Mental focus: ADHD, spaciness, lack of focus

Chin-Chin · Post by **Chin-Chin** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 17:58

Thank you RRM.

I'm already feeling so much better about my energy, mood and concentration after an initial week of feeling worse. Just wanted to finetune my energy intake. I'll post the egg yolk questions in the animal food section.

Post by **Oscar** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 18:28

Good to hear that

As RRM indicated, with juices it's pretty easy to control energy uptake. If you can get lots of cheap oranges and a cheapish juicer. I know you don't like oranges, but have you tried OJ with sugar and oil added?

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 21:49

RRM Wrote:

Excess sugar would result in gaining weight, which is not the case at all with this diet.
Sugar highs and lows are bad for concentration.
Constant sugar levels are perfect for concentration. With this diet, you constantly replenish lost blood-sugar, so that its never too much nor too little. (if you do the diet right)

Two issues:

1. Isn't sugar bad? I don't mean sugar in fruits or in foods, but adding sugar to OJ and oil? Has anyone ever stated white or brown sugar? Organic? Everything I've ever heard from a health perspective points to sugar as Bad.

2. I have weight issuses and thank goodness they are dissappearing with my fat- and up until recently I could say I have been including some organic munch foods but, as you know, I had to cut back on my fruit intake in order to lose weight.

How is excess sugar not the case with this diet? Believing everyone say, has a different metabolism/energy needs, and or say they haven't mastered listening to their body- so either naturally (slower metabolism) or habitually (food addiction) one or the other...OY! I''m lost.

There can be a lot of sugar in this diet. I have had to change portion sizes to make this work for me. I don't dispute any findings other than perhaps portions and the addition of more 'sugar'...and other things I'm sure I''ve ranted about elsewhere

P.S. I have lost 27LBS in 3.5 months Yeay! Only about 7 more to go.

nick · Post by **nick** » Fri 28 Apr 2006 22:41

avalon wrote:
1. Isn't sugar bad? I don't mean sugar in fruits or in foods, but adding sugar to OJ and oil? Has anyone ever stated white or brown sugar? Organic? Everything I've ever heard from a health perspective points to sugar as Bad.

With this diet you need to add sugar for energy needs (calorie intake). Just eating fruit would leave you with insufficient calories. Wai recommends table sugar, which is white sugar. They say its bad cause they don't understand energy management. Why do they say its 'bad'.

Your brain needs 125-150 grams of sugar a day.

2. I have weight issuses and thank goodness they are dissappearing with my fat- and up until recently I could say I have been including some organic munch foods but, as you know, I had to cut back on my fruit intake in order to lose weight.

So while you ate munch foods you had to cut back on your fruit intake?
That would make sense. If you follow the diet strictly and the longer you do it, the better you get at listening to when your body doesn't need more fruit or yolks.

How is excess sugar not the case with this diet?

First off, as long you consume on the energy you need at the moment, you won't overconsume on sugar. Then when your sugar-level goes down, you'll eat/sip some more. Your body won't want anymore than it needs. You can tell when your body has had enough.

Believing everyone say, has a different metabolism/energy needs, and or say they haven't mastered listening to their body- so either naturally (slower metabolism) or habitually (food addiction) one or the other...OY! I''m lost.

Exactly. That is the initial challenge with this diet. That is the learning process with this diet. Some people don't put sugar in their fruits but just some fat (oil). While others need more sugar because they are doing something physical which increases the energy need.

There can be a lot of sugar in this diet. I have had to change portion sizes to make this work for me.

What kind of portion change?
You definitely don't just eat a huge fruit salad at time, instead you'll munch on it for an hour or so. Unless you have just jogged a few miles, then you'll need a bigger meal.

I don't dispute any findings other than perhaps portions and the addition of more 'sugar'...and other things I'm sure I''ve ranted about elsewhere

Perhaps you don't need that much sugar compared to others.

P.S. I have lost 27LBS in 3.5 months Yeay! Only about 7 more to go.

Awesome. That is great to hear. I'm trying to get my mom to try this diet for wieghtloss.
Do you walk?

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 00:00

Thanx Nick for your response.

I understand how it can get confusing- I mean my thoughts can go all over the place.

