How damaging is having too much sugar in your diet?
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For a few weeks in Autumn in the American Midwest, "caramel apples" are a thing around Halloween through about Thanksgiving. Sometimes they are covered with nuts as well.
But having one is a treat. Plain apples or apple slices are still the norm.
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Wait..... you haven't seen a doctor since you were 6? Your parents never took you to your school physicals? The school never asked for records/vaccine records?1
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ilovefood9998 wrote: »Replacing sugar pop with diet pop or water is a great idea. Fruit juice... not as much... Eat your fruit!
Moving beyond that... you are an 18yo at the prime of your muscle building potential. It is crazy to be concerned with reducing a 2200 calorie diet into a 1500 calorie one to lose weight unless you are significantly overweight or obese. Which you have said you aren't.
First I would examine how accurate your calculations are, but beyond that, I would concentrate on increasing movement and exercise, eating a healthy variety of food in normal portions and possibly on strength building exercises as opposed to trying to reduce body weight by reducing food intake.
I am overweight I am 5'9 and around 185-190 pounds I need to be around 150 pounds I have zero muscle mass I want to lose weight first so then i can gain muscle afterwards. I need a calorie deficit in order to lose the weight first and thats why i am eating 1500 calorie. The removal of soda alone is 800 calories less per day. The only exercise I do is walk I can only do around 10 sit ups and the next day I will be aching
I don't know much about the whole muscle-building thing so I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can chime in, but I think perhaps you have this backwards.
If you're overweight you'll have some muscle from hauling the extra weight around. You want to keep that, by eating a decent amount of protein and getting some kind of resistance or strength training. It may be different for you because you're young, and as @PAV8888 said you have great muscle-building potential right now, so perhaps it'll be easier for you to gain muscle later. But the general advice I see given to people on these forums is to try and preserve as much muscle mass as possible while losing, because it's much harder to rebuild it.
(I did not do any strength training, even though I was aware that I should, and I regret it now. I'm 10lbs or so from my goal weight and I'm flabby, it's going to take some work to get me into a half-decent shape! Don't make my mistake. It's hard because I find it exhausting to do that kind of exercise, so I sympathise with you there, but we'll only get better at it by practicing. I don't think sit ups are going to help you very much, so look into bodyweight routines online or join a gym to lift weights if you're able to.)
Also, bear in mind that your body likely isn't done growing yet, so make sure that you give it good nutrition and enough energy even if you are trying to lose some weight. Don't give yourself health problems in the future by skimping on this now.
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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."ilovefood9998 wrote: »Yes, the withdrawal is literally killing me.
- Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
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quiksylver296 wrote: »I switched my sugar tracker on here for fiber. I have no medical issues that require me to track my sugar. Sugar is a carb. Carbs are already tracked.
I switched sugar for fiber also.
I am diabetic managed by diet and exercise. I do not take insulin so I do not need to know how much sugar is in a particular meal. As a diabetic, TOTAL carbs is the one number I need to be aware of to manage my disease (no more than 160 grams per day, spread out over 4-5 meals). As the daughter of a man who died of colon cancer, fiber is a very important number to pay attention to. Sugar has no importance at all, except where it adds to the total carbs.
I did this and also switched fat to sodium because I realized Im not ready to stop eating way too many g of fat - if I die, I die. Meh. lol2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. It contains vitamins and fibre. Sugary drinks are one of the worst things you can consume. Liquid sugar and empty calories with no nutritional value at all.
But the diabetes isn't because of sugar. It's much more likely because of your weight.rheddmobile wrote: »It's all fun and games until someone gets diabetes!
Which I did, this past winter, and it sucks, so be happy you stopped now. You're young and more than likely you have escaped any bad effects, but a checkup is a good idea anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Of course sugar causes diabetes. If you consume too much sugar over a long period of time your pancreas gets worn out trying to produce enough insulin to deal with it and the end result is type 2 diabetes. Your liver takes all the excess sugar and turns what the body doesn't need for energy at that moment and turns it into fat. The fat produced is partly LDL cholesterol which in turn blocks your arteries and causes strokes and heart attacks. Your liver also starts to store fat which is not good. The sugar industry has attacked and tried to discredit every scientist who has tried to make this known to society.
