Question for self professed "sugar addicts"
Acg67
Posts: 12,142 Member
I've seen quite a few "sugar addicts" state they cannot consume sugar in moderation and compare their addiction to alcoholism. Yet these same "addicts" will eat fruit stating the fiber slows down the blood sugar spike. To those that use that rationale, would you also suggest it's ok for alcoholics to drink, just as long as they have food in their stomachs, since the food slows down alcohol absorption?
Also what is a saccharide?
Also what is a saccharide?
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Replies
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Abs.0
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It's ok for alcoholics to drink as long as it's a mixed drink or beer. Because the other ingredients slow down the alcohol spike. It's just plain common sense.0
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I don't think I've identified myself as a sugar addict here. I don't think it's quite like being an alcoholic for me.
But - sugar is my only vice. I could give up fried food and alcohol today, for the rest of my life, and not care. Sugar was tougher. I think that when people talk about being sugar addicts, they are talking about sugar being a trigger food. I realized that if I eat sugar in small amounts every day, I'll want it even more. Now I just keep the junk food to once a week.
I think a better alcohol analogy is - "Once I start having hard liquor(baked goods), I can't stop. But when I drink wine (a piece of fruit), I am okay stopping with one." So perhaps the "alcoholic "analogy isn't quite correct.0 -
It's ok for alcoholics to drink as long as it's a mixed drink or beer. Because the other ingredients slow down the alcohol spike. It's just plain common sense.
Hah! Exactly.0 -
I'm a fried food addict. I try to slow down the absorption of my fried food with fried food. And avocados.
Sugar addiction is a bunch of poppycock.0 -
I think the word "addiction" is overused. I don't have an addiction, but I do have strong cravings that seem to get stronger if I have products with lots of refined sugar. Or it could be a pyschological dependency.
But even without it amounting to a clinical problem, I do better when I refrain from sugary foods and eating in moderation is not easy.0 -
I define myself as a sugar addict, though I don't believe I've said so on the boards, but I wouldn't say it's an addiction in the same way alcohol is as not everything with high sugar causes a reaction for me.
I can eat fruits with no problem, but vegetables like beets or carrots I have to be careful about quantities because I respond to them the same way I do pure sugar sweets like jelly beans and marshmallows.
Personally, I don't get in to all the details, I just know that there are highly sweet things out there that I either have to avoid or be careful how I eat them. I don't see it as comparable to other addictions because it's just a simple terminology to explain something that strikes me as a lot more complicated.0 -
Science Daily has multiple studies on sugar and its ill effects.
Along with sodas causing behavioral problems in children here is a sampling
This article comes from Science Daily and at the bottom is a list and link of other Science Daily Articles regarding sugar.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130813111722.htm
When mice ate a diet of 25 percent extra sugar -- the mouse equivalent of a healthy human diet plus three cans of soda daily -- females died at twice the normal rate and males were a quarter less likely to hold territory and reproduce, according to a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.
Our results provide evidence that added sugar consumed at concentrations currently considered safe exerts dramatic adverse impacts on mammalian health," the researchers say in a study set for online publication Tuesday, Aug. 13 in the journal Nature Communications.
"This demonstrates the adverse effects of added sugars at human-relevant levels," says University of Utah biology professor Wayne Potts, the study's senior author. He says previous studies using other tests fed mice large doses of sugar disproportionate to the amount people
The study says the need for a sensitive toxicity test exists not only for components of our diet, but "is particularly strong for both pharmaceutical science, where 73 percent of drugs that pass preclinical trials fail due to safety concerns, and for toxicology, where shockingly few compounds receive critical or long-term toxicity testing."
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Ruff notes that sugar consumption in the American diet has increased 50 percent since the 1970s, accompanied by a dramatic increase in metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, fatty liver and cardiovascular disease.
"You have to ask why we didn't discover them 20 years ago," he adds. "The answer is that until now, we haven't had a functional, broad and sensitive test to screen the potential toxic substances that are being released into the environment or in our drugs or our food supply."
Potts and Ruff conducted the study with University of Utah biology lab manager Linda Morrison and undergraduates Amanda Suchy, Sara Hugentobler, Mirtha Sosa and Bradley Schwartz, and with researchers Sin Gieng and Mark Shigenaga of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California.
