'Diet' advice needed - overwhelmed by low carb/sugar/LCHF/carb cycling etc
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Please do not listen to these people who say you can eat whatever you want as long as you have a deficit...
Sugar is horrible for you. There are studies that shows that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. If you look on any food label you'll notice that it does not have the daily value % for sugar. If it did you would constantly see it over 100% on almost all food products with added sugar.
Excess sugar causes your body to produce insulin which stores the the excess sugars as fat.
And as for the arguentment that I saw a few posts up, "sweet potatoes have sugar..." Yes, the name is true... They do have sugar in them, however they also have Fiber in them which prevents your body from absorbing all of the sugar that is in the food. This goes for fruits as well.
Bottom line,
Stay away from process foods, items that say "Reduced Fat" because they will have more sugar in them.
Learn to enjoy cooking and cook fresh food.
Watch the documentary called "Fed Up" it's on Netflix.
I've been doing this no sugar/low carb diet since June 1st and I have lost 25 pounds. Without exercise and I just walk about 10k steps while at work.
Strong misinformation in this post.
[edited by MFP Staff]0 -
Please do not listen to these people who say you can eat whatever you want as long as you have a deficit...
Sugar is horrible for you. There are studies that shows that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. If you look on any food label you'll notice that it does not have the daily value % for sugar. If it did you would constantly see it over 100% on almost all food products with added sugar.
Excess sugar causes your body to produce insulin which stores the the excess sugars as fat.
And as for the arguentment that I saw a few posts up, "sweet potatoes have sugar..." Yes, the name is true... They do have sugar in them, however they also have Fiber in them which prevents your body from absorbing all of the sugar that is in the food. This goes for fruits as well.
Bottom line,
Stay away from process foods, items that say "Reduced Fat" because they will have more sugar in them.
Learn to enjoy cooking and cook fresh food.
Watch the documentary called "Fed Up" it's on Netflix.
I've been doing this no sugar/low carb diet since June 1st and I have lost 25 pounds. Without exercise and I just walk about 10k steps while at work.
NO!!
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Well, this is filled with made up and false claims. A few lowlights:Sugar is horrible for you.
There are no reputable sources suggesting that sugar, in moderation, is bad for a healthy person.There are studies that shows that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
Misleading. What they show is that sugar (like other foods, like other enjoyable activities) cause an increase in dopamine. Drugs are problematic not because they increase dopamine, but because they also tend to interfere with the ability to experience dopamine increases from other activities--why an addict may basically give up the entire rest of his or her life to just focusing on obtaining and consuming the drug in question. Very few people who enjoy sugar are likely to stop eating other foods or interacting with family or, you know, working in order just to consume sugar. It's really quite ridiculous to make this comparison if you give any real thought to it.If you look on any food label you'll notice that it does not have the daily value % for sugar. If it did you would constantly see it over 100% on almost all food products with added sugar.
There is no daily value for sugar in the US, that's why labels don't have it.
Plenty of products with some added sugar (like smoked salmon) don't have all that much at all. For example, that moronic movie Fed Up made a big thing about added sugar in jarred tomato sauce, but when I looked at the overall sugar in a common jarred version (just a serving size, not the whole jar) and my own homemade pasta sauce, which included no added sugar, but tomatoes and lots of other veggies, the total sugar in a serving was the same. So the "added sugar" can't actually be all that much.Excess sugar causes your body to produce insulin which stores the the excess sugars as fat.
This is a misunderstanding. We are storing and burning fat all the time, and insulin is part of this process, but you won't gain net fat without consuming more calories than you burn and, similarly, you will lose net fat if you are in a deficit.
Some subset of people, who are insulin resistant (I personally am not, and you can't assume that anyone here is) may have issues that lead to over production of insulin which tends to make many people hungrier than they would otherwise be. That's something to figure out by experimenting with your diet or, ideally, get diagnosed by a doctor.And as for the arguentment that I saw a few posts up, "sweet potatoes have sugar..." Yes, the name is true... They do have sugar in them, however they also have Fiber in them which prevents your body from absorbing all of the sugar that is in the food. This goes for fruits as well.
No, fiber does not prevent your body from absorbing sugar. (And therefore I get more sugar from eating an apple than one of the chocolate chip cookies in my recipe box.)
