What this article will show you is the state of the art about a no-sugar or no “food that act like sugars” (mostly grains) diet and how you can optimize your training and running (or cycling) by sticking to a no-carb diet most of the time. What you will learn is that (at least according to conventional wisdom) is that you have to include some sort of carbohydrate to keep your exercise intensity high.

Recovery

Let’s start at the end, your recovery. The most efficient way to recover from a long exercise bout is to first replace glycogen and then protein. Research has shown that muscles uptake of glycogen is most efficiently 20-30 minutes following exercise. In order to replace this glycogen, you need to eat some form of sugar. This can come in the form of fruits and fruit juices, but fructose (the sugar mostly found in fruit) is not as efficient as glucose so consider a recovery formula (I like the one from Vega).

After you have replaced the glycogen then you should move on to protein. During an hour-long training season, you have lost some protein and you should focus on eating protein to provide your muscles with the building blocks it needs for repair. There is good evidence that eating a diet without sugar or the foods that act like sugar most of the time is helpful at shortening recovery. So, 20 minutes following your exercise you should eat some form of protein like eggs or meat (I like Chili). What you are doing in this phase is giving your body what it needs to function well.

Exercise

In order to understand what you should be eating during exercise, you need to understand what your body considers fuel. When you are at rest, you body will generally use free-floating fats (fatty acids) as energy and this is true when you start to exercise as well. As you increase your exercise intensity, your body will switch from blood fats to using muscle fats called intermuscular triglycerides (IMT). These are the main source of energy to run your muscles. As you further increase intensity, this is when your body will start to use glycogen (this is the form of quick sugar storage in your muscles and liver).

When you get to around 65 percent of your maximum intensity (VO2 max) this is when your body is using about 1/2 glycogen and 1/2 IMT. Things really change when you start exercising at 85 percent of your maximum or above, this is when glycogen becomes the dominant fuel. The body chooses glycogen at this point because it takes less oxygen to burn glycogen than those IMT.

You have probably experienced this if you have ever forgotten to take enough sugar during very intense exercise. As your glycogen depletes, you have to switch to burning body fat, this means you have to slow down because your body is using more oxygen. This isn’t quite bonking, but you feel like everything is uphill.

Review

So to review: if you are exercising slowly, then you don’t need glycogen or sugar; your body has enough fuel to get you around. You also don’t need sugar if you exercise intensely until you run out of glycogen (for most people this is around 1 hour of exercise). When you are exercising at a high intensity for a long time is when you need to keep a constant stream of sugar in your body. Most books will say that you need around 300 calories of sugar per hour for running something like a marathon or longer. If you run longer than a marathon, then you also need to think about consuming some protein.

There is also another trick you should know about that benefits the low-sugar athlete. Most athletes only focus on replacing glycogen, but you can improve your performance by increasing your intermuscular

So while most athletes focus on replacing glycogen, you can increase your efficiency by storing more intermuscular triglycerides (IMT) and this comes from eating low or no sugar and exercising at a high intensity. Yes, this means doing speed work.

I find that eating any sugars tends to make you crave more sugars (I call it the sugar magnet), but if you can focus on using sugar for recovery and using it for only the longest of your runs then being a low-sugar athlete has many benefits.

The last thing I want to say is that what you have read here is the conventional wisdom and researchers only look for what they believe to be normal. It may very well be that not using sugar right after exercise or during long runs may work, but it hasn’t been really tested.

For now, check out The Paleo Diet for Athletes for more information about a low-glycemic diet for athletes.

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I’ve been asked a lot about how effective my 30 Sugar Free Days Program and my new Alien Diet Program is for weight loss and while I could give you a lot of diet success stories, why don’t I let the people who have been through the program let you know:

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I just began my third week on Sunday, and my wedding ring is loose! All my clothes are baggy and I don’t think I will ever eat sugar again! I love how you said you can feel like an “alien on planet carbohydrate” … that’s exactly how I feel! I have found some wonderful farms in my area and I’m shopping at the market less and less. Thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed!

Hilary Barry

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My great news is the my cholesterol went from 268 to 184 and my triglycerides from 271 to 75. I am simply amazed!  My cholesterol and triglycerides have never been that low as far back as my records show which is 1998.  This after being sugar free for just 4 months. It proves to me how dangerous sugar is to our health.  This is great motivation for me!

Thank you again.  I am floating above the clouds after being so down for so long with these high numbers.

