Added sugar reaction

[Sunshyne]

After finishing my Whole30 I decided to do a slow reintroduction of one food group at a time. Basically following the fast track schedule but with more days in between. So February 1st I became loose on added sugar (I.e. had some organic nitrate free bacon which contained some sugar, organic beef sticks but not anything like sweets and such). Yesterday I noticed joint pain starting in my fingers and wrists and I definitely feel “off”.  My appetite has been much lower and I seem to get fuller faster  there have been no other changes to my meals      

What are the chances this could be due to added sugar?  

I have also ate some homemade hummus, but unfortunately this was after the joint pain started. I had a whole different reaction to the hummus ☹️

[TJHigh]

@Sunshyne Me! I think this happened to me - I'm so glad I read this to know I'm not crazy.  Ok, I started with reintroducing wine - the first day I had two glasses at night, and the next two days, just cooking wine in my dishes.  No major symptoms, possibly some increased snacking and general peckishness the day I went back to W30 eating (Saturday).  

Yesterday I reintroduced added sugar- like you, in the form of non-compliant bacon, but also Trader Joe's mini sausages in organic bbq sauce, and sweet pickle relish in my otherwise compliant deviled eggs.  In other words, A LOT of added sugar in one meal.  So last night I woke up around 3 am (or I should say 'was woken up' - I have a little dog that insists on her breakfast verrrrrrry early, so the waking up was not attributable to the sugar, lol).  At any rate, when I woke up my fingers/joints felt incredibly swollen and slightly painful.  I was pretty groggy so really couldn't be sure if I was dreaming, to tell you the truth.   When I woke up "for real" around 6, my fingers felt fine and in fact during the day today, my rings feel loose and I have no joint pain.  I almost convinced myself that I was dreaming the joint pain until I read this!  Exact same thing.

Other than that though, I have no symptoms, not even sugar dragon cravings, and that's after a VERY sweet lunch of caramelized chicken (a vietnamese recipe which is just about as sweet as it sounds, but also very good and nicely balanced with vinegar.)  I have more added sugar planned for dinner tonight (ketchup on my meatloaf and some added sugar in the dressing for my green beans.)  I will definitely report back and see if the joint pain/swelling happens again tonight!  If it does, I will end the added-sugar experiment and call it lesson learned!  

[Sunshyne]

@TJHighhow did the joint swelling turn out?  Mine seems to be decreasing. I’m going to stick with 100% whole 30 until it does. I’ll probably try a glass of red wine next. I’m not a big drinker but would like to know how it affects me.  I do like cooking with it though.  Yesterday I had an afternoon crash which honestly hasn’t happened since first week of Whole30.

[TJHigh]

@Sunshyne I didn’t have any further reactions, I don’t think. I may have a very slight stiffness in my hands, or I could be imagining things lol.  Whatever it is, it’s subtle enough that I think I’m safe adding in moderate amounts of added sugar.  These last three days I’ve really had what would be well-above normal for me.  And what I’ve really learned is I don’t enjoy that much sugar in my regularly prepared foods.  It just makes the foods taste heavier and duller to me now.  I have one more planned day to reintroduce sugar tomorrow, but I’m going to dial it way back- just some sugar in the homemade relish I’m making for my grilled short ribs.  Then it’s back to Whole 30 eating for 2.5 days until I reintroduce non gluten grains with a celebratory night out for paella with my husband!