Other Science Daily Articles
Moms' High-Fat, Sugary Diets May Lead to Heavy Offspring With a Taste for Alcohol, Sensitivity to Drugs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130804080952.htm
Higher Blood Sugar Associated with Dementia
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130807204835.htm
Societal Control of Sugar Essential to Ease Public Health Burden, Experts Urge
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201135312.htm
Foods being marketed to children in UK supermarkets are less healthy than those marketed to the general population according to researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, who question whether more guidelines may be needed in regulating food marketed to children
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130507134457.htm
New Risk Factors for Bowel Cancer
July 15, 2013 — Fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits, chips and desserts have all been identified as risk factors for bowel cancer, according to new research
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130715105427.htm
Aug. 6, 2009 — Overconsumption of fatty, sugary foods leads to changes in brain receptors, according to new animal research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The new research results are being presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). The results have implications for understanding bulimia and other binge eating disorders.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727102024.htm
High Sugar Intake Linked to Low Dopamine Release in Insulin Resistant Patients
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130610223722.htm0 -
What?0
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I do not know if I am a "sugar addict", but I do believe that it can be habit forming. I got into the bad habit of having dessert every night after dinner. It took me a little while to get to the point where I didn't crave ice cream or something similar after eating. I did not crave fruit. I have found that eating a piece of fruit will kill my craving for a dessert-like item however. This said, I also believe that there are levels of alcoholism. Some people need to drink until they fall asleep or get completely drunk. Some people just HAVE to have a drink or two every night--I identify with those in terms of my sugar "addiction".
Any addiction has two components, physical and mental. So physically, if I alternate fruit for candy, I am satisfying the craving. But mentally I might still really want that donut....so I think that it is different from alcoholism in that I do not know what a substitute would be for alcohol, although it seems that alcoholics sometimes substitute smoking for drinking.
Not sure if this answers your question. It seems from the quotation marks that you do not believe in sugar addiction, but I think that it can be very real. I do not have a truly addictive personality, yet it was difficult for me to "quit" the sugar. Some substances are probably more addictive than others, but that is subjective...
Sorry for the wordy answer and if I was completely off base...0 -
Science Daily has multiple studies on sugar and its ill effects.
Along with sodas causing behavioral problems in children here is a sampling
This article comes from Science Daily and at the bottom is a list and link of other Science Daily Articles regarding sugar.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130813111722.htm
When mice ate a diet of 25 percent extra sugar -- the mouse equivalent of a healthy human diet plus three cans of soda daily -- females died at twice the normal rate and males were a quarter less likely to hold territory and reproduce, according to a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.
Our results provide evidence that added sugar consumed at concentrations currently considered safe exerts dramatic adverse impacts on mammalian health," the researchers say in a study set for online publication Tuesday, Aug. 13 in the journal Nature Communications.
"This demonstrates the adverse effects of added sugars at human-relevant levels," says University of Utah biology professor Wayne Potts, the study's senior author. He says previous studies using other tests fed mice large doses of sugar disproportionate to the amount people
The study says the need for a sensitive toxicity test exists not only for components of our diet, but "is particularly strong for both pharmaceutical science, where 73 percent of drugs that pass preclinical trials fail due to safety concerns, and for toxicology, where shockingly few compounds receive critical or long-term toxicity testing."
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
Ruff notes that sugar consumption in the American diet has increased 50 percent since the 1970s, accompanied by a dramatic increase in metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, fatty liver and cardiovascular disease.
"You have to ask why we didn't discover them 20 years ago," he adds. "The answer is that until now, we haven't had a functional, broad and sensitive test to screen the potential toxic substances that are being released into the environment or in our drugs or our food supply."
Potts and Ruff conducted the study with University of Utah biology lab manager Linda Morrison and undergraduates Amanda Suchy, Sara Hugentobler, Mirtha Sosa and Bradley Schwartz, and with researchers Sin Gieng and Mark Shigenaga of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California.
Other Science Daily Articles
Moms' High-Fat, Sugary Diets May Lead to Heavy Offspring With a Taste for Alcohol, Sensitivity to Drugs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130804080952.htm
Higher Blood Sugar Associated with Dementia
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130807204835.htm
Societal Control of Sugar Essential to Ease Public Health Burden, Experts Urge
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120201135312.htm
Foods being marketed to children in UK supermarkets are less healthy than those marketed to the general population according to researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, who question whether more guidelines may be needed in regulating food marketed to children
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130507134457.htm
New Risk Factors for Bowel Cancer
July 15, 2013 — Fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits, chips and desserts have all been identified as risk factors for bowel cancer, according to new research
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130715105427.htm
Aug. 6, 2009 — Overconsumption of fatty, sugary foods leads to changes in brain receptors, according to new animal research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The new research results are being presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB). The results have implications for understanding bulimia and other binge eating disorders.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727102024.htm
High Sugar Intake Linked to Low Dopamine Release in Insulin Resistant Patients
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130610223722.htm
Strong copy pasta, way to stay on topic0 -
in to read later0
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EXCERPTS FROM THE WALL ST. JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130606-904320.htmlNew research by a neuroscientist has found that lab animals self-dosing on High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the industrial sweetener used in hundreds of grocery store products, followed the same pattern of behavior as those that were self-dosing on cocaine.
