Is sugar really that evil?

rosebette

I have a few friends who are of normal body weight and fairly healthy who are really focused on sugar intake for themselves and their children. I don't mean not eating sweets and baked goods and packaged stuff like pop tarts, but not buying orange juice anymore for their families, not eating sweetened yogurts, giving up cereal, and even limiting fruit intake. They talk about how eating more than two tablespoons leads to sugar addiction, type II diabetes, etc. I'm married to a diabetic myself, so there are certain things I naturally don't keep in my house, and he has to track his sugar. However, he is overweight and has a genetic history of type II in his family.

For myself, I still eat cereal that has some sweeteners, eat a protein or granola bar that has some sugar for a snack, and I don't limit fruit, and will even eat some canned or jarred fruit if it's canned in juice. The only reason I don't drink orange juice is that it has too many calories and I'd rather eat an orange. Am I putting myself at risk even with that level of sugar intake? I don't have diabetes in my family, and I am for the most part eating within my calorie limits. I haven't been tracking my sugar macros because I have been more concerned with fat and cholesterol, since that's a health issue for me.

4legsRbetterthan2

for most people eating a reasonable diet sugar is not an issues, there are plenty of medical issues that may cause you to need to worry about your sugar intake, but if you don't have one then carry on