Is white/added sugar bad for you?

Carlos_421

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Sugar inherently isn't good or bad.

By itself, it's calorie dense, with limited nutritional value (other than energy). It also tends not to be satiating, for most people.

Hardly anyone eats large amounts of sugar all by itself; most often, it's consumed in combination with starches and fats. (Soda/pop is a notable exception, but even that's often consumed in conjunction with other foods). As an overall way of eating, including the typical calorie level involved, there's plenty to criticize about the so-called Standard American Diet. Sugar is demon du jour.

It becomes a problem if someone eats so much added sugar that it either (1) drives out other needed nutrition in order to maintain appropriate calorie intake, or (2) puts one over appropriate calorie intake in order to get adequate nutrition.

Nutrition is important. Appropriate calories are what determine and drive achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. Healthy body weight is important.

If overall nutrition from one's eating is truly sound, and one is eating the appropriate number of calories, fuss over how much sugar one is eating is just unnecessary drama, IMO.

Organizations like USDA and WHO recommend limiting added sugar. If you go beyond the infographics and read the actual boring detailed words behind them, it's mainly about items (1) and (2) in my 3rd paragraph above.

I think it's more important, useful, practical, and productive to focus on eating nutritious things in an overall sense, ticking all the nutritional boxes, and not so much focus on eliminating particular specific "bad" foods.

P.S. Please be careful not to consume excessive amounts of spinach. It's high in oxalates, vitamin K, and selenium, any of which can be toxic in excessive dosages, especially in interaction with certain prescription drugs.

P.P.S. Please be careful not to eat too many brazil nuts. A single brazil nut provides well over 100% of your daily selenium requirement, and regular consumption of even moderate amounts of the nuts (1oz daily, for example) can be toxic.

P.P.P.S Please be careful not to drink too much water. Hyponatremia is a serious risks, and people have died from overconsumption during endurance events or contests.

Anything else "healthy" I need to warn about?

You're awesome

JoPat409

Funny my endocrinologist tells me to avoid sugar. So me being me. I take to google. Type in Sugar and Non alcoholic Fatty liver. First hit. NCBI study 2018 - that says “ you are not crazy to question the harms of sugar”. I am paraphrasing of course. Point being. Tons of studies that detail the problems with added sugar especially Fructose which is only processed in the liver! But a thread on MFP has pushed the “woo” button on me so The studies and my crazy ideas must be wrong. If it fits your Macros then it’s ok. Doesn’t matter that 40% of the population has a Blood SUGAR disease either type 2 diabetes or prediabetic.

The problem with these threads is that many of the people pushing this idea that sugar is fine are people who are extremely healthy who hit the gym hard. The person just joining MFP reads this and says “see I don’t have to give up sugar the really in shape woman says she eats ice cream”. The avg overweight person has a huge problem with sugar consumption. This just reinforces what has them in trouble in the first place. They didn’t get fat eating chicken and spinich.

And for the record sugar has no nutritional value. It’s an energy source. Use it or get fat.

anb3600

cwolfman13 wrote: »

sarahemily1988 wrote: »

I’ve read that there is no such thing as “good” and “bad” food but I can’t help but to think that refined, white sugar in sweets is bad for you. Your body doesn’t need it to survive. I feel like it causes a lot of health problems and can become very addicting.

What’s everyone’s thoughts on this?

There's no difference between sugar from the sugar cane that has been processed and sugar in fruit and whatnot. Slightly different ratios of sucrose and fructose, but that's about it. People have been consuming sugar in one form or another for thousands of years.


Over consumption of sugar could be an issue and is for many, but it's not really an all or nothing kind of thing. Having a slice of birthday cake on a special occasion isn't a particularly big deal. Drinking multiple 32 oz Big Gulps daily probably is. There's a whole middle ground called moderation.

Where did you source this information that all sugars are equal? Thanks

shor0814

JoPat409 wrote: »

Funny my endocrinologist tells me to avoid sugar. So me being me. I take to google. Type in Sugar and Non alcoholic Fatty liver. First hit. NCBI study 2018 - that says “ you are not crazy to question the harms of sugar”. I am paraphrasing of course. Point being. Tons of studies that detail the problems with added sugar especially Fructose which is only processed in the liver! But a thread on MFP has pushed the “woo” button on me so The studies and my crazy ideas must be wrong. If it fits your Macros then it’s ok. Doesn’t matter that 40% of the population has a Blood SUGAR disease either type 2 diabetes or prediabetic.

The problem with these threads is that many of the people pushing this idea that sugar is fine are people who are extremely healthy who hit the gym hard. The person just joining MFP reads this and says “see I don’t have to give up sugar the really in shape woman says she eats ice cream”. The avg overweight person has a huge problem with sugar consumption. This just reinforces what has them in trouble in the first place. They didn’t get fat eating chicken and spinich.

And for the record sugar has no nutritional value. It’s an energy source. Use it or get fat.

A significant amount of sugar is not going to fit your macros and come in at your calorie limit. If you ignore calories I suppose it is theoretically possible to hit some macro ratio while just eating cookies and ice cream. I have never seen this advocated as an actual recommendation by anyone so it is mostly moot.