No, eating sugar doesn't CAUSE diabetes.
I agree. Excess body fat can also mess with insulin secretion. It's a double edged sword. Over consumption of sugar will contribute heavily to both scenarios. If your level of consumption is under control then fine, no it won't cause type 2 diabetes on it's own. Sadly for some people that's not the case. Type 2 diabetes used to be something associated with age but now people are getting it younger all the time. Sugar is hidden in so much of the foods we eat and manufacturers hide it under the guises of so many different names. They put it in foods specifically aimed at dieters and label them fat free to fool us.
I have never understood the bold - even if you don't know that some of the ingredients are sugar, it says right on the package nutrition label (in the US at least) how much sugar is in the food. How can it be hidden if it's right there on the label?
And there's no food item I could think of where you'd be surprised there is sugar in it and there's a substantial amount.
Spaghetti sauce always gets thrown around.
I don't get that one. But, I've never used jarred sauce, either.
Now SODIUM that I understand being shocked by. Geeze.1 -
Good job on tapering off the sugary sodas. What are you replacing the soda with? Are you drinking more water?
Here are links on sugar's effects on the body:- http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/how-sugar-affects-your-body
- http://articles.mercola.com/sugar-side-effects.aspx
- https://www.liverdoctor.com/is-a-candida-infection-driving-your-sugar-cravings/
Since "one pound / 16 oz" = 3500 calories, right off, if you are not eating these calories back, you will lose one pound a week.
The important thing to keep in mind is that your body will continue to crave sugars / carbs unless you address the underlying cause of the sugar cravings by eliminating the candida overgrowth.
(You can check if you have this by taking a glass of distilled water (it must be distilled, not tap and not fortified mineral water) and spitting in it. Put the glass in your medicine cabinet over night and then look at it the next day. If you see threads growing, it's yeast.)
https://www.candidasupport.org/resources/saliva-test/
BTWs - Yeast is bad... it can lead to cancer...
http://oralcancerfoundation.org/complications/candida/
We are going through this with my youngest brother right now... the yeast was virulent, unrelenting, and he lost his tongue and is being fed via a GI tube. Have a dentist check your mouth thoroughly and DO NOT skip these checkups or neglect your oral health. if you are smoking or chewing or packing - STOP!
I encourage you to also do everything you can to eliminate sugar at this level, address the yeast (if you have it) and work with a nutritionist / medical personnel to obtain a diet that you can live with the rest of your life.
yeast is usually caused by something. diabetes,thyroid issues,inflammatory diseases,people with weakened immune systems(including AIDS). meds,smoking,dry mouth and some vitamin deficiencies can also cause an overgrowth of yeast. it can be transmitted sexually. are you saying he lost his tongue to a yeast infection? or cancer?0 -
There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. It contains vitamins and fibre. Sugary drinks are one of the worst things you can consume. Liquid sugar and empty calories with no nutritional value at all.
But the diabetes isn't because of sugar. It's much more likely because of your weight.rheddmobile wrote: »It's all fun and games until someone gets diabetes!
Which I did, this past winter, and it sucks, so be happy you stopped now. You're young and more than likely you have escaped any bad effects, but a checkup is a good idea anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Of course sugar causes diabetes. If you consume too much sugar over a long period of time your pancreas gets worn out trying to produce enough insulin to deal with it and the end result is type 2 diabetes. Your liver takes all the excess sugar and turns what the body doesn't need for energy at that moment and turns it into fat. The fat produced is partly LDL cholesterol which in turn blocks your arteries and causes strokes and heart attacks. Your liver also starts to store fat which is not good. The sugar industry has attacked and tried to discredit every scientist who has tried to make this known to society.
If this were the case then I would have had diabetes by now with all the sugar I used to consume as a teen/young adult.I would have been fat then too,. I got fat eating too much,and being sedentary, and yes that was a mostly healthy diet then too. as for cholesterol causing heart attacks and strokes,thats been proven to happen in those who have genetic cholesterol issues because the liver cannot process fat/cholesterol properly.It still wont make you fat unless you eat more than you burn.
