Miryam Ehrlich Williamson, author of Blood Sugar Blues, says she knows of people “who were unable to lose weight, and some who actually gained, on a low-carbohydrate diet that included liberal use of sugar substitutes.” Her hunch is that some people are conditioned to pump insulin whenever they taste something sweet, just as Pavlov’s dog learned to salivate when it heard a bell.6
Blood sugar and insulin spikes aren’t the only concern with these sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners were first introduced as saccharin, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It was later packaged under the brand name Sweet ’n’ Low and in 1977 it was found to cause bladder cancer in lab animals. Because of public outcry it was not banned; it now comes with a cancer-warning label.
The most widely used artificial sweetener today is aspartame, popularly known as Equal or NutraSweet. Though more research may need to be done, current data collected from thousands of reports indicates that it may contribute to headaches, mood changes, neurological disorders, seizures, and brain tumors.7 And if that’s not enough of a deterrent, it doesn’t appear to help with weight loss either. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity, monitored fourteen women on weight loss diets who were given drinks of aspartame-sweetened lemonade, sucrose-sweetened lemonade, and carbonated mineral water on three separate days. The women ate significantly more food when they drank the aspartame-sweetened beverages.8
One of the latest and most popular artificial sweeteners is sucralose; sold under the brand name Splenda. To make sucralose, three components of a sugar molecule are replaced with three chlorine components. It is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and has no calories; the body doesn’t recognize it or know what to do with it because of the molecular changes.
There’s also another new substitute marketed under the name Sweet One. This sweetener is derived from vinegar and has a similar molecular structure as saccharin with no caloric value.
It’s too soon to know if these new sweeteners produce unhealthy effects in the body or if they cause people to eat more food. But why be a human test case with sugar substitutes the body can’t recognize or use? It appears that every other artificial substitute that has been studied has had adverse effects on the body; it’s wise to stick with natural sweeteners the body can recognize.
The Worst Carbs
Alcohol: wine, beer, hard liquor
Chips and crackers made with refined flour
Breads made with refined flour/pizza dough
Bagels and most muffins
Pasta
White potatoes
Cookies
Cakes and pastries
Candy
White rice/rice cakes
The Glycemic Response
The Glycemic Index was developed by David Jenkins in 1981 to measure the rise in blood glucose after consumption of a particular food. This index shows the rate at which carbohydrates break down to glucose in the bloodstream. Test subjects are given a specified amount (50 grams) of carbohydrate in a test food and then their blood glucose is measured over a period of time to see how it is affected. The blood sugar response is compared to a standard food, usually white bread, and a rating is given to determine how blood sugar is affected.9
Though the glycemic index provides some insights as to how foods react in our bodies, there are numerous inconsistencies in connecting this index with the actual physical response. Due to this fact, some researchers have been attempting to determine the relative glucose area (RGA) of foods, which explains some of the inconsistencies in the glycemic index.10
Different carbohydrates take different pathways in the body after digestion. For example, some starchy foods are bound by an outer layer of very complex starches like the legumes (beans, lentils, split peas), which increases the time it takes for them to be digested. So even though legumes are relatively high in carbohydrates, they have a lower glycemic response because of their complex encasing.
Carrots are another example of glycemic inconsistency. If a person consumes 50 grams of carrots, which are required for the test, they’ve eaten about five cups of carrots. Not many of us would eat that many carrots. And even in that high quantity, carrots are still in the low glycemic category, just a little higher than many other vegetables.
There is also the antioxidant potential of foods to consider, meaning the amount of antioxidant nutrients a food contains, like beta carotene and vitamin C, that are abundant in many fruits and vegetables. Carrots and beets (very rich in beta carotene) are often targeted as vegetables we should toss out with the corn chips, yet carrots are in the low glycemic category and beets are moderate. In Chinese culture, carrots are often used as cooling medicine.11
Carrots, beets, and other brightly colored vegetables are especially important to include in our diet to prevent disease. These days many health professionals suggest we eliminate carrots and beets because of their glycemic rating, but the Coconut Diet does not exclude them because of their high nutrient and fiber content.
The New Glucose Revolution: Complete Guide to Glycemic Index Values (Marlowe & Co.) may be helpful for you to determine the foods that are higher in sugar. It offers the glycemic index value of most foods, and it’s in a small book size you can carry with you for quick reference.
In the Coconut Diet, we have eliminated the foods that are higher on the glycemic index and foods that do not have fiber and turn to glucose rapidly. We eliminate the foods that aren’t rich in nutrients. We also omit fruit for the first three weeks because of the higher sugar content and because many people suffer from yeast overgrowth. This diet encourages foods that do not promote a rapid rise in insulin and, therefore, do not promote fat storage, and foods that are rich in fiber and thus slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream.
What Causes Sugar Cravings?
High-carb foods usually cause the pancreas to overcompensate by releasing too much insulin. This causes blood sugar to swing too low. We feel hungry, moody, and irritable. Other hormones are released including cortisone and norepinephrine. Norepinephrine makes us nervous and stimulates the brain to crave more carbs. So we eat a bowl of breakfast flakes, or a bagel, a cookie, or a bowl of ice cream. And our blood sugar goes up and then way down.
Sugar cravings can also be caused by a yeast overgrowth known as Candida albicans. This condition can sometimes cause uncontrollable urges to eat sweets (one of the preferred foods for yeast). If you suspect this might be you, take the Candida Questionnaire. Also, a chromium (trace mineral) deficiency can cause sugar cravings as can a protein deficiency.
Whatever the root cause, this cycle of carb cravings, blood sugar swings, and mood shifts leads to carbohydrate addiction, insulin resistance, and weight gain. This can be true for many individuals who find it difficult to lose weight. In many cases overweight individuals eat less food than normal weight individuals, but their choices are often simple carbohydrate foods due to carbohydrate, or specifically sugar, cravings.
The past three days my sugar cravings have been gone. I actually didn’t realize it until I was driving today and thought to myself, “I haven’t had any sugar attacks in at least two days.” Recently, the only thing I have done differently was to bump up the amount of virgin coconut oil I was taking. I was getting 2–3 tablespoons per day. Now I am adding 3 tablespoons directly to my morning smoothie (made with stevia, no sugar) and then getting some more with cooking and such. I have been doing this for about a week. The morning energy