Sweet Poison

I just finished reading David Gillespie's Sweet Poison. The book is a huge eye opener and a must read for everyone but especially anyone who has struggled with weight issues.

David has a similar story to mine, even starting out at a similar weight to mine at the moment, with plenty of diet failures leading to the conclusion that it wasn't about willpower. Something had gone wrong with the human machine in modern times and he set out to find out exactly what it was.

His conclusion is fructose, the other half of sucrose (table or cane sugar) which has been added to the modern diet in increasing amounts since the turn of the last century until the present day where we have an obesity epidemic, all manner of related illnesses and we even have to add fluoride to the water supply to cut back on tooth decay.

It's not so much about the calories. Fructose is like a catalyst to obesity (and a string of other problems). It stimulates appetite, encourages us to eat more, stops us feeling full, makes other foods in our system more likely to be stored as fat and it's addictive. If you suffer from an inability to feel full and/or dreadful cravings that make dieting impossible then you're addicted to fructose.

The solution is simple. Don't eat anything that tastes sweet. Unfortunately that's often easier said than done. Firstly you've got the sugar withdrawals to deal with (which can last anything from 3 days to 3 weeks) and then you'll discover that sugar is added to just about everything these days so it's easy to eat it without realising. Apart from the obvious ones like biscuits, softdrinks and most breakfast cereals, I was surprised to discover huge amounts of sugar in tomato & BBQ sauces, most mayos and some even in (flavoured) potato chips!

While I'd already reduced sugar considerably in my diet over the last few years I still found it tough going to cut it out completely for the first couple of days going cold turkey but then it got much easier. Then to my surprise I started to notice I was feeling fuller on less food and the night time cravings were almost completely gone. I dropped a couple of kgs in a fortnight but I kept it to myself because I'd gained a couple of kgs recently and wanted to wait until I started dropping below my 120 kg nemesis before I got too excited.

Then disaster. Third week in and I checked my weight and discovered to my absolute horror that I'd gained 4kgs in a week!

Why?

Well, when I thought it about it it was obvious. I was substituting.

For starters I'd increased my milk consumption recently, possibly in an effort to make teas & coffees a little less bitter. I also wasn't sticking to my one cappuccino a day rule, letting that creep up to maybe 3 or 4, possibly to substitute deserts or snacks. Together those would add up to at least 1 litre of milk per day, possibly more, and I know from past experience that I gain weight quickly with milk.

The second problem was an increase in salty snacks and adding salt to my meals when I normally wouldn't. Salt causes fluid retention.

A third problem was I was expecting better appetite control without sugar. I'm sure that will happen and I see very promising signs already but I may have rushed in & trusted that one a bit too soon. Related to that is the recent bad weather keeping me off the bike. I know that losing weight isn't about exercise but I expected less activity should mean a lower appetite. Again, a bit too soon for me to trust my appetite completely I think. While I am excited by the changes I have seen in my appetite and craving levels, I know I can still manage to overeat with relative ease at this stage and have managed to do so on many occasions.

Lesson learned.

While I'm convinced sugar has been my main problem all along I have to watch I'm not substituting with other foods. Plain old overeating will still cause weight gain even without sugar. My cat is a case in point...