Are You a Sugar Addict?

Just a brief post to tell you about Anitag Flegg's excellent site on hypoglycemia - where you can sign up for her regular newsletter.

Here is the latest newsletter, as an example of what you'll find in it:

"Eating sugar makes us feel good. I used to crave sugar constantly and I realized that I was addicted. That sounds extreme but I found that one sugary treat inevitably lead to another. How else could I describe it but as an addiction?

The continual sugar ups and down are very hard on the system and long-term “sugar abuse” causes wear and tear on your body. You will probably feel tired, hungry, frequently irritable and unable to concentrate.

The best way to feel better is to get off the “sugar rollercoaster”. It’s not easy but the problem can’t finally be solved until your system gets used to being without the instant gratification of the sugar “hit”.

Next week: How to start getting off sugar… "

Anita's sites are www.anitaflegg.com and www.theothersugardisease.com .

The Truth About the Glycemic Index

When I first discovered the glycemic index a few years ago I thought I had finally found the missing piece of the hypoglycemia jigsaw.

I knew from experience it wasn't just as simple as cutting out sugar. For example, on many occasions I had eaten what was supposedly a "healthy" lunch of bread, salad and small amount of cheese or protein .... absolutely no sugar ... only to get hypgolycemic symptoms during the afternoon. In my case, very bad headaches.

How could this be, I wondered, since I had eaten no sugar. Then I learned bread has quite a high glycemic index ... particularly white bread. This explains why you can get hypoglycemic symptoms after eating bread.

Okay, so does this mean you shouldn't eat bread? What about rice, pasta and potatoes? Staple foods that people have eaten for centuries. Should we cut these out because they have a high glycemic index?

This is where some so-called experts go wrong. They recommend you cut out all carbohydrates with a moderate to high glycemic index.

In reality, you don't need to do this ...

if you learn a simple secret ...

To slow down the effect on your blood sugar of carbohydrates, you need to eat some fats or oils and/or some protein along with the carbohydrate. In other words, you need to eat a balanced meal.

Why do you think people have been eating bread and butter for so many hundreds of years? The butter slows down the digestion of the bread ... so if you're hypoglycemic, you want to put plenty of butter on your bread. And have some protein along with it, ideally. (You can use olive oil on your bread, if you want ... but only if you like it. Don't eat olive oil just because it's trendy at the moment. There's absolutely nothing wrong with butter. Believe me. People have been eating butter since the beginning of human history.

If you have any doubts about butter (due to all the negative press it's received from so-called experts who say it's bad for you) consider the French. They've always eaten lots of butter, cream, high fat cheeses, pates ... and they have a much lower rate of heart disease than Americans and other western countries. Now, of course, the French have started eating more sugar. (The traditional French diet has very little sugar .. and they don't eat sweet snacks between meals either). The French are starting to get more health problems as they're eating more sugar ...

So it's sugar ... not fat ... that's the problem.

But there's also another aspect about sugar ...

You may be able to eat a small amount of sugar ... and get no hypoglycemic symptoms ... if you eat it along with a balanced meal with proteins and fats.

I've proven this myself to be absolutely true. For example, for lunch today I had a sandwich with bread, butter, cheese, pate and salad. Then, I had a small piece of home-made fruit cake my wife made. (She always uses raw sugar and only a small amount). Finally, I had a cup of tea (with milk). I felt absolutely fine after this lunch ... much better than if I'd eaten a "healthy" low fat meal with no butter or cheese or pate ... and no sugar.

So ... eat balanced meals with protein, fats and carbohydrates ... and you'll find your blood sugar keeps pretty stable. On the other hand ... don't eat unbalanced meals or snacks .... sweet snacks like candy bars and soft drinks are absolutely the worst things for your blood sugar.

Finally, if you want to learn more about the glycemic index, visit Michel Montignac's website. I don't agree with all his ideas about weight loss diets ... but he's got some pretty good information about hypoglycemia and the glycemic index. Well worth a visit if you can spare the time.

7 Tips to Squash Your Sugar Habit

Here is a great article by Connie Bennett of SugarShockBlog.com, which I came across today.

I'd like to reproduce it in full (with Connie's permission) because it really hits the nail on the head.

Here is the article:

'Are you often overcome with an urge to splurge on candy, cookies, and cake – and do you then hate yourself for caving into your cravings?

Do you pop by the drug store for paper goods but always leave with junk food, too? And do you feel like an incurable sugar addict with zero will power?

Take heart. You can quit (or at least cut back on) both sweets and processed, “much-like-sugar carbs” such as white bread, white rice, and pasta.

Back in 1998, I did just that. After diagnosing hypoglycemia, my M.D. told me that eliminating quickie carbs could banish my low-blood sugar symptoms, including my ferocious headaches, unexpected mood swings, debilitating “brain fog” and severe PMS.

Amazingly, all 44 ailments disappeared! I do not exaggerate! After kicking sweets, I felt reborn!

That’s why I’m now on a mission to help you, too, break free of your habit. I know that spurning inferior sweets and quickie carbs could turn your life around. You could benefit if you're hypoglycemic, diabetic, overweight -- or if you're just wanting more energy and better concentration.

Here’s the non-sugar-coated scoop. If you continue to over-indulge in these nutrient-lacking foods you could:

• Pack on the pounds
• Sap your energy
• Become unfocused
• Undergo Jekyll-Hyde personality transformations
• Jeopardize your love life, and
• Possibly develop hypoglycemia, insulin resistance or diabetes.

If, instead, you choose quality, fiber-filled carbs, you could:

• Peel off excess weight
• Increase your energy
• Concentrate better
• Boost your moods
• Maybe rev up your libido, and
• Possibly reverse your pre-diabetes

Pretty promising, eh?