I am one of those people with a genetic cholesterol issue. I eat plenty of carbs(carbs=sugar). those who are healthy with regular high cholesterol usually arent the ones who have heart related issues(from cholesterol) a lot of that was pushed by pharmaceutical companies to get people on statins,a scare tactic if you will.some of us have to take statins though. oh and my cholesterol is now fine and I still consume sugar and I lost weight.less than 10lbs from a healthy BMI. some people can change their cholesterol issues by losing weight, some with eating less of certain macros and others need to do that and take meds.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I switched my sugar tracker on here for fiber. I have no medical issues that require me to track my sugar. Sugar is a carb. Carbs are already tracked.
I switched mine for iron. My hemoglobin came in at 115 at my last checkup, which is low enough to concern me, but high enough that the pharmacist told me not to panic. I noticed in the reports feature (here on MFP) that I was usually getting way below the RDA. Since I've started tracking it, I've been hitting it pretty consistently. We shall see what the bloodwork is like at the next checkup.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »endlessfall16 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. It contains vitamins and fibre. Sugary drinks are one of the worst things you can consume. Liquid sugar and empty calories with no nutritional value at all.
But the diabetes isn't because of sugar. It's much more likely because of your weight.rheddmobile wrote: »It's all fun and games until someone gets diabetes!
Which I did, this past winter, and it sucks, so be happy you stopped now. You're young and more than likely you have escaped any bad effects, but a checkup is a good idea anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Of course sugar causes diabetes. If you consume too much sugar over a long period of time your pancreas gets worn out trying to produce enough insulin to deal with it and the end result is type 2 diabetes. Your liver takes all the excess sugar and turns what the body doesn't need for energy at that moment and turns it into fat. The fat produced is partly LDL cholesterol which in turn blocks your arteries and causes strokes and heart attacks. Your liver also starts to store fat which is not good. The sugar industry has attacked and tried to discredit every scientist who has tried to make this known to society.
No, eating sugar doesn't CAUSE diabetes.
I agree. Excess body fat can also mess with insulin secretion. It's a double edged sword. Over consumption of sugar will contribute heavily to both scenarios. If your level of consumption is under control then fine, no it won't cause type 2 diabetes on it's own. Sadly for some people that's not the case. Type 2 diabetes used to be something associated with age but now people are getting it younger all the time. Sugar is hidden in so much of the foods we eat and manufacturers hide it under the guises of so many different names. They put it in foods specifically aimed at dieters and label them fat free to fool us.
I have never understood the bold - even if you don't know that some of the ingredients are sugar, it says right on the package nutrition label (in the US at least) how much sugar is in the food. How can it be hidden if it's right there on the label?
And there's no food item I could think of where you'd be surprised there is sugar in it and there's a substantial amount.
Probably not surprised that there is, but usually surprised about the amount. That's one of the factors that make people fat. They underestimate. Kinda like, regular whole apple is under-tasty. Caramel, choco covered apple is the standard.
Really? Where are carnival-type candied apples standard over regular ol' apples?
At Mrs. Prindables.
I think @endlessfall16 is extrapolating the existence of candied fruit to somehow mean that's the typical way they're eaten. Perhaps specific to the US?
If so, I've never experienced that. The only time I've seen that kind of treat widespread is on a holiday when it seems like everyone is gifted (or gifting) treats - candied fruit included.
I'm in the US and the last time I saw someone eating candied fruit was around Christmas. One of my co-workers brought dried apricots dipped in chocolate, but that was definitely a special holiday thing. I can't remember the last time I saw it before that. Day-in-day-out, the people I see eating fruit are just eating regular old undipped and uncandied fruit.
Once a week, I make dessert and I try to make it something that I can enjoy during the week if there are any leftovers. Meaning, shooting for about 200 calories or less per serving. So, more than a few of my recipes are... not candied fruit, but boozy fruit. And sometimes, a bit of both. Like if you take 4 seedless oranges and peel and section them, then pour a blend of 1/4 cup (60 mls) orange liquer or brandy and 1/2 cup (120 mls) orange marmalade over them and refrigerate? 8 servings at about 100 calories each.