Fiber does slow down (not prevent) the effect of the sugar, as does fat, and that is why for some people who may have issues with spiking blood sugar it's useful to eat sugar (really, any carb) with some fiber which may or may not be in the same food as the sugar or with fat and protein. On the other hand, an insulin spike may be helpful in building muscle and this is one reason why people trying to do that may actually include more quick release carbs. And, of course, quick release carbs are quite helpful when fueling exercise. (So often the people who are super anti quick carbs seem not to exercise and to assume the rest of us also do not.)Stay away from process foods
Wait, what? Why are we on "processed foods" all of a sudden. You can get just as much sugar in homemade foods, and lots of processed foods don't have much sugar. And of course the vast majority of foods we buy would count as processed. Why are my steel cut oats (Bob's Red Mill, they come in a bag) or dried lentils or canned tomatoes (no sugar) or boneless, skinless chicken breasts, etc., bad to eat?items that say "Reduced Fat" because they will have more sugar in them.
This is a common misunderstanding. Yes, some reduced fat foods will have more sugar to compensate. Usually these are higher calorie foods (like cookies or salad dressing) where they are trying to reduce the calories or make them seem "healthier," and more often just make them less tasty and satisfying.
But I suspect the most common reduced fat foods that people purchase are things like boneless, skinless chicken breast, low and no fat dairy, lean ground beef, etc. NONE of these foods have sugar added, they just have fat removed. (Flavored yogurt of course has sugar added, but same with full fat flavored yogurt.)
Making these kinds of claims generally just makes me think someone has no understanding of nutrition and can't figure out how to read a label.
So OP, please do no take anything this person says seriously.Learn to enjoy cooking and cook fresh food.
Well, this is decent advice, although nothing wrong with cooking from frozen foods, IMO.Watch the documentary called "Fed Up" it's on Netflix.
I'd recommend against this. Evidence to date is that doing so kills badly needed brain cells.0 -
Lmao. Look at all the hate. A simple google search will show you lots of studies about how horrible sugar is for you. And just Yesterday this was in the news
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/01/globalpost-mexico-sugary-drinks/29554963/
And yes my profiles only shows that I've only lost 8 pounds. It will also tell you didn't start using MFP until about 2 weeks in to my diet. June first I weighed myself at 284.4 pounds, as of this morning I weigh 258.8.
Research for yourself and listen to professionals OP.
Hilarious that I got my flak for saying sugar is bad then the person who said you can lose weight by eating cake only. Morons... Also... Who trolls a fitness community? Seriously?
Thank you for the news article with no peer reviewed study linked..
Also from the article:The American Beverage Association said the study does not definitively show drinking sugary beverages causes chronic diseases, adding "the authors themselves acknowledge that they are at best estimating effects of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption."
Sounds like a lot of estimating.0 -
Mexicans have high rates of those diseases because Mexico has a dreadful obesity rate, even worse than the US, I believe.
Even so there's always a problem with linking health outcomes to obesity--it's tough to do accurately.
This has nothing to do with eating moderate amounts of sugar within one's calorie goal and in the context of an overall healthy diet.0 -
Hilarious that I got my flak for saying sugar is bad then the person who said you can lose weight by eating cake only. Morons... Also... Who trolls a fitness community? Seriously?
Stop, just stop. Nobody here is advocating a "cake" diet.
Sugar is neither bad nor good. It is present in natural and artificial foods in abundance. Obesity comes from overeating calories from all sources, including sugar. Sugar just makes it very easy to get a lot of calories quickly.
A person can have a reasonable amount of sugar from any source in their diet as long as they meet their protein and fat and micronutrient requirements in the process. If they maintain a reasonable deficit they will lose weight and be the happier for it than attempting to exclude huge categories of food because some documentary tells them they're "unclean".
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To the OP: don't overthink it. As long as you don't have a medical condition, it really is just CICO. I just had pizza for lunch like I do EVERY Friday. I had a big fat barbecue sandwich, fries, beer, and ice cream last weekend. And I got on the scale this morning and have lost another pound like I have over the last 1.5 year, making it 52 pounds total. I'm 5 pounds away from goal at this point. I certainly have not followed anything - low carb, low fat, low sugar, low anything.
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janejellyroll wrote: »Monklady123 wrote: »Lmao. Look at all the hate. A simple google search will show you lots of studies about how horrible sugar is for you. And just Yesterday this was in the news
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/07/01/globalpost-mexico-sugary-drinks/29554963/
And yes my profiles only shows that I've only lost 8 pounds. It will also tell you didn't start using MFP until about 2 weeks in to my diet. June first I weighed myself at 284.4 pounds, as of this morning I weigh 258.8.
