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Comment by Diederich | Hacker News Reader

Everything you said.

I've been treating sugar as personal health enemy #1 for quite a few years now.

Note: I am deeply addicted to sugar. It has been absurdly and embarrassingly hard for me to abstain from high sugar foods.

I can eat a healthy, high-protein meal, and be full. Yet 30 minutes later, I will feel hungry again. But checking in with my stomach: still full.

I can eat a few grams of sugar and feel instantly full.

I'm at work and can't take time to cite properly, but I have read some relatively new science about how they have identified some physical structures in the brains of people who are unusually drawn to sugar consumption.

Like you, I have lost quite a bit of weight, and I do eat very little sugar these days.

But it's seriously a daily struggle, and it feels so damn irrational at times.

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I think it feels irrational because these high protein, low carb diets are really meant up be weight loss diets, not the diet of an active human with healthy fat and muscle levels. In that case, whole grains and vegetables, fruits and the like along with the supplemental meats and nuts are normal. If you're genetically disposed, throw in some whole fat, no sugar added dairy.

I think all this confusion arises because what is good to eat is different between an obese person who works a desk job, a bodybuilder, a skinny 5-miles a day runner, and everyone else. People advocate one diet without considering how it'll interact with someone's standing fat and muscle levels, cardiovascular health, and insulin sensitivity.

Actually, I have been hearing more and more about athletes who train in ketosis. It would be especially attractive to an ultramarathon athlete to be able to burn fat for fuel. (This relates more to a high-fat diet than a high-protein diet you mention.)

I've seen a video by Dr. Peter Attia, who was a triathlete, but found he carried a lot of body fat despite his training regimin. https://youtu.be/hB7aGnfLB-8

one issue is that high-protein diets don't regulate blood sugar. If anything, they contribute to the problem as too much protein gets turned into sugar (Gluconeogenesis) and dumped back into the blood.

I started taking a probiotic and strangely lost all sugar cravings. I can send you the brand if you want to try it. I'd be curious if others get the same effect.

Edit: I got so many emails I guess I'll just post it here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JEKYNZA/

Probably within 24 hours I noticed the effect which makes me kind of skeptical, maybe it's some kind of placebo effect, but I've noticed it many times, and if I go off it, the sugar cravings come back within few weeks.

I'd like to know. I've emailed you, but you can always put it here too.

Excess protein intake converts to glucose (via gluconeogenesis). Have you tried restricting protein and upping fat? Somewhere around 60/30/10 to 80/15/5 (fat, protein, carbs respectively) is very satiating.

I would suggest reading "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease" by Robert Lustig.

He goes into the science behind sugary diets and why they are truly so addicting.

I'm talking about, more addicting than cocaine.

> I'm talking about, more addicting than cocaine.

Really? I'm on diet for Candida and sugars are a no-no. And the worst part was a week of headaches (that was in part caffeine induced). I haven't tried cocaine, but I imagine cocaine has more side effects than just that.

There's a lot of info out there about how truly addicting sugar is.

A sample: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2013/10/16/research-...

Yeah, well, I'm not a rat. Just because rats liked side with Oreos as much as they liked side with Morhpine doesn't mean Sugar = Morphine.

Don't confuse addiction with withdrawal.

You do have a point, but saying addiction is worse than cocaine implies it disrupts normal life in greater extent.

That's a great title, and a fitting author's name (Lustig is German for funny).

It's 100% irrational. We just didn't evolve to exist in a world with refined sugar at every street corner. We aren't equipped to make good decisions about it easily, it is a constant battle between our long-term decision making and our natural quest for easy to digest energy.

If all it takes is "a few grams of sugar" to feel full, maybe it makes sense for you to go go ahead and have a bit in addition to your otherwise healthy diet. For me, the key to nutritional success is finding something that's sustainable and being able to listen to your body. And a few grams of sugar here and there aren't going to make or break anything (besides ketosis).

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