(This week, I just made apple sauce in the crock-pot, though.)4 -
I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.0 -
nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
Water has no nutrients either and if your body doesn't know how to digest the fake sugar, it'll just pass through your system without impact. As far as your last point, I've heard it before, but I've been drinking diet pop for 30+ years and I've got much more of a "salt" tooth than a sweet one, so... ymmv?9 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. It contains vitamins and fibre. Sugary drinks are one of the worst things you can consume. Liquid sugar and empty calories with no nutritional value at all.
But the diabetes isn't because of sugar. It's much more likely because of your weight.rheddmobile wrote: »It's all fun and games until someone gets diabetes!
Which I did, this past winter, and it sucks, so be happy you stopped now. You're young and more than likely you have escaped any bad effects, but a checkup is a good idea anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Of course sugar causes diabetes. If you consume too much sugar over a long period of time your pancreas gets worn out trying to produce enough insulin to deal with it and the end result is type 2 diabetes. Your liver takes all the excess sugar and turns what the body doesn't need for energy at that moment and turns it into fat. The fat produced is partly LDL cholesterol which in turn blocks your arteries and causes strokes and heart attacks. Your liver also starts to store fat which is not good. The sugar industry has attacked and tried to discredit every scientist who has tried to make this known to society.
No, eating sugar doesn't CAUSE diabetes.
I agree. Excess body fat can also mess with insulin secretion. It's a double edged sword. Over consumption of sugar will contribute heavily to both scenarios. If your level of consumption is under control then fine, no it won't cause type 2 diabetes on it's own. Sadly for some people that's not the case. Type 2 diabetes used to be something associated with age but now people are getting it younger all the time. Sugar is hidden in so much of the foods we eat and manufacturers hide it under the guises of so many different names. They put it in foods specifically aimed at dieters and label them fat free to fool us.
I have never understood the bold - even if you don't know that some of the ingredients are sugar, it says right on the package nutrition label (in the US at least) how much sugar is in the food. How can it be hidden if it's right there on the label?
And there's no food item I could think of where you'd be surprised there is sugar in it and there's a substantial amount.
Spaghetti sauce always gets thrown around.
I don't get that one. But, I've never used jarred sauce, either.
Ask any Italian Grandmother - a pinch of sugar is in their homemade sauce.2 -
nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
I will agree that drinking water is the best thing for you.
However what's even better is... success!
So if the OP can switch from pop to water, great; but switching from normal pop to diet pop means less calories and (a few) less dental cavities and for many people the second switch has a higher chance of success.
I am assuming a desire for fizz or caffeine or something sweet without the calories hence the suggestion to drink some diet pop instead. But again: more power to water (and cheaper too is using tap water) if the OP goes that way!
As for diet pop not being good for you, that is more interesting. It absolutely is void of nutrients... and so is water... well, water has some trace elements... and so does diet pop which is just flavoured and fizzed water!
I always have some trouble understanding the "fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest" argument... that's exactly WHY we eat fake sugar. BECAUSE we can't digest it. You get the taste and you don't get the calories. Win-Win baby! <-- if it was digestible, then it would be converted to energy and fail in its most basic function, that of being calorie free!12 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »endlessfall16 wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »There's nothing wrong with eating fruit. It contains vitamins and fibre. Sugary drinks are one of the worst things you can consume. Liquid sugar and empty calories with no nutritional value at all.
But the diabetes isn't because of sugar. It's much more likely because of your weight.rheddmobile wrote: »It's all fun and games until someone gets diabetes!
Which I did, this past winter, and it sucks, so be happy you stopped now. You're young and more than likely you have escaped any bad effects, but a checkup is a good idea anyway.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Of course sugar causes diabetes. If you consume too much sugar over a long period of time your pancreas gets worn out trying to produce enough insulin to deal with it and the end result is type 2 diabetes. Your liver takes all the excess sugar and turns what the body doesn't need for energy at that moment and turns it into fat. The fat produced is partly LDL cholesterol which in turn blocks your arteries and causes strokes and heart attacks. Your liver also starts to store fat which is not good. The sugar industry has attacked and tried to discredit every scientist who has tried to make this known to society.
No, eating sugar doesn't CAUSE diabetes.
