Anyone else have sugar cravings?
 

Just saw my doc who thinks it’s psychological. If I could just walk past the bakery section at Safeway and not come away with a box of donuts, I probably wouldn’t be a diabetic anymore. I swear though that I can smell the desserts from the parking lot. I go to the gym 4-5 days a week religiously but I can’t out exercise a bad diet. As I’m typing this, I’m thinking of the bag of Oreos in the cupboard.

You've got a sweet tooth, and yes, I think it's mostly psychological.

I don't have a sweet tooth. They are all sweet. If it was up to me, I think I would be OK. I can go through a grocery store and not buy sweets. But if the wife buys sweets, or asks me to buy sweets, I can't NOT eat them. If they are in the house, then I eat them.

Probably ~15 years ago I got a check-up where my cholesterol was in the mid 200s. Someone here on the board posted a book by a medical Dr that said that the issue was that our diet has too much sugar in it. EVERYTHING these days has sugar unless you make it yourself. I think the book said something like "100 years ago, the avg person consumed 2# of sugar per year, but today, the avg person consumes about 75# of sugar per year." (I don't remember the numbers for sure, but it was something crazy like that). I was eating 3-4 pints of ice cream per weekend (my weekends were 3 days). A pint (or possibly 14oz) of ice cream was a single serving as far as I was concerned (and that was a smaller serving than when I was younger).

I'd go so far as to consider it an addictive substance.

Best to go full zero on refined anythings, not just sugar.

Find yah some locally grown fruits and veggies.
They take a little more effort, but can erase the craving for the junk from how good the real stuff can be.

My body is blessed/cursed with very strong negative reactions to junk food.
I don't even have to know sugar is an ingredient to be walking somewhere to spit it out on first bite.

Be stranger if you didn’t.

Chris, the physical addiction only lasts 3 or 4 days after quitting sugar cold turkey. The mental addiction varies of course. I stopped eating processed food and sugar (and any other sweeteners) 4 or 5 years ago and it's been a total life changer. I feel born again. I lost 76 lb.s in the first 4 months and I didn't even quit to lose weight. I quit sugar on the advice of several new age doctors to help my arthritic fingers and foot. The arthritis is completely gone and my energy level is through the roof. I can't stress enough how much this change in diet made in my life, pretty much in every aspect

5 pounds a month.

https://www.amazon.com/Cup-Small-Conversation-Hearts-Pound/dp/B082YH1PQX/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2ZQJBXD0PH62&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9 ._zcUjBL6TNDshMGSsc5lB60vvHzSs1H8PFZNytUnzLkHxRCqj h70krFk_hb-XP88816rqKrECZmbAfd34PPwQTVGOPdLAfw3y3cNPxGuQKqp_n cLYtzpaqsafKyp3ZCOD8bRr05wWCux6diFNh22h3HLfVKp6yM7 DXJx1RKP-jhnoeAI7h3FqCmjodKkEb3Uv837-v2LEKAswlB3FPfO3OXZsTt-q8BoKIWxuqr9qnGAE3W3VuxM5VYdWtrcoMS_0sOkcGSSaAEIez 6DQrIZzo4tc1REfAxA-EujpU1EO-s.lrzvaHQv7uYExYD8uUqaNYOHrLzQZsNv6V8Az5Htv08&dib_ tag=se&keywords=sugar+heart+candy&qid=1728508955&s prefix=sugar+heart+candy%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

My whole life, I've never craved sweets. Candy, cake, donuts...I pass them over.
I think it's hereditary....my brother and sisters are the same.

Agreed. I have seen the results of one of those genetics tests that folks can send off for. They have a section that tells you if you are more likely to crave sweets or savory foods so someone somewhere thinks it's at least somewhat genetic. I assume sugar like some other substances causes a release of serotonin or dopamine, and that's why it's so darn popular.

I eat some occasional sweets. I have long been a bigger fan of salty and greasy treats.

A bag of Fretos is more my style than donuts or ice cream. Chex mix during the holidays is my weak point.

What, you eat those. On purpose, and they aren't free?

What are they, 95% sugar, 2% saw dust, 3% gypsum?

I'm an addict as well. One thing that works for me:
I was at the store and was craving cookies. I got a bag of Nutter Butters. While I was in line, I read the nutritional statement and saw that each cookie was 16 carbs. There were 80 cookies in the bag. I thought to myself, I will eat this whole bag which would be 16x80=1280 carbs. Then I thought, I will go back to the cookie isle, read the labels and get the lowest "total" carb bag of cookies. I read all the labels and to my pleasant surprise, prepredge farms was the lowest count at 16x8=128 carbs. I noticed all of the cookies are around 16 carbs each - no matter the brand. And Prepredge Farms is one of my favorites. So, I base my decision on total package count since I know my own habits of eating the whole package.

My dad had a sweet tooth, and I kinda do as well. I remember a long time ago (around 1990) I saw an empty bag of Hershey's Kisses in the back of his car. We were going to lunch and I said "Where would you like to go?" His response- "See's?"

My brother saw him late at night taking a spoonful of Nestle's Quik powder and putting it in his mouth and rolling it around. One time I saw him slicing up a tube of Pillbury's Sugar Cookie dough and putting it on a plate. I said "What are you doing?" He said "Salami."

My dad was a sweetheart and funny. I miss him so much.

That Sugar Film documentary


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNr71oGoZC8

With me, it's a forbidden fruit thing. Once I became a type 2 diabetic, I really miss sweets. To the point that if I became suicidal, my first stop would be a bakery and an ice cream store...

I was scheduled for Knee replacement due to knee pain. Before surgery date, I had some bloodwork for a physical and was told to cut out sugar... prediabetic. I cut out sugar and all my knee pain went away in less than two weeks. I'm back to cycling and hiking again, no surgery. If i eat sweets I will experience knee pain within a day or two.

I crave em. I’m also diabetic. I can avoid ice cream, chocolate etc out of site, out of mind. What I can’t avoid is pizza. Pizza is what will end up getting me in the end.

For my mom it’s coke. She has been drinking this poison for decades (10 cans per day) and has uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure. 2 weeks ago today she fell due to dizziness for the 6th time and suffered a severe brain injury, broken arm, broken jaw, broken nose and is now in a nursing home unable to stand on her own. I have never seen someone so addicted to sugar. Even as she lays there not sure of who I am now, she begs me to smuggle in a coke. If I could I would drop a nuke on the coke company. Poisonous garbage that kills people.

I crave sugar/desserts all the time. I'm lucky that all I need is 1 or 2 "cookies" a day. If my GF buys a bag of Oreos, she cant stop until the whole bag is gone. In my case, I usually have to throw away the last half because they have turned stale before i eat them.

The big issue: Sugar is added to a lot of things you buy at the market.

It's almost impossible to avoid.

Yep, if the bag is in there, I'd probably be able to go through it in 3-5 sittings (although I'd be happy to go through it in 1 or 2. Stale Oreos are awesome!