Sugar

[andy-hughes]

After years of patient talking-to by my wonderful wife who fears for my mobility, and very life, I have decided to cut out sugar.

I am not going to be all vegan about it - I will simply avoid the things that have sugar in them, like tea, buscuits, chocolate, on cereal, and so on.

I have concluded that it is literally poisoning me, thanks to the unfeasibly large amounts of the stuff I ingest on a daily basis.

Three spoons in tea, two on cereal, that's around eight spoons before eight a.m., and another fifteen or so by the end of the day.


Plus at least one chocolate bar, sometimes with buscuits as well.

Today is the first day, and I am feeling very self-righteous, I have had no tea, no sugar on ceral, no chocolate and no buscuits.

Wish me luck!!!

[TonyV]

Good luck a-h

[Captain2]

Good luck, but why not tea/coffee without sugar - just as nice, if not tastier.

[andy-hughes]

Thanks Tony!!

I have enjoyed sugar in tea for as long as i can remember. I underwent hypnotherapy to get me off sugar, and it worked with chocolate, but not with tea.

I got utterly fed up with everyone around me saying "I stopped it, and three weeks later, I couldn't stand the taste of tea with sugar!!"

Three weeks? Good for you! i went thirteen months and never enjoyed a single cup, it tasted as horrible on the last day as it did on the first, so I went back to it again.

Now, I am simply giving up tea and drinking coffee, which I can tolerate, but not enjoy - but if it makes me healthy, it's a price worth paying.

[andy-hughes]

Captain - // Good luck, but why not tea/coffee without sugar - just as nice, if not tastier. //

Please see my post following yours - all is revealed there.

[Mozz71]

I've taken sweeteners rather than sugar for years now. You'll be fine, there are so many healthier sugar substitutes and sugar free foods around, that you'll barely notice the difference.

[TonyV]

a-h can you not use sweetnours?

[Tilly2]

Andy, you can't stop drinking tea!
Try it with two spoons and get used to it. Then one and a half, etc. etc. Cut it down slowly.

[Captain2]

That's fair enough Andy, if you've tried it and don't like it. I gave up sugar in drinks 40 years ago and find them much sharper in taste. My Good Lady has one sugar in a drink and when I make us both a drink I have to use two spoons, so mine doesn't get 'contaminated'. :))))

[andy-hughes]

TonyV - // a-h can you not use sweetnours? //

I am suspicious of them, because I fear that they have other effects, so swapping one issue for another.

[Atheist]

Andy; well done - keep it up. Sugar in tea and coffee is unnecessary (apart from the fun it gives you) and I hope you will soon realise that sugary drinks taste disgusting. Of course, you may not, and I can't explain that. The best I can say is that once I decided to stop smoking home-grown in order to further my career, I found that I wasn't physically addicted at all. Alcohol and tobacco are physically addictive, but I don't think that sugar is. With luck you will find that you lose the taste for it. I wish you well. (By the way, did you know Chris Welch or Karl Denver back in the day?)

[maggiebee]

Pure, White and Deadly is a book by John Yudkin first published in 1972. Yudkin was one of the first scientists to claim that sugar was a major cause of obesity and heart disease.

In 1972, when British scientist John Yudkin first proved that sugar was bad for our health, he was ignored by the majority of the medical profession and rubbished by the food industry.
We should have heeded his warning.

Today, 1 in 4 adults in the UK are overweight.

There is an epidemic of obese six month olds around the globe.

Sugar consumption has tripled since World War II.

Sorry for the lecture, but I found this book fascinating and it has been updated and republished over the years.

[woofgang]

best wishes and I understand. Any kind of non sugar sweetener tastes disgusting to me and some make me ill. I stopped using sugar in hot drinks out of the house because I used to visit people in their own homes (NHS) and they'd offer tea or coffee then look panicky and say "oh I haven't got any sugar" so I just used to say I dont take it. Don't ask about the woman with the freeflying cockatiels who poo'd in the cups..... anyway at home I still used sugar and when I retired, I went back to always having sugar because I prefer it.

[Atheist]

Andy, I've been pre-empted! Don't take sweeteners, they just reinforce your desire for sweet taste.

[andy-hughes]

Atheist - // (By the way, did you know Chris Welch or Karl Denver back in the day?) //

Chris Welch was one of the writers who inspired me to write about music - his long features in Meldoy Maker were always balanced and informative.

I never dreamed I would end up writing for MM, but I did - covering the Midlands and sometimes the North for them for gigs and features.

I met Chris a couple of times, and had a number of phone chats with him when he edited Metal Hammer in its first incarnation - I wrote for him there.

Last time I saw him was backstage at a festival, he was deep in conversation with Keith Emmerson, apparently Chris was Best Man at Keith's wedding.

I was too much in awe of KM - a massive hero - to go over and try and ingratiate myself into the conversation - looking back that was a major error on my part!!!

[david small]

Years ago my wife unbeknown to me tapered me off sugar in my tea. I used to take two spoons full. It took her a year. Gradually reducing the amount. Now I cannot drink tea with any sugar in it.

[Atheist]

Maggi, Yudkin is our guru!

[Atheist]

Andy, when we were possible successes we partied with Karl and David. Fortunately nothing came of it; if it had I would have swapped my interesting life for something much worse!

[pastafreak]

I'm not too sure what "be all vegan about it " means. ;)

When I switched to low carb eating 10 years ago, I stopped having tea full stop as I hated the taste of it without sugar. Instead, I started having coffee with cream. I've not looked back. I also only eat very high %(85 and up) chocolate.
Good luck...and be prepared to feel like *** for a few days. Don't give in!!

[tiggerblue10]

You may find you get headaches and maybe other cold turkey symptoms if you completely cut out tea, sugar etc. I get headaches if I forget to have a coffee first thing.

Try and cut down on tea rather than omit it and wean yourself off gradually. Try truvia or xylitol as sweeteners but in moderation.

[pastafreak]

Oh...and +1 for 19:59 and 20:04.