I agree. Excess body fat can also mess with insulin secretion. It's a double edged sword. Over consumption of sugar will contribute heavily to both scenarios. If your level of consumption is under control then fine, no it won't cause type 2 diabetes on it's own. Sadly for some people that's not the case. Type 2 diabetes used to be something associated with age but now people are getting it younger all the time. Sugar is hidden in so much of the foods we eat and manufacturers hide it under the guises of so many different names. They put it in foods specifically aimed at dieters and label them fat free to fool us.
I have never understood the bold - even if you don't know that some of the ingredients are sugar, it says right on the package nutrition label (in the US at least) how much sugar is in the food. How can it be hidden if it's right there on the label?
And there's no food item I could think of where you'd be surprised there is sugar in it and there's a substantial amount.
Probably not surprised that there is, but usually surprised about the amount. That's one of the factors that make people fat. They underestimate. Kinda like, regular whole apple is under-tasty. Caramel, choco covered apple is the standard.
Really? Where are carnival-type candied apples standard over regular ol' apples?
At Mrs. Prindables.
I think @endlessfall16 is extrapolating the existence of candied fruit to somehow mean that's the typical way they're eaten. Perhaps specific to the US?
If so, I've never experienced that. The only time I've seen that kind of treat widespread is on a holiday when it seems like everyone is gifted (or gifting) treats - candied fruit included.
I'm in the US and the last time I saw someone eating candied fruit was around Christmas. One of my co-workers brought dried apricots dipped in chocolate, but that was definitely a special holiday thing. I can't remember the last time I saw it before that. Day-in-day-out, the people I see eating fruit are just eating regular old undipped and uncandied fruit.
Once a week, I make dessert and I try to make it something that I can enjoy during the week if there are any leftovers. Meaning, shooting for about 200 calories or less per serving. So, more than a few of my recipes are... not candied fruit, but boozy fruit. And sometimes, a bit of both. Like if you take 4 seedless oranges and peel and section them, then pour a blend of 1/4 cup (60 mls) orange liquer or brandy and 1/2 cup (120 mls) orange marmalade over them and refrigerate? 8 servings at about 100 calories each.
(This week, I just made apple sauce in the crock-pot, though.)
Sounds soo good.
It's a pain in the crack for us to eat fruits straight also so we tend to blend them up with ice and a bit of sweeten juice. For me personally I add some coconut rum.2 -
nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
we cant digest certain fiber either,it passing through our bodies, does that make it bad too? and I drink diet pop and have no sugar cravings,but thats me, for some they may.5 -
nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
I drink a few diet sofas a week and my health is fine...
And who drinks diet does for nutrients???7 -
Love the Minions. That one is "Dave"! Ha!Verity1111 wrote: »
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."ilovefood9998 wrote: »Yes, the withdrawal is literally killing me.
- Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
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nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
I will agree that drinking water is the best thing for you.
However what's even better is... success!
So if the OP can switch from pop to water, great; but switching from normal pop to diet pop means less calories and (a few) less dental cavities and for many people the second switch has a higher chance of success.
I am assuming a desire for fizz or caffeine or something sweet without the calories hence the suggestion to drink some diet pop instead. But again: more power to water (and cheaper too is using tap water) if the OP goes that way!
As for diet pop not being good for you, that is more interesting. It absolutely is void of nutrients... and so is water... well, water has some trace elements... and so does diet pop which is just flavoured and fizzed water!
I always have some trouble understanding the "fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest" argument... that's exactly WHY we eat fake sugar. BECAUSE we can't digest it. You get the taste and you don't get the calories. Win-Win baby! <-- if it was digestible, then it would be converted to energy and fail in its most basic function, that of being calorie free!
The only problem is, several studies have found that swapping to diet soda leads to long term weight gain, not loss, for most people, because it causes cravings which leads them to eat more calories. It would be nice if diet soda led to diet success, but there's evidence this is not usually the case.1 -
nickiphillips1 wrote: »I would not trade diet soda for regular soda. Diet soda is not good for you either. There are no nutrients and the fake sugar is not a substance your body knows how to digest. Also, it makes you crave sugar.
Why not drink water. Water is the best thing for you.
I drink a few diet sofas a week and my health is fine...
And who drinks diet does for nutrients???
It's a flavor carrier for caffeine.2
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