Several weeks ago, a friend of mine asked her Facebook friends what they suggested to help get rid of her headaches. She was suffering from frequent severe headaches, especially after heavy exertion in exercise. Doctors were unable to diagnose a reason, so she turned to her friends. She received many suggestions, and I almost didn't post anything, since most of my friends don't like to hear what I have to say about health and nutrition, but I decided "what the heck" and told her that I got rid of my severe headaches by eliminating sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Recently she told me that she had decided to take my suggestion, and was surprised (and pleased) how quickly her body responded to the change... no more headaches!
I felt pleased that she had the courage to eliminate sweets, but mostly I was pleased that she found relief from the pain!
I have cut most of the bread and all artificial sugar out of my diet and although I didn't suffer from headaches, I don't have the awful bloating any longer. I would like to eliminate sugar but I am not ready to make the commitment to doing so. I'm doing small things like drinking my afternoon coffee black. In the back of my mind, I think one day I'll quit the coffee all together because that's how the sugar gets introduced into my body first thing in the morning and then it seems like a chain reaction. The thought of eliminating sugar all together makes me think I'm going to have a huge headache for a couple of days. Have you posted in the past about your experience with coming off sugar? If so, will you point me to the post?
ReplyDeleteYour experience does not fall on deaf ears. :-)
Thanks! Susan
Susan, I don't recall posting anything specifically about coming off sugar, but I described it somewhat in "My Story" (one of the tabs at the top of the page), and used a lot of My Story for the this post (Day 282 - Anniversary of Sugarholic Recovery):
Deletehttp://myhealthyeatingchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-282-anniversary-of-sugarholic.html
I described my "one day at a time" process in this post (Day 62 - Sugar Addiction): http://myhealthyeatingchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-62-sugar-addiction.html
I posted some answers to questions about abstaining from sweets in this post (Day 287 - Answering Questions): http://myhealthyeatingchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/10/day-287-answering-questions.html
There are a few other references in posts listed under the Label "Addiction," but the ones I mentioned above are probably the most relevant.
To sum it up... I went one day at a time, and the cravings were gone after about a week. Then I became afraid to eat sugar for fear it would make me sick! (with returning headaches, etc.) After a few weeks, I felt so fantastic, it motivated me to continue.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I appreciate your insights!
--Trudy