As you probably discovered, but just so everyone’s clear: we can’t eat enough apples at once to overload our liver with fructose, because the fiber in the apples will slow down the absorption rate to something the liver can handle. But we can easily overload the liver with fructose from apple juice, since it lacks fiber. And yeah, children who drink loads of juice and soda are getting fatty liver disease, and some are progressing to worse.
Ancel Benjamin Keys sure has a lot to answer for!
I had the same issue with I cheated with sugar! I could not stop eating it, literally. But it doesn’t happen with artificial sweeteners (which I rarely eat). I can’t figure out if that’s mental or physiological. Maybe when I cheat with sugar, I feel like I really failed, so I throw in the towel and just eat more. And when I cheat with artificial sweeteners, I feel like I’m still sticking to keto so it’s ok, I didn’t fail. OR, maybe it’s actually a physical response to the sugar addiction. I have no idea. Maybe it doesn’t really matter. If I can’t do it in moderation, then I shouldn’t do it at all.
The science writer Gary Taubes, in The Case Against Sugar, ponders whether sugar is a drug, or whether it just acts like one. My answer: Yes!
Haha, seriously!
I’ve even considered moderating myself by eating sweets with an artificial sweetener that I KNOW will give me diarrhea, because that is a very strong motivation to exercise self-control. But so far, I’ve just stayed away from them altogether (with rare exceptions).
I have my 50th Class Reunion coming up this Friday and I know there will be a lot of good ol’ Cajun dishes —both fatty and sweet/carbo loaded — and it will provide quite a dilemma.
On one hand the advice here is to abstain totally and on the other is Dr. Fung’s advice to feast and enjoy, then fast again. Thinking is that enjoying the event is to lower the stress insulin dump.
Go figure. Not an easy choice. There will already be enough peer-related stress at a reunion.
And… then there will be the regular tailgating dilemma for the LSU football game on Saturday.
Sunday can’t come soon enough. And I know that next 24- or 36-hour fast will be painful.
You can bring LOTS of meat to a tailgate and no one will bat an eye! Save the cheats for when they are truly unavoidable.
If I was going to cheat I would cheat with what I really wanted. If I ate that pasta instead of the chocolate I really wanted…I would probably end up eating the chocolate anyway. So in a sense it would be a double whammy.
I am actually a live case of the effects of Sugar on the liver! Keto got all my screwed up liver numbers back into normal range. I have never had alcohol - I dislike it. ALL sugar!
Great post. I can relate so closely to what has been your experience - and self discovery.
Sugar and food addiction is very insidious. It’s only taken me over 50 years to get to the point where I finally give it the respect (and healthy fear) it deserves and don’t dabble in cheating. I am afraid that if I cheat, I will figure I might as well cram in all the things I used to love - just this once - and be off and running for days or longer. Plus, before, if I found I could cheat with seemingly no serious consequences, the next time I wanted to go off was easier to justify.
The thing we can’t see is what goes on in our body when we consume sweets or carbage. I don’t want to put my body or my health through those ups and downs anymore. Now that I’m 60, I want to be around and have quality of life for a long time. That means having to put aside some of the things I used to enjoy - and sadly abuse.
Marianne is spot on the money! THIS!! Do not cheat – That is like an alcoholic saying just one drink won’t hurt --Sugar is just as dangerous and addictive -so avoid it. I was a serious Sugar addict pre-Keto --I have to avoid it not, Forever, simple.
I will be 55 in November, I can totally relate to Marianne’s post above - sugar and foods containing sugar, now has to be avoided. On special occasions I will always stay Keto – in future (on Maintenance) I will make some Keto alternatives but stay Keto, simple =). There are so many Keto alternatives that I do not see an issue =).
Whoo, hoo! You will be an official member of the Cool Kids Club!!!
Agreed! There are tons of alternatives on keto that are totally within plan. I am finding the food choices are endless, especially for those who take the time to make different recipes. I am always amazed by the dishes that people post on the What Did You Keto Today thread. This is no hardship.
I am hosting Thanksgiving this year (honestly, I think it’s been 22 years - I remember by an old boyfriend - d.b.) Anyway, I will make potatoes and probably some sweet potatoes for people who want them, but the rest of it is going to be a keto Thanksgiving - and they won’t even know it. 