My sister got a mid-30s scare from her doctor last year: She was on the verge of becoming diabetic. She wasn't overweight but she did take in a lot of refined sugar. She immediately cut out any processed foods made with refined sugar, and started drinking nothing but water. She sold her Keurig coffee machine and gave up her beloved sweet tea. Within a few months she lost 20 pounds and said she felt more "alive" and more productive. She actually seems too skinny now but she looks 10 years younger and her doctor is pleased with her results.

Around the same time, I greatly reduced my caloric intake from refined sugary foods, replacing sweets with fruits and trying to eat less processed foods. I love to cook so that made it easier. I too lost around 25 pounds but over a much longer six month period (I also had much more to lose than her, being overweight at the time).

So yes, cutting out refined sugar seems to have some really positive results over here.

"It worked, and since then I’ve remained a healthy weight primarily by making sure I count my calories, don’t overeat, and get regular exercise."

Losing 12 pounds in 2 weeks is not "healthy" weight loss, especially for someone who is already at a "healthy weight."

Weightloss over a long period of time is "calories in" = "calories out", but that becomes a matter of will and control, over what your body is going to do (which is not want to lose much weight).

He already had a relatively healthy diet. He was counting calories. The question is will replacing a couple hundred calories of sugar with something healthy, like nuts for example, cause one to lose weight?

The current scientific consensus says no unless there are issues with digestion.

That said, there are other potential benefits and issues. People tend to forget how energy dense sucrose is. Only fats are denser. (incl. nuts which are mainly fat and protein) So whatever you are replacing them with, you will eat much of, unless it is fat or oils. Or you will lose weight.

Sugar contains just 25% more calories compared with cereals while oils and animal fats contain over 2 times more calories. So if one just stops to eat sugar without changing the composition of the food, it is trivial to compensate calory loss with eating, for example, bread made without sugar but with extra oil.

But the article is not about just removing the sugar. As the author discovered, just by giving up on sugar one changes the whole diet. He could no longer consume any junk food and had to start cooking himself. So the real benefits could be in that switch, not in avoiding sugar per se.

> He already had a relatively healthy diet. He was counting calories.

Right. Which makes the 12 lbs lost over 2 weeks very suspect.

> The question is will replacing a couple hundred calories of sugar with something healthy, like nuts for example, cause one to lose weight?

Yes, but with all diets, it will be temporary.

Seriously? That's what you took from the article? The title "how giving up refined sugar changed MY BRAIN" The gist, they had better mental clarity. Unexpected weight loss while maintaining the same calorie intake.

If you want to lose weight, lose weight, He talked about how he lost 80lbs prior to cutting sugar. Eat within your calorie intake, exercise.

No, I simply asked one question that I thought could be crowdsourced. I've eliminated a lot of processed sugars from my diet. At one point I totally quit. I still like sugar in my coffee, however. I wonder if eliminating it will make a difference.

When you replace high calorie foods with lower calorie foods and both are as filling this can happen.

He already had a relatively healthy diet. He was counting calories. The question is will replacing a couple hundred calories of sugar with something healthy, like nuts for example, cause one to lose weight?

this is purely anecdotal, but ive been doing the ketotis thing for a couple years.

seems to me like when you consume calories from refined sugars, the 'hungry' signal never gets turned off. fat calories, on the other hand, are much more satiating. its harder to overeat fats.

i get so frustrated when i hear the 'calories in < calories out' mantra mindlessly repeated in nutrition communities.

its like asking for financial advice, and getting "as long as you aren't spending more than you are making, you'll get rich. it's simply $i/$o." as your answer.

maybe its technically correct, but its certainly not helpful. more importantly, it doesnt address WHY some people overeat or give any meaningful advice on how to change that.

Not confirmed at all per calorie. What we know is that protein is more satisfying per calorie. In which a ketogenic diet is likely rich.

I lost weight at a similar rate after seeing the documentary "Fed Up". Lost 10 lbs the first week. 40 lbs overall in 3 months. All I did was limit my sugar intake to 25g per day.

Did you permanently maintain it or gain some weight afterwards?

Cout = Cin - Cstored. Cstored is dependent in part on the source of calories, your fitness, ketosis, genetics, etc.

Refined sugar is easier for the body to break down (as opposed to fruits for example which also contain fiber)

Source: my wife