Marion Pippin

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I’ve been sugar free for a little over 2 weeks now, and Dr. Scott was right, my cravings severely declined within the first week I would say. Now I don’t even think about sweets! That’s not to say that at this point I wouldn’t WANT something sweet , but I have the willpower to turn it down because my cravings are no…t out of control. I’ve never gone this long without sugar or bread, I can’t believe I’ve made it this far

Nerine E

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Thanks a million for your program and sage advice. I did not follow the plan strictly for these 30 days (it is my second time around), but kept the principles in mind to adjust my entire lifestyle for the rest of my life. I am a former fat girl, went from 170 lb in my teens to now 115 lbs at 47 years old. I look and feel better tha n I ever have in my life. I can do 30+ pushups, vigorous cardio, working with a preschool population with ceaseless energy. Everyday, I work out and I eat a lower carb, low sugar diet super rich in veggies, fruit, nuts and meats…

I think what you offer us is so great…Your language and formatting is direct, concise and easy to absorb.  You do not come across like a lobbyist, or in-it-for-profit industrialist, or highly technical scientist…

Your encouragement and inspiration works to motivate me.  You are giving the gift of a better-lived life:   with a healthier body, clearer thinking, more energy to be the best YOU…I am so grateful.

Diane Rogers

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I’ve completed 7 days and lost 1.5 pounds. I don’t think I’ve ever EVER gone 7 hours without sugar so this is a HUGE accomplishment. I really look forward to the emails. I keep them all and reread when I need a boost.

Very nice program!

Jess Marke

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I’ve been low-carbing for 5 years now and feel terrific. Still, I have a sweet treat from time to time and was having a horrid problem eliminating artificial sweeteners from my diet. Your challenge inspired me – 30 days! I could do that.

Thanks for sponsoring this!

Bev C

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I’m sorry but I didn’t think to take pictures but I did take body measurements and I lost about 2” off my hips. I hope that helped, I plan to keep doing it for life. Thanks a lot!

Cathy

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I’ve been sugar free and actually, mostly meat free as well, for almost 3 weeks now. The weight is coming off finally and I feel free. I feel that I’m healing from all the destructive foods I’ve eaten in the past year. Not eating the meat has provided my liver to clean up, so I’m grateful to be “cleaning house”. I can tell by my increased energy and healthier looking skin, that it’s really helping.

My cravings have virtually disappeared, I think because I’ve eliminated the foods that trigger the cravings. It’s been, actually, the easiest weight I’ve lost in a long time.

So, thank you again. Just had to write and let you know how much I appreciate this.

Elaine A

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I have become a much healthier person in the last month (my doctor said I could lower my insulin from 30 units to 25) and I thank God for finding you and your program on the internet! Thank you for staying in touch with me through the 30 day challenge and being the encouragement that you are!

God Bless You, Joe

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After just two weeks going sugar free, the biggest benefits I get are:

• Less muscle pain.

• Better sleeping at night.

• More energy.

• Clearer thinking. That is the number one reason I’ve gone without sugar. Sugar fogs my brain. After just two weeks going sugar free, I can think clearly, process difficult decisions effortlessly and remember much better.

• I simply function more efficiently.

Again, thank you for the 30 days plan. I think it’s great!

Yours truly,

Julia M

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I just finished the 30 day Sugar Free Days. I really enjoyed having someone who knew what I was going through. I thought I had been sugar free for three months before I started your program, but I didn’t realize how many products I was eating contain sugar by a different name. I would go to my computer each morning before breakfast to read your encouragements. I learned a lot from your e-mails and printed some out for reference.

I am pre diabetic and my blood sugar was in the 100-115 range when I started four months ago. It has only been in the low 90?s for the last week, for which I am grateful to you. I didn’t think I could get it down without medication. I am having my cholesterol checked on Monday. I am hoping for the same result.

Thank you very much,

Marion

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Does eating sugar give you a headache? The sugar headache, otherwise known as the Holliday Headache (because we eat so much sugar on Easter, Halloween, Christmas and other holidays) has a lot in common with a hangover headache but it strikes any time year when we overdo sugar.

While most have experienced a sugar headache at some time in their lives it is not well known in medical circles. It might even surprise you to learn that the exact causes of all headaches are a bit of a mystery. Migraines and cluster headaches are thought to be vascular (having to do with blood flow) but how blood changes create a headache is unknown; the same is true of the sugar headache.

I view the sugar headache as a toxicity or dehydration event and while it might be an annoyance it could also be the sign of something more dangerous. Let’s look at dehydration ad toxicity and see how they might cause a headache.