Addiction expert, Dr. Francesco Leri, an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, presented his findings to the Canadian Association for Neuroscience on May 23 that showed how High Fructose Corn Syrup caused behavioral reactions in rats similar to those produced by addictive drugs.
...
"There is now convincing neurobiological and behavioral evidence indicating that addiction to food is possible."
WHAT PRINCETON U has to say:http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.0 -
EXCERPTS FROM THE WALL ST. JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130606-904320.htmlNew research by a neuroscientist has found that lab animals self-dosing on High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the industrial sweetener used in hundreds of grocery store products, followed the same pattern of behavior as those that were self-dosing on cocaine.
Addiction expert, Dr. Francesco Leri, an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, presented his findings to the Canadian Association for Neuroscience on May 23 that showed how High Fructose Corn Syrup caused behavioral reactions in rats similar to those produced by addictive drugs.
...
"There is now convincing neurobiological and behavioral evidence indicating that addiction to food is possible."
WHAT PRINCETON U has to say:http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.
Rats =/= Humans. There have been studies on humans looking at the metabolic differences between HFCS and sucrose though, wonder what those showed?0 -
This content has been removed.
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EXCERPTS FROM THE WALL ST. JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130606-904320.htmlNew research by a neuroscientist has found that lab animals self-dosing on High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the industrial sweetener used in hundreds of grocery store products, followed the same pattern of behavior as those that were self-dosing on cocaine.
Addiction expert, Dr. Francesco Leri, an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, presented his findings to the Canadian Association for Neuroscience on May 23 that showed how High Fructose Corn Syrup caused behavioral reactions in rats similar to those produced by addictive drugs.
...
"There is now convincing neurobiological and behavioral evidence indicating that addiction to food is possible."
WHAT PRINCETON U has to say:http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.
Rats =/= Humans. There have been studies on humans looking at the metabolic differences between HFCS and sucrose though, wonder what those showed?
No, not equal, but...
Rodents are used as models in medical testing is that their genetic, biological and behavior characteristics closely resemble those of humans, and many symptoms of human conditions can be replicated in mice and rats. "Rats and mice are mammals that share many processes with humans and are appropriate for use to answer many research questions," said Jenny Haliski, a representative for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.
Over the last two decades, those similarities have become even stronger....(details on breeding...blah, blah, blah)
Rodents also make efficient research animals because their anatomy, physiology and genetics are well-understood by researchers, making it easier to tell what changes in the mice's behaviors or characteristics are caused by.
http://www.livescience.com0 -
Abs.
LMAO0 -
Bump to follow.0
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Being a recovering addict, I always kinda cringe when someone says they're addicted to sugar or fast food or whatever...I never say anything, but I always kinda cringe...because addiction is no bull **** and I think people just throw that word around a lot to simply mean they lack self control...being an addict is so much more than that and recovery is a *****.0
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Abs.
LMAO
Amirite or Amirite?0 -
Once upon a time I drank between 3 and 6 Mt Dew per day. In an effort to lose weight, I cut those out for awhile. I did not get the shakes or sweats...I did not have headaches or even mild hallucinations...I did not have any symptoms that I would, from experience, attribute to detoxing.
I find many of these claims of addiction to foods to be a bit disturbing...and more of an excuse than anything else.0 -
Rats =/= Humans. There have been studies on humans looking at the metabolic differences between HFCS and sucrose though, wonder what those showed?
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/142/2/251.full
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385
http://www.jacn.org/content/28/6/619.full
http://advances.nutrition.org/content/4/2/246.full
Regarding the original question, people should take the steps they need to take to achieve their goals. If they feel like they can eat fruit in moderation, but can't eat refined sugars in moderation, that's fine. They should eat the fruit and avoid the refined sugars. No point in mocking.0 -
Serious question:
Why is it a bad habit to have desert every night after dinner? I just don't get it.