Research for yourself and listen to professionals OP.
Hilarious that I got my flak for saying sugar is bad then the person who said you can lose weight by eating cake only. Morons... Also... Who trolls a fitness community? Seriously?
Thank you for the news article with no peer reviewed study linked..
Also from the article:The American Beverage Association said the study does not definitively show drinking sugary beverages causes chronic diseases, adding "the authors themselves acknowledge that they are at best estimating effects of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption."
Sounds like a lot of estimating.
Personally I wouldn't trust any study done by the "American BEVERAGE Association" because I think they might be a tad biased against anything that might be negative about drinking sweet beverages.
I think cutting way down on sugar is something many of us ought to do, because we consume too much of it. Period. Soda, candy, sweet baked goods. I don't care if some "peer reviewed" study shows that sugar isn't bad for you. I know that in moderation it isn't. But many many of us (note I'm not saying "all") eat too much of it. Therefore cutting down, or even cutting certain versions of it out completely, helps me to lose weight. I don't need to drink Coke. For me personally I can cut it out. If you (general) you really love that Coke then drink it a few times a week instead of having four every day. Same with anything that we eat too much of.
If you eat too much of anything, reducing it or cutting it will help you lose weight. This isn't specific to sugar.
Yep. And giving generalized advice (like cut down on pop) doesn't help anyone, since you don't know how they are eating. Telling me to cut down on pop wouldn't have helped at all, since I only drank diet.
In this case, OP seems to believe that she should reduce her sugar intake, and that's fine. No one is saying she shouldn't do that, but that she doesn't need to do a special diet (low carb, no sugar, keto, whatever) to lose weight. Obviously when we go to cut calories and figure out what way of eating will help us stay satisfied on lower calories, people will be cutting out excess calories (including from sugar, and maybe especially from sugar if you are someone who eats a huge amount of it) and adjusting their diet to focus more on the foods they find filling.0 -
Removed several posts that were derailing this discussion and opening it back up as until it jumped the shark there was a solid discussion happening here.0
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Carbohydrates are not "bad" this is unsubstantiated. There are simple sugars (table sugar, in sweets etc) and there are complex carbohydrates (rice, bread, potates). You should avoid simple sugars. Eating simple sugars raises your insulin levels sharply and causes fat storage. Complex carbohydrates on the other hand are an essential macro nutrition that should constitute 60% of your total.calories. digestion of complex carbohydraes occurs slowly and releases insulin slowly. why are carbohydrates important? Because gluocse derived from carbs is the primary source of energy for your body, and the prefered source for your brain. A severely low carbohydrate diet will cause health problems including mental problems, nutrirnt deficiencies and possibly ketosis which is dangerous. Much of the weight loss that is experienced on a low carb diet is water loss because when we store carbohydrates in our liver and muscle, water is stored along with it. When your carbohydrate intake is not sufficient your energy levels drop and metabolism drops. This will negatively impact your workouts because you will have less glycogen stored in your muscle. Exercise is the best way to lose weight when combined with a healthy diet. Any overly restrictice diet like very low carbohydrate diets are not sustainable and can feed into a weight loss-weight gain cycle. Sustained weight loss requires a resetting of your metabolism at a higher level, not resetting your metaoblism at a lower level due to temporary starvation. Carbohydrates are not "fattening." For every gram of carbohydrate you consume yields 4kcal. In contrast for every gram of fat or alcohol you consume you get 7kcal. So fats and alcohol are the most fattening and according to food guide fats should only constitute 15 percent of your ttoal kcal. Carbohydrates become fattening when people consume larger amounts of simple sugar, which unfortunately is very typical in the western diet. Excessive amounts of protein can also be converted to fat, and the typical american consumes more protein then needed. So drinking a protein drink when you are not a super athlete doesn't make any more sense than consuming a low carb diet. The problem is all the misinformation out there. If you really want to know how to be healthy take a nutrition class, hire a nutritionist (registered) or I can help0