Sugar Dehydration

Dehydration is a common way to get a headache and sugar can lead to dehydration. Eating too much sugar dehydrates your body in two ways.

• Dilution: When you eat too much sugar, your body has to dilute that sugar to keep it from harming your body. This means that water is being pulled from all parts of your body to balance the large amount of sugar in your blood stream. While this water-pulling effect happens all over the body, it is your head that suffers the most.

• Urination: One of the ways that your body has of getting rid of excess sugar is to dump it in your urine. This is especially true of diabetics, who have to go to the bathroom a lot.

Toxicity

The other way to think about sugar is to consider it a toxic event. While your body runs on glucose (a simple sugar) it was never meant to have a ton of simple sugars running around in the blood. If you look to nature, you would find that there are almost no foods that contain the high amount of sugar you would find in a soda or piece of cake. If natural foods do contain a high amount of sugar it is often bound up and hard to get to (like in a sugar cane). The only way to get a large amount of sugar into your body is to have that sugar processed before you put it in your mouth. Processed sugar or processed grains both act like sugar in your body and this is toxic to the very blood cells that carry the sugar throughout the body. (I explain this at length in my book Sugarettes).

Something Worse?

Sugar headaches can also be a warning. If you get sugar headaches often, you might just be diabetic or pre-diabetic. The best way to find out if you are diabetic is to go and see your doctor and have them run some blood tests, but here are the typical symptoms of diabetes:

• Excessive urination: As I mentioned above, sugar acts like a diuretic and will spill sugar and water into the urine. Having to urinate a lot is often one of the first signs of diabetes.
• Excessive thirst: Since diabetics are losing a lot of water (see above), they are often thirsty all the time.
• Excessive hunger: Everyone has periods of time when they are hungry, but diabetics are hungry all the time (with strong cravings for carbohydrates, sweets and sugar). This is one of the strange things about diabetics: They have a lot of sugar in their bodies, but it is not being used by the cells so they are hungry all the time.

Sugar Headache

The reasons why sugar gives you a headache are many and not readily understood. But you don’t have to wait for a reason to stop the pain in your head.

You can stop your sugar headaches and give sugar the boot by trying my 30 Sugar Free Days Program. During the program, you will learn about foods that act like sugar and what you can do about your cravings. Make sure you understand that sugar is doing more harm to your body than just giving you a sugar headache, take this opportunity to learn from your headache that you shouldn’t be putting large amounts of sugar in your mouth and you need to make a change.

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I’ve pondered this question a lot. My kids suggest that “they” should make broccoli taste good if they want people to eat it. And while I’m sure there is at least one scientist out there trying to make broccoli taste like cotton candy, I think that understanding how our taste buds work and what we can do to manipulate our tastes will go much farther to getting good foods on our plates than any genetically altered broccoli.

There are two reasons why foods that are good for you don’t also taste good. Let’s take a look.

Your Taste Buds Have Been Altered

The first reason why everything that is good for you tastes like cardboard is because your taste buds have been altered. The question you have to ask yourself is who changed your taste buds? The quick answer to that question is : The food you eat. If you are like most people, the food you eat is all high in fat, sugar, and salt and when you eat foods that are all high in sugar, fat and salt your taste buds change.

The easiest way to understand this is to imaging that everything you drink is either vodka or whisky. Imagine if you had been drinking vodka or whisky ever since you were a child. How do you think water would taste to you? When you are drinking a high-octane drink like hard alcohol for your whole life, your taste buds get used to it and everything else is going to taste bland and boring.

Your Addictions Run Your Life

The second reason why everything that is good for us doesn’t taste good is that many of the foods you eat you are addicted to. Foods like sugar, milk and milk products, coffee and even meat all have addictive qualities to them. When you eat a food that you are addicted to it changes your brain in some way; it usually makes you feel better. Broccoli will not do this.

We are attracted to sugary-salty-fatty foods in ways that we aren’t attracted to carrots, apples and Brussels sprouts.

Read more about sugar addiction here: Are you addicted to sugar?

Double Whammy

When all the foods you are eating are super strong tasting (like whisky) then of course you are going to think that real and fresh foods taste like junk. But just as if you were drinking alcohol every day, your body is ruined by these foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt. If you add the mood-altering aspect of your food addictions and you are guaranteed to never put something fresh in your mouth.

What Can You Do?

