Fed Up Movie - hidden sugars
Replies
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I don't take sugar into consideration when I choose foods. I eat a lot of convenience foods - jarred sauce, frozen dinners, bottled dressing, store bought bread. The only time I exceed the mfp sugar goal is on days where I eat a lot of obviously sweet foods. In my experience, all the "hidden sugar" noise even back in the day was overly dramatic and mostly fear mongering.
The average American eats too much sugar because they eat too many sweet treats while eating & drinking too many calories, period.6 -
I eat a salad with peanut dressing. It's a) 2 tbsp (2g of sugar, 3 carb) or b) 2 tbsp (8 g of sugar, 9 carb) or c)2 tbsp (10 g of sugar and 11 carbs). I doubt if a person could tell the difference.0
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I go over my sugar MFP goal a lot.
Because I eat a lot of fruit.
It's the sugar in 'healthy' things that people often find surprising; if I eat three huge pears in a day (which I quite often do, because I like pears and the ones we get delivered at work are massive) then I've had sugar equivalent to two doughnuts. And sugar is sugar.
Of course, the doughnuts are more fattening. But that's nothing to do with the sugar, it's because they're full of fat. And that's the same for chocolate and cake and most other foods that are demonised for their sugar content as well.3 -
I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
60-80 grams of sugar is a lot, even for a sweet food. I really highly doubt it, unless by a meal you mean eating 6 glazed donuts. A savory food with that much added sugar would be inedible. For what it's worth, I get 15 or more grams of sugar a day just from tomatoes without counting anything else, so I do find myself over 40 grams of sugar often.8 -
It’s not necessarily the “secret ingredients” that make us gain weight, it’s eating more calories than your body burns. The things that make foods taste good are naturally occurring in foods as well. Prepared foods, sauces, condiments etc, do have added sugars, sodium and fat. This is not limited to restaurant meals. I would guess many of us have foods in our homes we have purchased with these added ingredients. Demonizing foods serves no useful purpose and is counterproductive. Portion control, moderation, staying within your calorie budget is all it takes to manage weight, whether you want to lose, maintain, or gain weight.6
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amusedmonkey wrote: »I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
60-80 grams of sugar is a lot, even for a sweet food. I really highly doubt it, unless by a meal you mean eating 6 glazed donuts. A savory food with that much added sugar would be inedible. For what it's worth, I get 15 or more grams of sugar a day just from tomatoes without counting anything else, so I do find myself over 40 grams of sugar often.
You know, this is ringing a bell, and I wonder if the poster IS thinking of the movie claim about pasta sauce, which I've seen repeated all over the internet and in places like the Daily Mail (none of which are great sources).
What was misleading about it is that they made a big dramatic point about how the jar (of 12 servings or whatever) had as much sugar as some number of candy bars, ignoring the fact that no one eats a whole jar of pasta sauce on a meal, sigh, and that one serving had, say, 7 g, of some percentage of the sugar was inherent -- in the tomatoes, etc.
I made a recipe for a common meat sauce I make, that has a lot of tomatoes and various other veg (like onion, peppers, carrots, spinach) and used to show that a serving had just about as much sugar as the dreaded sauce in question, even though in my case I knew there was NO added sugar. I think the added sugar on labels will be helpful to at least make it easier to contradict some of the misinformation.
Anyway, if the poster is thinking of that, I understand misremembering (not blaming her!), and I also recall getting really disgusted at the movie at the time, since the claim seemed so dishonest.8 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
60-80 grams of sugar is a lot, even for a sweet food. I really highly doubt it, unless by a meal you mean eating 6 glazed donuts. A savory food with that much added sugar would be inedible. For what it's worth, I get 15 or more grams of sugar a day just from tomatoes without counting anything else, so I do find myself over 40 grams of sugar often.
You know, this is ringing a bell, and I wonder if the poster IS thinking of the movie claim about pasta sauce, which I've seen repeated all over the internet and in places like the Daily Mail (none of which are great sources).
What was misleading about it is that they made a big dramatic point about how the jar (of 12 servings or whatever) had as much sugar as some number of candy bars, ignoring the fact that no one eats a whole jar of pasta sauce on a meal, sigh, and that one serving had, say, 7 g, of some percentage of the sugar was inherent -- in the tomatoes, etc.
I made a recipe for a common meat sauce I make, that has a lot of tomatoes and various other veg (like onion, peppers, carrots, spinach) and used to show that a serving had just about as much sugar as the dreaded sauce in question, even though in my case I knew there was NO added sugar. I think the added sugar on labels will be helpful to at least make it easier to contradict some of the misinformation.
Anyway, if the poster is thinking of that, I understand misremembering (not blaming her!), and I also recall getting really disgusted at the movie at the time, since the claim seemed so dishonest.
It is also a very classic technique to add a little sugar to tomato sauce which is something that I am not sure many people would know.
