saying that I am not one to buy processed food from the supermarket. I pretty much cook what I eat and if I do buy food it's handmade cakes. Now coffee is an intersting one too. Over the years I have quit and now I drink lots (Mosley's influence) and I see little difference, except if I drink coffee too late in the day. Before 5:2 I used to be obsessed with 'eating healthily' now I eat what I like except for 2 days a week and I no longer feel guilty about eating what I used to think of as 'unhealthy' food. In fact I now wonder if (as some woman I read, touts that there is no such thing as bad food) if maybe it's the obesity/overweightness/fat around the organs etc that isn't the harbinger of bad health, rather than the type of food we eat. What I am trying to say is: If we eat sugar/'bad food' in huge quantities that make us fat, maybe then it's bad, but what if we fast and don't get fat and don't eat mountains of sugar/'bad food', is that bad? I am not arguing that sugar isn't addictive - it is, we become addicted to that which is pleasurable. I'm not sure if my thoughts are clear.

UK Sunday Times have a big article today about WHO wanting to revise their recommendations of free sugars intake from 10% or less of total energy down to 5% or less. The article majors on a predicted sugar war ahead; food giants on one side and health experts on the other. Maybe 2014 will see more truths emerge.

For those interested in reducing or giving up sugar, their magazine next Sunday will be running a feature on how to nix it from the diet.

Sorry I can't share the link. The ST has a paywall

Thanks for the headsup Karen. Wonder who's going to win this particular war?

Another lovely avatar @callyanna. Look at those skinny legs! Not that I'm envious or anything

Thanks Karen! I've always had stick thin arms and legs...it's the bit in the middle that's the problem but it's slowly shrinking thanks to a lower carb intake!

This NHS link summarizes the report:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/12December/ ... finds.aspx

It's kicked off because of tooth-decay, of all things... Maybe they'll get the message for the rest of the body, eventually...

This NHS link summarizes the report:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/12December/ ... finds.aspx

It's kicked off because of tooth-decay, of all things... Maybe they'll get the message for the rest of the body, eventually...

I'm not holding my breath FatDog!

[Debs]

It will be interesting indeed, especially as the problem is worse in the States with fructose in everything, including bread. My cynical money is on the industrial food producers. I buy full fat yoghurt now whichever has the lowest sugar content, natural or otherwise and have rediscovered how nice Greek yoghurt is.
Yes, Callyanna lovely avatar!

Bumping this as a post Christmas aid and reminder to us all and for the benefit of the newbies who may not have seen it. Going to get the wii out today, it hasn't seen the light of day for years. Gotta do something about this belly otherwise I will disappear and all you will see will be the roll of fat that is my middle. Going to take measurements for sure

Come on people. Work those hips

Thought I would bump this thread after last night's TV programme on 'Is Sugar Addictive?' Did anyone see it? Was trawling the internet and also found this from 'The Telegraph':
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... ealth.html
I am reading 'Fat Chance' by Dr.Lustig at the moment and it's pretty scary what sugar/fructose can do. I am going to be so virtuous, not eating sugar products,
I shall squeak soon. Pass the cheese please!

Count me in as another one who has finally seen the light (Hallelujah! I've seen the light!) with regards to fat and sugar. I now buy non-non fat yogurt (yes, that was intentional. I cannot seem to find full-fat yogurt here and the one I'm eating now has 10% fat--which may be the highest, but I'm just not sure) because it has the lowest grams of sugar in each serving.

It is downright SHOCKING how much sugar is in foods once you start looking.

I love my 10% fat Greek yogurt with a piece of fruit cut up on it and a handful of nuts. YUM.