Is a spoon full of sugar toxic?

http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=4778845

The video is worth watching (but looong)...BUT there is a lot of very goos science here, and I am completely convinced. Sugar is evil! Corn syrup is evil! Soft drinks are evil!

....So are you giving up processed meats, prepackaged meals, fast foods and pie?

My intuition told me long ago to limit sugar and hydrogenated fats and I am glad I listened.

Definitely poisonous. On the protocol I'm following for my cancer, it is not allowed. The only sweetners allowed are honey, maple syrup, or stevia. All in moderation. As an aside, once I took myself off sugar (and one needs to be diligent because it is in many food items one would never suspect it should be in), I find I do just fine with fruits. Prepared food is way to sweet for my tastebuds now.

BTW, glad you found this out. The majority of people never do.

Everything in moderation for me normally... but I will switch to honey all the time, ratter than some of the time in coffee, and I already avoid soft drinks. I probably won't completely eliminate sugar, but I will reduce it even further than I already have. What I can't believe is how difficult it is to avoid fructose! My son had chocolate milk with lunch, and of course that is what they sweeten it with...
I did try stevia many years ago, but at that time it seemed quite bitter. I may have to give it another try.
I don't each much fast food really. I would rather go for Asian food or Italian any day.

Sugar is addictive. At least for me. The more I eat, the more I want. I've gone off it again, and it is like withdrawal.

I keep sugar to a minimum..have done for many years....I dont deprive myself but have learned to know how much in my system is enough...also I do try to investigate the pre packaged foods I have bought by looking at the sugar content....if its too high usuallly above 10 grams I usually avoid....If you have never read the content of sugar in some of the smallest tubs of flavoured yoghurt...you might be surprised how much is in a so called *healthy* food...

When I was in the states....Mc and I went shopping one day....I wanted to buy some cereal....so went for a leisurely stroll up the breakfast food aisle....I went through every box that looked healthy and appealing only to find it was laden with sugar.....finally I found this one packet of *weetabix* which was low in sugar and didnt have to many additives......it turned out after mc informed me that it was actually an aussie brand....actually I must say in comparison to our supermarkets here.....the Us seems to have so much sugar laden foods on the shelves...I was quite astounded..

Alethia wrote:I keep sugar to a minimum..have done for many years....I dont deprive myself but have learned to know how much in my system is enough...also I do try to investigate the pre packaged foods I have bought by looking at the sugar content....if its too high usuallly above 10 grams I usually avoid....If you have never read the content of sugar in some of the smallest tubs of flavoured yoghurt...you might be surprised how much is in a so called *healthy* food...

When I was in the states....Mc and I went shopping one day....I wanted to buy some cereal....so went for a leisurely stroll up the breakfast food aisle....I went through every box that looked healthy and appealing only to find it was laden with sugar.....finally I found this one packet of *weetabix* which was low in sugar and didnt have to many additives......it turned out after mc informed me that it was actually an aussie brand....actually I must say in comparison to our supermarkets here.....the Us seems to have so much sugar laden foods on the shelves...I was quite astounded..

I agree....processed foods here are loaded with far too much sugar in order to disguise the off tastes of the other additives and to make "low fat" taste good with all that other junk in it.

There's a 21 page thread over at My Big TOE forum on the topic of sugar in which I found 2 substitutes: barley malt and Stevia. I had to order online for the malt, but found the stevia in out local organic coop. The stevia is in several form which allows one more options of working into there diet.

Here's a site by one of Tom's 'associates':
http://cookingwithspirit.net/Recipes.html

I used to go through withdrawal-like craving for Godfather's Pizza about once a month. I'm pretty sure my craving was for some form of sugar in their dough. Since I have worked stevia into my diet I haven't had that craving in over 7 months ... and counting.

Here's a video clip of an interview Tom did:

Tom Campbell Q&A (6 of Beach, Sugar and its Effects on Consciousness

A point on the topic of sugar ( and preservatives ) - it's everywhere in forms you would be amazed to learn. There has been for a good long time a conscious effort to use sugar in any form possible to 'improve' what we eat.
A point of Tom and his sensitivity - Tom is undoubtedly a very 'cleaned out' individual. As a result his sensitivity is probably off the charts for normal folks. That however doesn't minimize the healthy advances one can make in their own life, just keep your expectations to as close to null as you can and give it one day at a time.

Toms video was very informative RBM..thanks for sharing that.

Glad to hear it was useful, Alethia.