Sugar:

Here's a quote from one page of many. Who's right? I don't know. I tend to believe it though.

Sugar is an unnatural chemical

Why is sugar so devastating to our health? One reason is it is pure chemical and (like heroin) through refining has been stripped of all the natural food nutrition that it originally had in the plant itself.

From this site:

http://www.organicnutrition.co.uk/artic ... or-you.htm

With this diet you need to add sugar for energy needs (calorie intake). Just eating fruit would leave you with insufficient calories.

I understand eating only fruit may be a problem...but I'm uncluding Brazil nuts, egg yolks, sashimi, dried fruit and avocados.

My munch foods are Spinach and Garlic sauted ...but the truth is this might be every couple of days. And I admit to some canned tuna because they're there- maybe once every two weeks when I remember I still have 8 cans since before starting Wai.

Wouldn't it be healthier, since that is really why we're here- to substitue the table 'sugar' with dates or other dried fruit?

I wrote this before- but my menu basically...

1. One banana smoothie for breakfast with oo. Or, another fruit. But limited to one piece. Afterwards I'll drink green tea.

2. snack of brazil nuts

3. one tomato, one half cucmber salad-olive oil lemon juice chives(maybe dash balsamic vinegar. (I never thought I could love this simple combination so much!)

4. Sashimi or egg yolks or- lately maybe steak tartar.

Maybe have a yolk when feeling hungry, or nibble on some nuts or dried fruit.

So really three meals plus snacks(yolks, nuts, dried fruits). When I was having more fruit as wanted/needed- I wasn't gaining, but wasn't losing either.

I have been walking, not long walks, but two walks during the day. When I first started Wai, after my first fruit breakfast, I jumped to my feet and got out of the house and away from the pc. This, was new. I had to move! I didn't spike or anything because I've always balanced the fruit with oil/fat.

Best wishes,
Avalon

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 00:56

Sugar = sucrose/sacharose = fructose + glucose. And that's all we need it for. Just for the energy, not for vitamins or minerals, let alone fats or protein. The more refined the sugar is, the more purer the fructose and glucose. All contaminants have been stripped.

People on a normal diet are concerned about nutrients in food, because their diet doesn't give them enough.

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 04:29

Oscar Darling,

People on a normal diet are concerned about nutrients in food, because their diet doesn't give them enough.

What? Normal? Still I raise the question, why table sugar?

Their study, published in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, shows that excess sugar in the bloodstream stimulates the generation of free radicals, the oxygen molecules known to damage cells lining blood vessels and many other organs.

from:

http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol32/vol32n2/n7.html

or:

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

1. Sugar can suppress the immune system.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
5. Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases).
6. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function, the more sugar you eat the more elasticity and function you loose.

from:

http://www.rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

Now I'm scaring myself.

huntress · Post by **huntress** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 04:50

Avalon

I'm with you on that.

nick · Post by **nick** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 05:38

What? Normal? Still I raise the question, why table sugar?

Eating fruits (avocado, tomatoe and cucumber too), animal food, nuts and olive oil, we may not ingest sufficient calories to meet energy needs, thus our body will breakdown muscle tissue energy. For some with high energy needs, it isn't possible to obtain enough energy from this diet, so by adding extra sugar you can meet those needs. Table sugar is sucrose, which is fructose and glucose. Fructose is eventually converted to glucose.
Does this makes sense?

Their study, published in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, shows that excess sugar in the bloodstream stimulates the generation of free radicals, the oxygen molecules known to damage cells lining blood vessels and many other organs.

"shows that excess sugar in the bloodstream..." is the key part of that study. With this diet you won't be eating more than you need, only when you need it. There won't be an excess of sugar at all.

Also, free radicals are needed to utilize sugar, so perhaps with too much sugar there are too many free radicals originated too?

3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.

Again, there could be too much sugar in their system! Sugar by itself is essential to human functioning and too much can cause uneasiness just as too little can cause anxiety and mood swings. Your sugar-level is closely connected to your mood and stable levels improve focus as well as mood.

I don't too much about the other dangers of sugar that you listed. But I'm sure that there is a connection of too much sugar playing a role.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 09:01

Well, Nick already answered here (thanks!