While you probably don’t believe me, your tastes can change. The only way they are going to change, though is to stop eating foods high in sugar, fat and salt. All you need is a few weeks away from the super strong tasting foods before your taste buds come back and you start enjoying the sweetness of foods like carrots or avocados (yes, these are sweet foods).

While it is difficult, you can do it (see my 30 Sugar Free Days Program for help) and once you make the transition from processed foods to real foods your taste buds will change back and you will find yourself enjoying foods like broccoli once again.

Take the plunge and try the 30 sugar free days challenge:

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The newest study in rats on sugar addiction paints a complete picture of sugar addiction, from binging, craving to alterations in brain chemistry seen in other addictions.

Read the whole article here: Study Suggests Sugar May Be Addictive.

Remember that we are starting a 30 Sugar Free Days challenge in January and we invite you to join us!

Sugarettes, the book about sugar addiction is availble on Amazon.

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Sugar cravings can be awfully hard to break, but luckily there are comforting ways to help us through our sugar habit.

Most people shrug off sugar cravings as a lark or something to laugh at, but for anyone who has ever tried to kick their sugar habit, sugar cravings are anything but a laughing matter. Sugar cravings can be very intense and drive us to eat more than we want to (sometime when we are not even that hungry) and binge on certain foods. Scientists are just now discovering how serious sugar cravings can be and are conducting experiments that show sugar craving to be every bit as powerful as cravings for drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

Sugar Cravings Get Complicated

Here is the strange things: sugar cravings can carry over from sugar itself to foods that act just like sugar in your body. These foods, mostly grains and starchy vegetables (see: foods that act like sugar ), cause your blood sugar to rise just as if you were eating sugar. So, while you might want to stay away from sugar for your health, you need to include these foods that act like sugar if you really want to make an impact in your health; otherwise, you are just trading one sugar for another.

Check out my 30 Days Sugar Free Days Program that you can join if you want to try to stop all sugar and foods that act like sugar.

Cravings are also your body’s way of directing you towards foods that your body needs. The only problem is that once you become addicted to something, your cravings have gone haywire. Do you think that a smoker should follow their cravings to smoke, or an alcoholic to drink? Probably not. Likewise, your sugar cravings can often lead you astray.

Where Can You Find Comfort?

By now, you are scratching your head. Not only is sugar addicting, but there are also many other foods that act like sugar in the body and, while you may have cravings, you can’t really follow them. I’m willing to bet that every single one of your traditional comfort foods are either a sugar food, or a food that acts like sugar in your body. What are you to do?

Here are where you can still find some comfort:

• Okay, this is going to sound a bit silly, but sugar cravings come from, well… eating sugar. The more that you eat, the more that you are going to crave. I have a name for this and I call it the “sugar magnet”: once you put sugar into your mouth, more is going to want to follow. So, to avoid many of these cravings, you have to avoid the sugar.
• It is your brain that is telling you that you need to have sugar, not your body. Your brain has a set of chemicals called neurotransmitters that are involved in all sorts of brain messaging, including cravings. These neurotransmitters can be manipulated by what you eat. A diet that has plenty of good proteins and vegetables provides the raw materials for good neurotransmitters. By eating the right foods for your body, you cravings will lessen.
• Eat often: eating many small meals throughout the day is one of the best ways to keep cravings at bay. You might think that this will cause you to gain weight, but, in fact, the opposite is true: eating many small meals throughout the day can actually boost your metabolism.
• Sugar cravings also come from high spikes in blood sugar. Staying away from foods that act like sugar keeps your blood sugar more steady throughout the day and keeps the craving monsters away. There are many foods that you can eat that don’t affect your blood sugar at all: see the list of Below the Glycemic Index Foods.
• Comfort foods: Comfort foods generally have to characteristics: fatty and sugary. Look for hearty soups, stews, meals with plenty of good proteins (beef, poultry…). Things like peanut butter and beans can have the creamy, fat, sugary kind of taste you are looking for.
• If you find that you absolutely need something like a potato or grains, make sure that you are eating them near other low-sugar foods.

Kicking and Comforting

Trying to kick the sugar habit and finding your comfort foods can sometimes seem like opposite goals, but they really aren’t. Both are steps you trying to make to take care of yourself — only keeping sugars and foods that act like sugars out of your life actually accomplishes that goal. Many people report that their traditional comfort foods aren’t that at all, they may taste good for a while, but then they make us feel bad later. Find the true comfort foods, the foods that really feed your body what it needs, you will feel better much sooner than taking the old way.

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