I was also thinking about the 60-80 thing and I wonder if it was a misrepresentation. If you look at a large batch of a sauce it might have that much. A single serving would not.7 -
So this!! If Americans are really worried about obesity, they need to be more concerned about PORTION SIZES, and not demonize sugar as the issue.Muscleflex79 wrote: »Having read a Reddit about obesity in various countries, someone up thread referenced the movie Fed Up - so we watched it yesterday. It's about sugar in processed food and the food industry. That was a bit of an eye opener.
Ever wondered why there is no recommended daily intake for sugar on packaging like there is for every other food group? All to do with politics. I even googled what is the RDA for sugar and struggled to get an answer.
Worth watching for sure.
if you are interested in facts and science-based information, you should not be getting your info from advocacy documentaries...Fed Up especially is known as having a lot of BS...here are a few reasons why...
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/does-the-movie-fed-up-make-sense/
here is just a snippet from the website above:
This webpage lists per capita sugar consumption by country, and it clearly does not correlate with rates of obesity in those countries. Countries with higher per capita sugar consumption than the US include Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK, and Venezuela. According to this source there are 17 countries with higher rates of obesity than the US. Not a single one of those countries has a higher per capita sugar consumption than the US.
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
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Lol, I scoff at people blaming Asian food for weight gain. The majority of Asians in the world don't have obesity issues eating their own food. Yes, the sauces included.I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
How many examples can you give of meals intended to be savory that have 60-80 grams of sugar? Stay away from anything with the word honey because those are expected to have a higher sugar content.
I had Logan Roadhouse on the brain because I just met someone there for lunch and it was mentioned in another post I was reading. This national chain has NO entree food with that much sugar and to get even close you have to look at the beverages.
ETA: I just checked Famous Dave because BBQ is well known for having a lot of brown sugar in it. Once again not one single serve entree had that much sugar. Certainly more sugar than you get from other types of food but not 60-80.
ETAA: It occurs to me that breakfast food will have more sugar but I believe that is not really a shock to anyone.
The article I found online was a few years old. Most of the meals were salads (from the dressing), breakfast as you mentioned, BBQ, or Asian. It's possible that the recent requirement to list nutrition info has actually had the effect that restaurants have reduced some of the sugar in their entrees.
As I said, I didn't see the movie. I don't demonize sugar. However, I don't deny that people often don't realize that sugar is in a lot of foods that don't seem like dessert and it is possible to get a lot of added sugar without drinking much soda or eating much dessert.
Remember that the vast majority of people are incredibly ignorant about nutrition. Perhaps the real cause of obesity is our hatred of knowledge. 😁
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
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I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
Do you mean sugar or carbs? Because there's a difference between "normal carbs in a meal" and "80 grams of added sugar". And as a type 1 diabetic who has to track all of her carbs, I can tell you from real life actually lived experience that NO, what you're saying is *not* accurate for restaurants and sugar. I would know within an *hour* if I had underjudged the carbs in a restaurant meal, or any meal, and I'm sure as heck not missing my restaurant meals by 80 grams every single time.8 -
Having worked in the back of the house at several mom and pop restaurants, it's not added sugars that worry me. It's the added fats. Fat improves mouth feel, increases palatablility, and caloric density. Now, I cant speak for big chains, but for us, added sugars were not really that high. Of course, we made most of our food from scratch.8
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Lol, I scoff at people blaming Asian food for weight gain. The majority of Asians in the world don't have obesity issues eating their own food. Yes, the sauces included.I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
How many examples can you give of meals intended to be savory that have 60-80 grams of sugar? Stay away from anything with the word honey because those are expected to have a higher sugar content.
I had Logan Roadhouse on the brain because I just met someone there for lunch and it was mentioned in another post I was reading. This national chain has NO entree food with that much sugar and to get even close you have to look at the beverages.
ETA: I just checked Famous Dave because BBQ is well known for having a lot of brown sugar in it. Once again not one single serve entree had that much sugar. Certainly more sugar than you get from other types of food but not 60-80.
ETAA: It occurs to me that breakfast food will have more sugar but I believe that is not really a shock to anyone.
The article I found online was a few years old. Most of the meals were salads (from the dressing), breakfast as you mentioned, BBQ, or Asian. It's possible that the recent requirement to list nutrition info has actually had the effect that restaurants have reduced some of the sugar in their entrees.
As I said, I didn't see the movie. I don't demonize sugar. However, I don't deny that people often don't realize that sugar is in a lot of foods that don't seem like dessert and it is possible to get a lot of added sugar without drinking much soda or eating much dessert.
Remember that the vast majority of people are incredibly ignorant about nutrition. Perhaps the real cause of obesity is our hatred of knowledge. 😁
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
Yes, without even trying, my ex lost 30-40 pounds during the 3 years he lived in Thailand, eating mostly Thai food.