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jthompson693 wrote: »Carbohydrates are not "bad" this is unsubstantiated. There are simple sugars (table sugar, in sweets etc) and there are complex carbohydrates (rice, bread, potates). You should avoid simple sugars. Eating simple sugars raises your insulin levels sharply and causes fat storage. Complex carbohydrates on the other hand are an essential macro nutrition that should constitute 60% of your total.calories. digestion of complex carbohydraes occurs slowly and releases insulin slowly. why are carbohydrates important? Because gluocse derived from carbs is the primary source of energy for your body, and the prefered source for your brain. A severely low carbohydrate diet will cause health problems including mental problems, nutrirnt deficiencies and possibly ketosis which is dangerous. Much of the weight loss that is experienced on a low carb diet is water loss because when we store carbohydrates in our liver and muscle, water is stored along with it. When your carbohydrate intake is not sufficient your energy levels drop and metabolism drops. This will negatively impact your workouts because you will have less glycogen stored in your muscle. Exercise is the best way to lose weight when combined with a healthy diet. Any overly restrictice diet like very low carbohydrate diets are not sustainable and can feed into a weight loss-weight gain cycle. Sustained weight loss requires a resetting of your metabolism at a higher level, not resetting your metaoblism at a lower level due to temporary starvation. Carbohydrates are not "fattening." For every gram of carbohydrate you consume yields 4kcal. In contrast for every gram of fat or alcohol you consume you get 7kcal. So fats and alcohol are the most fattening and according to food guide fats should only constitute 15 percent of your ttoal kcal. Carbohydrates become fattening when people consume larger amounts of simple sugar, which unfortunately is very typical in the western diet. Excessive amounts of protein can also be converted to fat, and the typical american consumes more protein then needed. So drinking a protein drink when you are not a super athlete doesn't make any more sense than consuming a low carb diet. The problem is all the misinformation out there. If you really want to know how to be healthy take a nutrition class, hire a nutritionist (registered) or I can help
Exercise only helps increase or create a caloric deficit, the deficit itself is the most important impact. Excessive calories make you fat, regardless of source. If you are over your calorie needs, it doesn't matter the type of carbs. Fats are 9 Calories per gram, alcohol 7. Not sure of your source for 15% of calories coming from fat. I doubt most Americans consume too many protein calories per se, they consume too many total calories. What are your qualifications in linking yourself t a registered nutritionist, since some of your guidance so far is questionable?0 -
jthompson693 wrote: »Carbohydrates are not "bad" this is unsubstantiated. There are simple sugars (table sugar, in sweets etc) and there are complex carbohydrates (rice, bread, potates). You should avoid simple sugars. Eating simple sugars raises your insulin levels sharply and causes fat storage. Complex carbohydrates on the other hand are an essential macro nutrition that should constitute 60% of your total.calories. digestion of complex carbohydraes occurs slowly and releases insulin slowly. why are carbohydrates important? Because gluocse derived from carbs is the primary source of energy for your body, and the prefered source for your brain. A severely low carbohydrate diet will cause health problems including mental problems, nutrirnt deficiencies and possibly ketosis which is dangerous. Much of the weight loss that is experienced on a low carb diet is water loss because when we store carbohydrates in our liver and muscle, water is stored along with it. When your carbohydrate intake is not sufficient your energy levels drop and metabolism drops. This will negatively impact your workouts because you will have less glycogen stored in your muscle. Exercise is the best way to lose weight when combined with a healthy diet. Any overly restrictice diet like very low carbohydrate diets are not sustainable and can feed into a weight loss-weight gain cycle. Sustained weight loss requires a resetting of your metabolism at a higher level, not resetting your metaoblism at a lower level due to temporary starvation. Carbohydrates are not "fattening." For every gram of carbohydrate you consume yields 4kcal. In contrast for every gram of fat or alcohol you consume you get 7kcal. So fats and alcohol are the most fattening and according to food guide fats should only constitute 15 percent of your ttoal kcal. Carbohydrates become fattening when people consume larger amounts of simple sugar, which unfortunately is very typical in the western diet. Excessive amounts of protein can also be converted to fat, and the typical american consumes more protein then needed. So drinking a protein drink when you are not a super athlete doesn't make any more sense than consuming a low carb diet. The problem is all the misinformation out there. If you really want to know how to be healthy take a nutrition class, hire a nutritionist (registered) or I can help
This myth needs to be tackled on these forums for once and for all with science. I am so deathly tired of seeing it. I'm going to try to explain this with the simple understanding I have of the process.
Carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of immediate energy. We eat something, it is broken down, and digested. We store fat. Our body functions, does something and calls on its energy reserves (its fat stores) and burns fat. This is a constant back and forth process throughout the day.