Here, then, are 7 tried-and-true tips and tactics to help you “just say no” to quickie carbs:

1. Adjust your mindset – and pronto! Before you can begin to make better dietary decisions, you need to totally change your thoughts. Toss away such negative views as: “Oh, boo hoo, I don’t want to quit sweets!” Instead, dwell on positive ideas like this: “Wow, I’ll feel so great by kicking quickie carbs.” Now fill your mind with pleasant, powerful images. Visualize yourself easily turning down low-quality carbs and becoming a happier, healthier, sweeter you. See yourself in charge instead of enslaved.

2. Plan a pity party. I know this might sound counter-productive, but I’m convinced that before you cut out low-quality carbs, allotting a specific, short amount of time – say, a week – to feeling sorry for yourself can work wonders. But then get over it and get on with it!

3. Watch yourself like a lab rat. Begin to face your truth by keeping a food journal. Jot down what drives you to simple carbs, when you clamor for them, where you eat them, why you want them, and how you get them (i.e., do you stealthily drive across town in the middle of night to buy a carton of ice cream because you need it?) Journaling can be potent preparation for stomping out your sugar habit!

4. Power up with PFF. By this I mean, pump up the protein (such as fish, chicken, tofu, legumes and lean meats), fill up with fiber (vegetables, fruits and whole grains), and embrace healthy fats (olive oil, flax seeds, avocado, etc.) – consuming them all in moderation, of course. These three dietary changes alone can help moderate your blood sugar levels, take the edge off your appetite, keep you feel satisfied longer, and provide needed nourishment.

5. Relish the goodies provided by Mother Nature. Learn to savor the flavor of fresh, natural, wholesome, colorful, nutritious, preferably organic vegetables and low-sugar fruits. Next time you yearn for something sweet, enjoy a few tasty cherry tomatoes, a chunk of red pepper, or several fresh strawberries. Yum! (Nibble on some protein at the same time to keep your blood sugar stable.)

6. Begin with breakfast. Always start your day with a healthy meal – you know, something like a veggie-filled omelet with a piece of orange or a small bowl of slow-cooking oatmeal. Many research studies show that breakfast eaters concentrate and perform better. If you skip that vital first meal of the day, you’re setting yourself up for overwhelming sugar cravings. (Many nutritionists and physicians I interviewed often emphasized the benefits of breakfast.)

7. Develop a kick-butt attitude. Abandon that woe-is-me stance! Tap into your inner strength instead. Even if you’re furious with yourself for having eaten nutrient-poor foods for so long, use that anger to reinforce your “I-can-do-it” attitude. Because you can! Now go for it and trust in your ability to succeed. Believe me, you can "Enjoy a Sweeter Life Without Refined Sweets.™"

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Connie Bennett is an experienced journalist and author of the book SUGAR SHOCK! (upcoming), for which she interviewed more than 250 recognized physicians, nutritionists, researchers and health advocates. Visit her excellent blog: SugarShockBlog.com. Make sure to get your free report, “Sly Hidden Sugars,” and your free e-zine at StopSugarShock.com.
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Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved, Connie Bennett, Stop SUGAR SHOCK!(TM), StopSugarShock.com, A Sweeter You, LLC.

Welcome to the Hypoglycemia Diet Blog

Thanks for visiting this brand-new blog!

I promise you'll find here some of the most powerful information available anywhere about hypoglycemia and diet ... about what to eat if you have hypoglycemia. The straight facts. Common sense. The results of 25 years study, trial and error and prayer as I've tried to figure out the truth about hypoglycemia and diet.

It can be so confusing when you read all the different theories about the best diet for hypoglycemia. High protein diets. Low carb diets. Low fat diets. Eat only protein and vegetables. Food combining. Eat six small meals a day. Look at the glycemic index (GI) of everything you eat. It's a nightmare when you first start out. So many theories, it makes your head spin.

Thankfully, I've been through all that and come out the other side. The truth is always simple. That's the way God has made things. So that simple people can understand. Scientists and the medical profession like to make things complicated. So they can seem like experts ... and we'll pay them big money for their advice and theories.

Consider this. People have been eating natural diets for thousands of years ... natural food the way God made it ... and have enjoyed good health on a wide variety of natural foods. Different ethnic diets have developed. These have kept people very healthy. Long before there were any scientists to come up with crazy theories about diet.

So, you don't need to get too hung up about way out diet theories. But what you do need to consider is that much of our modern food today is highly processed and not good for us. This particularly applies to the amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates in just about everything. These are the things we need to avoid.

In future entires I'll be looking at some specific ways you can eat to restore your health completely if you have hypoglycemia. But for now I'd like to refer you to a couple of my favourite websites on health - and specifically about diet.

The first is Newstarget Network www.newstarget.com . This is an awesome site founded by Mike Atkins. Mike is one of the wiseset people around on natual health issues. Get acquainted with the site and browse around it. You'll find a wealth of priceless health information that will change your life ... if you put into practice what you read. And sign up for Mike's newsletter too.

The other site (actually a blog) that I recommend you get acquainted with is Connie Bennett's Sugar Shock. This blog is absolutely packed full of great information about hypoglycemia and the health effects of sugar and sweets in general.

I hope after you've browsed around these two recommended sites (and signed up for both their newsletters) you'll come back and check out this blog regularly for updates.

I promise you'll get the straight facts about what has worked for me and restored my health from the nightmare of hypoglycemia. And I don't have to live on an impossible diet like some so-called experts tell you. You'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that having hypoglycemia is not a life sentence to a boring high protein, low carb diet.

See you in a few days.

Chris