what roll does sugar play in weight loss?

NicoleS9

Grubworm1943 wrote: »

ive always believed weight loss was all in the calories in vs calories out. but someone told me today id probably lose more if i cut out all sugar except natural sugars and the occasional treat. does it really make a difference how much sugar i have as long as im under my calorie goal?

Why don't you try cutting down on refined sugars and see? Refined, added, corn syrup, etc aren't necessary nutrients! Read labels and cut down on the sugar grams if you want or are curious.
Are you motivated to try?

lemurcat12

People shouldn't be encouraged to cut sugar (especially when you have no idea how much they are eating, let alone that it's excessive) based on a lie. The claim that you can't lose weight when eating sugar despite being in a deficit is, of course, a lie.

Now, if someone is eating in a deficit and eating lots and lots of sugar, that person might well feel more hungry than otherwise and either figure out (like most with common sense) or ask for advice and be told that replacing some of the sugar with more protein or fat or fiber-rich foods or more volume of lower calorie things could help. I think that's one reason a lot of people start just by lowering calories and end up revising their diets more. But why not be open about the reasons for that and not mislead someone into thinking that they can't lose on a deficit just because they continue to eat some unidentified amount of sugar?

Also, I love the assumption that we all get lots of sugar from products with labels.

Lezavargas

I knew this would end up being a hornets nest as soon as I saw the headline. Excessive Sugar intake may not affect your weightloss but it will certainly affect your health. And I dont think anyone would argue that your body will work at its most efficient when it is healthy and well fed.

lemurcat12

Why are we assuming excessive? It's IME hard to maintain a calorie deficit and be satisfied over the long term while eating excessive sugar. Especially if one also tries to eat a good balanced diet with adequate protein and veggies.

eric_sg61

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why are we assuming excessive? It's IME hard to maintain a calorie deficit and be satisfied over the long term while eating excessive sugar. Especially if one also tries to eat a good balanced diet with adequate protein and veggies.

Because for some people it is all or nothing..........middle grounds do not exist. If a high dose is bad, then a low dose must be bad too

neanderthin

lemurcat12 wrote: »

People shouldn't be encouraged to cut sugar (especially when you have no idea how much they are eating, let alone that it's excessive) based on a lie. The claim that you can't lose weight when eating sugar despite being in a deficit is, of course, a lie.

Now, if someone is eating in a deficit and eating lots and lots of sugar, that person might well feel more hungry than otherwise and either figure out (like most with common sense) or ask for advice and be told that replacing some of the sugar with more protein or fat or fiber-rich foods or more volume of lower calorie things could help. I think that's one reason a lot of people start just by lowering calories and end up revising their diets more. But why not be open about the reasons for that and not mislead someone into thinking that they can't lose on a deficit just because they continue to eat some unidentified amount of sugar?

Also, I love the assumption that we all get lots of sugar from products with labels.

Basically health markers decline as more added sugars are consumed, while keeping calories constant, or at least I haven't seen any improvements in health markers in the studies I've read over the years, and pretty much all of them show detrimental effects, so that could be a reason people feel to demonize it.

Unknown

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lemurcat12

neanderthin wrote: »

Basically health markers decline as more added sugars are consumed, while keeping calories constant, or at least I haven't seen any improvements in health markers in the studies I've read over the years, and pretty much all of them show detrimental effects, so that could be a reason people feel to demonize it.

But then they should say THAT, not that you can't lose weight (which of course you aren't saying). It's like people think they have to trick others into eating healthier.

Also, it ignores the possibility that if eating lots of sugar in a deficit is non-satiating (which I personally think it is for many or most) that sensible people will revise their diet. There's no need to make up nonsense about how you can't lose on even 1200 or 1500 or whatever your deficit calories are if you go over some minimum number of sugar grams.

I think it's certainly possible (likely) that eating excessive sugar is a bad idea, but that requires a discussion of what excessive sugar is.

JoKnowsJo

I am a little late in on this thread, but felt the need to add. The complication and this is strictly me and is entirely my personal experience, is some of us do all the right things, adjust our CICO, adjust our diets, exercise as much as possible and don't see enough of the desired results to keep at it. I'm there, it comes down to how much willpower can one draw on, it becomes a battle mind over body, everyday. I won't say I don't have results, I do however, I am no where near where I want to be. I feel better, have more energy, sleep better, however the scale is not going down at all for me right now which is extremely frustrating. I will make adjustments again, but for some of us this is the constant struggle.

Its a struggle to find the right key, which as shown by the posts above, some find it quicker then others, also that key may not quite fit your particular -- lock so to speak. They found it so they don't understand why some of us have such a problem finding it as well. We are all the same but so very different in how our own metabolisms work, for some of us to see adequate results, where others see it right away. Carb (sugars in any form) control is only part of it, I believe we come to a cross roads where it is either push on with minimal results hoping to attain better results, or throw it all out and start over. I pretty much start over every single darn day...