But Asian American food is another story
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kshama2001 wrote: »
Lol, I scoff at people blaming Asian food for weight gain. The majority of Asians in the world don't have obesity issues eating their own food. Yes, the sauces included.I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
How many examples can you give of meals intended to be savory that have 60-80 grams of sugar? Stay away from anything with the word honey because those are expected to have a higher sugar content.
I had Logan Roadhouse on the brain because I just met someone there for lunch and it was mentioned in another post I was reading. This national chain has NO entree food with that much sugar and to get even close you have to look at the beverages.
ETA: I just checked Famous Dave because BBQ is well known for having a lot of brown sugar in it. Once again not one single serve entree had that much sugar. Certainly more sugar than you get from other types of food but not 60-80.
ETAA: It occurs to me that breakfast food will have more sugar but I believe that is not really a shock to anyone.
The article I found online was a few years old. Most of the meals were salads (from the dressing), breakfast as you mentioned, BBQ, or Asian. It's possible that the recent requirement to list nutrition info has actually had the effect that restaurants have reduced some of the sugar in their entrees.
As I said, I didn't see the movie. I don't demonize sugar. However, I don't deny that people often don't realize that sugar is in a lot of foods that don't seem like dessert and it is possible to get a lot of added sugar without drinking much soda or eating much dessert.
Remember that the vast majority of people are incredibly ignorant about nutrition. Perhaps the real cause of obesity is our hatred of knowledge. 😁
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
Yes, without even trying, my ex lost 30-40 pounds during the 3 years he lived in Thailand, eating mostly Thai food.
But Asian American food is another story
I was thinking the same thing about American Asian food. Last time I went out to dinner two choices my family picked were honey walnut prawns and orange chicken. They have to have as much calories as the cake the waiter brought me for my birthday.2 -
I wonder if by 80 grams of sugar what they consider a meal includes a huge milkshake and a big slice of cake, in which case it's anything but hidden sugar.2
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psychod787 wrote: »Having worked in the back of the house at several mom and pop restaurants, it's not added sugars that worry me. It's the added fats. Fat improves mouth feel, increases palatablility, and caloric density. Now, I cant speak for big chains, but for us, added sugars were not really that high. Of course, we made most of our food from scratch.
Yeah, this rings more true for me.
I primarily go to local non-chain type places, and when I used to try to accurately log restaurant meals, I'd always add extra butter (or olive oil, depending on the type of restaurant) even if I didn't notice it being extra oily or buttery, since I know they do use more than I would at home. Way more likely than tons of extra cals coming from unnoticed sugar, IMO.2 -
I just really amuses me about how people want to demonize sugar as the devil... I don't drink soft drinks regularly (I might have 1 or 2 a year and those more often than not will be diet drinks), I don't drink sweet tea and I rarely eat dessert - yet I was obese! Where's all that sugar that made me fat?!?!?!?
I also don't demonize sugar, but did you eat in restaurants? Because many restaurant meals that look like regular food contain the equivalent sugar of several candy bars (60-80 grams). Most of this is not from fruits and veggies but rather from sugar laden sauces and dressings. Even a whole day of my diet where I eat a generous amount of fruits and veggies doesn't top 40 g of sugar. So, the " hidden" or "added" sugar issue is not a hoax.
Of course, these meals also contain huge amounts of fat and salt and calories. It's no mystery on how to make food highly palatable - just add in lots of sugar and fat and salt. That's the main "secret" that chefs and food designers know.
Having worked in the restaurant industry for a number of years, this is simply not true, even for a sweeter sauce or a glaze. There's no way you're hiding 60-80 grams of sugar in an entree. That meal would be incredibly sweet. Even a heavily sweetened BBQ sauce is going to have something like 15-20 grams of sugar...and it will be very sweet and certainly not hidden from anyone.10 -
Thinking about this thread as a generality (not in response to a specific post), I'm reminded with a recent Facebook exchange with friends of mine.
The intial post was something like "Why has the media not been covering <big cataclysmic and noteworthy thing>? It's terrible, and we need to know! What are they trying to hide?"
Me: "I've been hearing about it for weeks from <mainstream source XYZ>, here's some of the back story <stuff>. I just Googled, and it's been covered for the last month or more in <mainstream source A> <mainstream source B> <etc.>. Maybe you just need to follow better media sources, and pay attention?"
I feel like this about some of the stuff people get fired up about, in "documentaries" (or blogs, YouTube vids, etc.) about weight loss, fitness, nutrition, and health. If you care about those topics, follow better sources. And, in the case of "hidden ingredients" in food . . . maybe read the label?
(Sometimes that last doesn't even help, I know: I had a discussion here on MFP some time back, in which the other person insisted there was added sugar in skim milk, because when you compare labels between whole milk and skim milk, the skim milk has more sugar grams per cup (and it does, but not "added"). SMH.)9
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