). If sugar would be bad for your health, then fruit would be too, because fruit also contains fructose and glucose. Sugar is just that, fructose and glucose, nothing more, nothing less. The more refined, which table sugar is, the purer.

Our body needs free radicals, even though today they get all labeled 'bad', like LDL. So the first article isn't valid.

The list in your second link? I'm sure I could create such an extensive list for cholesterol too...

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 13:48

My main goal is to learn.
As I wrote above, In the past few years I've come to believe more accurately, that 'Table Sugar' was a Baddy.

As a note...that list wasn't meant to represent fully any ideas I have on the subject, just examples.

Eating fruits (avocado, tomatoe and cucumber too), animal food, nuts and olive oil, we may not ingest sufficient calories to meet energy needs, thus our body will breakdown muscle tissue energy. For some with high energy needs, it isn't possible to obtain enough energy from this diet, so by adding extra sugar you can meet those needs. Table sugar is sucrose, which is fructose and glucose. Fructose is eventually converted to glucose.
Does this makes sense?

Okay, so for some with high energy needs- such as perhaps yourself and others, for running, weight lifting, keeping muscle mass the extra sugar would be beneficial- like drinking Gatorade as an example. Is this how you mean?

For those interested three more links, last one much more favorable to sugar. The jelly link is fun, simply because it is on a 'jelly'' site.

http://www.jelly.org/myths.html

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxificat ... /sugar.htm

http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/Food_ ... ed_faq.asp

Okay. Obviously there may be some truths here and I'm eager to learn. I still wonder though about the processed aspect. For example if you're leaning towards Paleo and so on- dried fruits would be more natural.

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 13:55

I'm sorry, Pepe the King Prawn wanted to say something.

"Sugar is poison, Okay. It looks like salt but it's sweet, Okay. SWEET OKAY!"

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 14:58

What's always interesting to see, is the accepted view of: sugar/simple carbohydrates = bad, and starch/complex carbohydrates = good. If we look at the simple differences, then simple sugars are mono- or disaccharides, meaning they consist of one or two molecules. In the case of table sugar, this means fructose and glucose. Complex carbohydrates are polysaccharides, and consist of long chains of monosaccharides. So what makes, in the eyes of normal dieters, starches better than sugars? Fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Well, we know we don't need fiber, and that we already get more than enough vitamins and minerals.

huntress · Post by **huntress** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 17:06

Again, there could be too much sugar in their system!

How does this explain the fact that when it comes to eating high sugar fruits, I couldn't stop eating them? Fruits like dates and figs can make me over eat them until I don't need them anymore but I still crave for them. And after cutting them entirely, I was tremendously depressed, immensely fatigued to the bone, and had a hard time concentrating. The same applies to fruits like mango and honey too. I couldn't stop eating them.

avalon · Post by **avalon** » Sat 29 Apr 2006 18:37

Sugar Addiction.

You do it because it feels good; you continue doing it, even when you know it is causing you physical, psychological and social harm, because it feels so bad when you stop.

from: http://www.howtothinkthin.com/instincts1.htm

What's interesting is we've all arrived at Wai with different pasts. Mine includes bulemia, depression and add. I was also developing some cellulite and, after being on Wai this long and losing my weight, I can hardly notice it now.

Generalizations, I am guilty of. I was reading about Orthorexia Nervosa. http://www.beyondveg.com/bratman-s/hfj/ ... e-1a.shtml

I'm afraid I may be the type to become a bit, ehh, of a zelot

My main focus these last few months has been to lose weight. Weight is responsible for 50% of my depression(reasons too long to go into here). I have been learning everything I can about cooked vs raw, egg yolk nutrition, fish meat etc. It's all very interesting and I've been eating it up

but perhaps gorging myself.

I'm not one to stop eating the bowl of fruit when I don't need any more. I finish the bowl. I totally understand the idea of listening to what my body is telling me, but it's not that easy- for me. It's a miracle I'm not binging on junk food. Truly.

"Grateful for that, you are." says Yoda.

Sugar = Danger - for me. Happy that I don't have any around.

Is it me or is the theme of this board more pro 100% Wai, or the old Board more munchy?