Sweet Poison - going sugar (fructose) free, anyone?

[Epacris]

OK, so I heard David Gillespie on the conversation hour (ABC local radio) and have read The Sweet Poison Quit Plan (Google Sweet Poison). He presents a compelling case and we (well, just me really, but I’m in charge of these things in our family so it’s the royal “we”) have decided that we’re going to give it a go.

So... limiting fructose to less than 10g per day. Today was day 1 and we all survived! I felt like crap all day but I did it!

Anyone else done it, doing it, thinking about it? Would love some sugar free buddies.

[onthefly]

Oh.

[Epacris]

Thanks MadB.

ETA: I can still eat cheese and drink champagne though....

[Arcadia]

I have had reoccuring breast and nipple thrush since having ds and am on the anticandida diet, which is no sugar wheat yeast or dairy. It has been 6 weeks and i find it pretty easy. The hardest thing has been fruit though...the apples look so good at the moment.

I have been using Stevia as a sugar substitute and have even made a cake or two for family birthdays.

Can you eat substitutes? Also what about certain berries since they have a relative low sugar level?

[Jennifer13]

I had a read through his websites (so not convinced on the fruit thing, I tend to be from the school of thought that says if it grows in the ground and goes off, it's good, but I'll try to keep an open mind).

So he's recommending avoiding:

Confectionary and Bikkies
Flavoured drinks
Breakfast cereals - but plain oats are okay
Condiments
Muesli Bars
Yoghurts - but plain yoghurt is okay
And anything you add table sugar/honey/fruit juice concentrate/ rice syrup/agave syrup etc to..........................tea, coffee, baking.

But I gather there's an allowable 'limit'.

Looking at my diet, since I try to eliminate processed foods and make everything from scratch, there isn't any of these things in my diet, with the exception of the occasional fruit juice (maybe once every couple of days). I add a small amount of sugar to the bread we make and obviously in baking, but again, I am pretty sure it would be within the allowable limits. I know I have the odd treat when I'm visiting for morning tea , but since I'm so time poor, that happens about once a month! We already use natural plain yoghurt and I only have oats when I have cereal.

So in the end, Epacris, even though I haven't read through all of his stuff, if you're taking processed foods out of your diet, you'll probably go a long way towards meeting what he's suggesting anyway, and you can still have the fruit cake! Maybe because I don't have any of those major no-nos there's no craving and the stuff I do have that's probably on his no list is not a big issue. I don't actually like a lot of sugary things, I think it's how you train your palate.

I'm a fan of the Michael Pollan school of food thought. His Food Rules book is so simple.

[onthefly]

ok. I'm looking at this.
I had no idea I was an addict. I feel so dirty. Oh sugar, you have led me far astray.

[Joeve]

I am interested too! My name is Jo and I am a dirty addict tooo, oh the shame
Ok off to google more about what I can and can't have!

[Epacris]

It’s kind of complicated, you really need to read the book/s to “get it” properly (I’ve read the book and I’m still trying to “get it” I keep having to re-read sections). Basically he breaks sugar into good sugars (mostly glucose and lactose) and bad sugars (mostly fructose). You can eat whatever you want, you just have to limit fructose to approximately less than 10g per day.

OUT:
Anything with sugar (sucrose, which is half fructose).
Juice and dried fruit (I still haven’t quite managed to comprehend me giving up fruitcake, that bit just can’t be true, totally in denial about that one).
Honey and Maple syrup

You can use some sweeteners, he explains which ones and why in the book.
You can have fruit but you need to limit it to no more than two pieces per day and try to stick to low fructose/high fibre fruit like pears and berries (grapes are bad).

That’s all I can think of for now.

[Babyluv]

Epacris I want to do it!!! Help!!!
I bought some stevia at coles, it's an all natural sugar substitute I've been using that in my tea. I think I'm a little addicted to sugar & I'll struggle to eliminate it but I've done it before and lost the spare tyre & 5kgs.
Any hints? Good luck!!!