Saying that sugar causes fat storage? True. Is it a concern? NO. Because we're only concerned if there's a storage of EXCESS or creation of NEW fat cells. The fact is that the storage of NEW fat, converted from carbohydrates? Is extremely rare. The other fact.....
Excess fat is only stored in a caloric surplus.
One more fact? Complex carbs will be stored as fat too and used for energy and will be stored as excess fat if eaten in a caloric surplus. Just like any other macronutrient.
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jthompson693 wrote: »You should avoid simple sugars. Eating simple sugars raises your insulin levels sharply and causes fat storage.
Simple vs. complex has to do with the molecule and isn't particularly relevant to nutrition and mostly just confuses people (fruits are a simple carb). As for the rest of your claims about sugar and fat gain, I refer to my lengthy post upthread.Complex carbohydrates on the other hand are an essential macro nutrition that should constitute 60% of your total.calories.
Why 60%? There's a wide range of carb percentage that can work for people depending on their individual bodies and preferences. I like doing 40% now, and did about 30% when I was less active, and a number of people do well on a low carb plan, whereas still others do well with higher carbs.Much of the weight loss that is experienced on a low carb diet is water loss
No. The quick initial loss often relates to this (as well as the apparent gain when you go off it), but beyond that it's CICO like everything else. Some people just find lowering their carbs (or going all the way to a low carb plan) to be an effective strategy for them to lower calories.according to food guide fats should only constitute 15 percent of your ttoal kcal.
This is not current advice.
For example, from Walter Willett at the Harvard Nutrition site:
Do I need to watch my percentage of calories from fat?
Willett: No. When you cook or read nutrition labels, don’t fixate on fat percentages. As long as you use healthy fats, and your keep your portion sizes modest, it doesn’t matter if your dish or meal has 30 percent, 40 percent, or more of its calories from fat. The same is true for your overall diet: Don’t worry about the percentage of calories from fat. Focus on choosing foods with healthy fats.Carbohydrates become fattening when people consume larger amounts of simple sugar, which unfortunately is very typical in the western diet.
No, your diet is fattening if you consume more calories than you burn. That's more likely to happen for most if they eat lots of sweets (not some or any sweets), because for many people sweets aren't that filling or their palatability outweighs the natural brakes the body otherwise might put on consumption. The thing to do is realize that and so eat a particular amount instead of however much you might want to or otherwise limit consumption in a way that is effective for you.Excessive amounts of protein can also be converted to fat, and the typical american consumes more protein then needed.
Again, excessive CALORIES will become fat. So don't eat too much.0 -
Granted, I'm not good with anything other than pounds or inches ... But I looked it up on Scooby and 9.4 stone is equal to 131 pounds. Your profile says you want to lose another 28 pounds? Right at underweight for BMI.
Please be open to re-evaluating your goal weight as you progress. Because the goal is to be healthy, right? Please take care of yourself and make sure you give your body all the nutrition it needs!
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"reducing free sugars in the diet has a small but significant effect on body weight in adults - an average reduction of 0.8 kg. Increasing sugar intake was associated with a corresponding 0.75 kg increase in body weight.
This parallel effect, they suggest, seems be due to an altered energy intake, since replacing sugars with other carbohydrates did not result in any change in body weight."
http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e74920 -
"In trials of adults with ad libitum diets (that is, with no strict control of food intake)...", then comes the bit you quoted."reducing free sugars in the diet has a small but significant effect on body weight in adults - an average reduction of 0.8 kg. Increasing sugar intake was associated with a corresponding 0.75 kg increase in body weight.
This parallel effect, they suggest, seems be due to an altered energy intake, since replacing sugars with other carbohydrates did not result in any change in body weight."
http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e7492
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DeguelloTex wrote: »
"In trials of adults with ad libitum diets (that is, with no strict control of food intake)...", then comes the bit you quoted."reducing free sugars in the diet has a small but significant effect on body weight in adults - an average reduction of 0.8 kg. Increasing sugar intake was associated with a corresponding 0.75 kg increase in body weight.
This parallel effect, they suggest, seems be due to an altered energy intake, since replacing sugars with other carbohydrates did not result in any change in body weight."
http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e7492
Bingo! Low-carb diets work by lowering ad lib feeding. It's all about hunger and cravings. Well, and triglycerides, and insulin resistance, and other things too. But for weight loss, low-carb works by reducing hunger.
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