What I hope to relay is, it's an uphill battle it's not easy and finding the right solution for yourself may take time and it will take a lot of patience on your part to work through issues with diet. With all of the above advice take what you can use, allow for some mistakes and continue until you reach where you want to be there are a lot of us right there with you, believe me.

chancespradlin

Grubworm1943 wrote: »

ive always believed weight loss was all in the calories in vs calories out. but someone told me today id probably lose more if i cut out all sugar except natural sugars and the occasional treat. does it really make a difference how much sugar i have as long as im under my calorie goal?

It really does. Check out the Documentary "Fed Up" It will show you how bad sugar can actually be.

psuLemon

chancespradlin wrote: »

Grubworm1943 wrote: »

ive always believed weight loss was all in the calories in vs calories out. but someone told me today id probably lose more if i cut out all sugar except natural sugars and the occasional treat. does it really make a difference how much sugar i have as long as im under my calorie goal?

It really does. Check out the Documentary "Fed Up" It will show you how bad sugar can actually be.

Fed up is a prime example of where you should not get your information.

jennk5309

For me, it's all a matter of what I can stick to and how I feel. I am on Weight Watchers, and find that my points (think calories) go a lot further towards making me satisfied when I cut out the sweets. Plus when I eat a lot of sugar I noticed I feel like crap and crave even more sugar.

All the people who come to these forums just for the purpose of getting pissy and arguing, please note that I am saying this is MY experience. You all can eat however you want and if it's working for you then fantastic. I do what works for me.

tennisdude2004

eric_sg61 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why are we assuming excessive? It's IME hard to maintain a calorie deficit and be satisfied over the long term while eating excessive sugar. Especially if one also tries to eat a good balanced diet with adequate protein and veggies.

Because for some people it is all or nothing..........middle grounds do not exist. If a high dose is bad, then a low dose must be bad too

Not sure if I caught the gist of your post right??? Apologies if I didn't, but are you saying eating a low dose of sugar is bad?

eric_sg61

tennisdude2004 wrote: »

eric_sg61 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why are we assuming excessive? It's IME hard to maintain a calorie deficit and be satisfied over the long term while eating excessive sugar. Especially if one also tries to eat a good balanced diet with adequate protein and veggies.

Because for some people it is all or nothing..........middle grounds do not exist. If a high dose is bad, then a low dose must be bad too

Not sure if I caught the gist of your post right??? Apologies if I didn't, but are you saying eating a low dose of sugar is bad?

No, I was saying that when some people say something is bad they don't talk about dosage or context. For those people it is all or nothing approach, meaning if a lot is bad then a little must be bad too.

tennisdude2004

eric_sg61 wrote: »

tennisdude2004 wrote: »

eric_sg61 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Why are we assuming excessive? It's IME hard to maintain a calorie deficit and be satisfied over the long term while eating excessive sugar. Especially if one also tries to eat a good balanced diet with adequate protein and veggies.

Because for some people it is all or nothing..........middle grounds do not exist. If a high dose is bad, then a low dose must be bad too

Not sure if I caught the gist of your post right??? Apologies if I didn't, but are you saying eating a low dose of sugar is bad?

No, I was saying that when some people say something is bad they don't talk about dosage or context. For those people it is all or nothing approach, meaning if a lot is bad then a little must be bad too.

Okay!

lemurcat12

jennk5309 wrote: »

You all can eat however you want and if it's working for you then fantastic. I do what works for me.

Who has suggested that people, let alone everyone, should eat lots of sugar? Of course, people should do what they want, of course excessive sugar (again, whatever that means, it depends on more information than we have here) is not ideal for a health/nutrition perspective, of course some people may have psychological issues with eating sweets (not sugar, usually it's sugar+fat) that mean they can't control intake, of course for most eating lots of sugary things (although again often in large part because of the fat calories that go along with it) will make a low calorie limit difficult to stick to.

The question is whether OP, who seems to want to continue to eat sugar at some undisclosed level, MUST cut his or her sugar to lose weight, even at the exact same calories.

Some are saying that calories are what matter FOR WEIGHT LOSS, so if he/she is good with the calories and feels fine, no, no problem

Some seem to want to find an excuse to tell him/her that sugar must be cut for some reason.

The only people telling others how they should eat are those who want to tell the OP he/she must cut sugar to lose weight. The problem with that advice is that it's not true, so some of us feel compelled to correct it. I dislike people spreading false informations, even when it's (I assume) well-intentioned. It's still dishonest.