RBM wrote:Glad to hear it was useful, Alethia.

Yeah at the moment I am not very "clear".........so I appreciated listening to a "clear" soul, it helps to open up that channel once again to reconnect...

We've been discussing sugar over on HSP Home too. I agree that it's a poison - a drug that most of us are addicted to.

A few months ago I read the book "The Sweet Poison Quit Plan", by Australian author David Gillespie. I borrowed it from a friend, but I need to get a copy myself when I can find one. Here's an extract from it:

http://sweetpoison.com.au/?page_id=196

I managed to almost cut out sugar completely a couple of months ago, but then Easter came along and I wanted to eat marshmallow eggs...so I did. I went absolutely mad on chocolate, and am just starting to cut back on it again now. Basically, you do go through withdrawal when you eliminate sugar from your diet, and once you do, you shouldn't crave it anymore. I definitely craved it much less, but I hadn't finished withdrawal by the time the Easter chocolate started appearing in supermarkets, and I couldn't resist. But apart from chocolate, I have pretty much cut out processed foods, and anything else that has a sugar content of more than a couple of grams. In fact, less than 1 gram is preferable. The only drinks I have are water, tea and the occasional glass of wine. Never much liked sugary drinks, fortunately. I felt SO MUCH BETTER when I wasn't consuming sugar, and the sinus issues that have been plaguing me for a couple of years finally went away. And I didn't feel the need to eat so much, so I lost a bit of weight. I couldn't eat my favourite peanut butter after a while because it was just too sweet. So I switched to one with very low sugar content and haven't looked back.

The sinus problems have come back now that I've gotten addicted to chocolate again, so the sooner I can get back to healthy eating, the better. I started all of this because of them, after visiting doctors and specialists and getting no joy. I figured I had nothing to lose by revamping my diet. I believe in the power of food, but actually following a healthy eating regime requires some planning, since, as others have said, it's unbelievable what products contain sugar. Getting back to basics is a pretty good rule of thumb.

Your results getting off sugar are remarkable and testiment to it's problems.

The craving absolutely does subside once one is away from it in all its insipid forms. I was surprised how quickly mine passed away. By the way, one can get cacao powder, which is raw chocolate with no sugar. My friend adds some to a very ripe banana and whips it all together and swears it is much better than what is called chocolate pudding. I add some to the mixture I whip up in the morning (cottage cheese, flax oil and banana) and it gives it just a nice flavor. Plus it has antioxidants, iron and magnesium. One can get creative, you know.

I have been connecting to this cacoa powder recently nan...where can you buy that...I havent seen it around stores here...maybe health food stores I am guessing.?

Check the baking isle of your grocery store Alethia; that is where you'd find it here, it is a fairly common item and I have some in my pantry.

Cocoa powder; same thing.

I'm loving this thread! What a great couple of recipes Nan, I'll have to try that. My sugar cravings are down a couple of ticks, but still there (only been two weeks). I've overcome other addictions and I know it is a long journey. Wish I was a lot clearer too. Hopefully (if RL doesn't get in the way too much) I'll get there.

Oh, and thanks for the links RBM and the book Safari. Hope I can find that on Amazon.

SimplyNan wrote:The craving absolutely does subside once one is away from it in all its insipid forms. I was surprised how quickly mine passed away. By the way, one can get cacao powder, which is raw chocolate with no sugar. My friend adds some to a very ripe banana and whips it all together and swears it is much better than what is called chocolate pudding. I add some to the mixture I whip up in the morning (cottage cheese, flax oil and banana) and it gives it just a nice flavor. Plus it has antioxidants, iron and magnesium. One can get creative, you know.

Thanks for this tip, SimplyNan. I'm looking for a substitute for store-bought yougurt which is typically in the neighborhood loaded with ~ 20 grams of sugar. I have been unsuccessful in searching so far for a good homemade yogurt recipe in which I can replace the sugar requirements with stevia. I'm having great luck with the stevia in my other recipe replacements, so am looking for new recipes and the yogurt is my next project.

BlueTopaz wrote:Oh, and thanks for the links RBM and the book Safari. Hope I can find that on Amazon.

Just to be clear...there are two books by the same author, both with "Sweet Poison" in the title. His first one is called just that, and I haven't read that one. I believe it's an account of his personal journey to a sugar-free life. Apparently he had so many people asking him to provide more detail on how he did it that he wrote the second one, called "The Sweet Poison Quit Plan". That's the one I read.