Personally I sometimes have 3 deserts after dinner. It's all accounted for and pre planned.
I think it depends on the size of the dessert and your goals. Daily dessertsused to fit my macros as provided by MFP. But then my goals changed. I am trying to get 30% of my calories from protein, and there is simply zero room for daily desserts. Also, I thought my diet was fine, but realized that I was avoiding other healthier foods in order to make room for my sugar fix. Avocados, nuts, whole grains, etc. I still enjoy desserts occasionally but I realized that I was displacing too much good stuff to make room for the treats.
I agree that "addict" is too strong a word. Dependency? Habit? Maybe.0 -
Being a recovering addict, I always kinda cringe when someone says they're addicted to sugar or fast food or whatever...I never say anything, but I always kinda cringe...because addiction is no bull **** and I think people just throw that word around a lot to simply mean they lack self control...being an addict is so much more than that and recovery is a *****.
I have to agree. I also think people use the word addiction when they really mean lack of self control. I have a lot of friends who are recovering addicts and recovering alcoholics. It's no *walk in the park*.0 -
Serious question:
Why is it a bad habit to have desert every night after dinner? I just don't get it.
Personally I sometimes have 3 deserts after dinner. It's all accounted for and pre planned.
I think it depends on the size of the dessert and your goals. Daily dessertsused to fit my macros as provided by MFP. But then my goals changed. I am trying to get 30% of my calories from protein, and there is simply zero room for daily desserts. Also, I thought my diet was fine, but realized that I was avoiding other healthier foods in order to make room for my sugar fix. Avocados, nuts, whole grains, etc. I still enjoy desserts occasionally but I realized that I was displacing too much good stuff to make room for the treats.
I agree that "addict" is too strong a word. Dependency? Habit? Maybe.
I get 30% protein and have daily desserts. I did when I was losing weight, too (maintaining now), my desserts were just smaller, like a 50 cal piece of dark chocolate.0 -
Rats =/= Humans. There have been studies on humans looking at the metabolic differences between HFCS and sucrose though, wonder what those showed?
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/142/2/251.full
"Given that our study used cross-sectional data, we cannot be certain that fructose consumption has a direct effect on the measures associated with cardiometabolic risk. Second, although dietary recalls have been shown to more accurately detail types and amounts of food intake than FFQ, it is possible that the recalls may not accurately represent usual dietary intake"
And there is a multitude of data supporting how inaccurate dietary recall is. Also says nothing of it's addictive properties nor anything to due with HFCS and sucrose
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385
Ah, the Stanhope study that Lustig likes to talk about. Take sedentary overweight individuals and give them a bunch of supplemental fructose. Once again nothing about addictive properties or HFCS and sucrose
http://www.jacn.org/content/28/6/619.full
Page not found
http://advances.nutrition.org/content/4/2/246.full
Regarding the original question, people should take the steps they need to take to achieve their goals. If they feel like they can eat fruit in moderation, but can't eat refined sugars in moderation, that's fine. They should eat the fruit and avoid the refined sugars. No point in mocking.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/142/2/251.full
"Given that our study used cross-sectional data, we cannot be certain that fructose consumption has a direct effect on the measures associated with cardiometabolic risk. Second, although dietary recalls have been shown to more accurately detail types and amounts of food intake than FFQ, it is possible that the recalls may not accurately represent usual dietary intake"
And there is a multitude of data supporting how inaccurate dietary recall is. Also says nothing of it's addictive properties nor anything to due with HFCS and sucrose
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37385
Ah, the Stanhope study that Lustig likes to talk about. Take sedentary overweight individuals and give them a bunch of supplemental fructose. Once again nothing about addictive properties or HFCS and sucrose
http://www.jacn.org/content/28/6/619.full
Page not found
http://advances.nutrition.org/content/4/2/246.full
And mocking? If someone says they are a sugar addict, maybe they should stop eating sugar or stop using it as an excuse.0 -
I have to agree. I also think people use the word addiction when they really mean lack of self control. I have a lot of friends who are recovering addicts and recovering alcoholics. It's no *walk in the park*.
Uh, isn't the very definition of addiction a behavior that you cannot control?
I consider myself addicted to food in general. Tasty food, anyway, and sweets in particular.
Now I don't think you can eat fruit to somehow "cancel out sugar".
But you can eat fruit, which contains sugar, in moderation simply because you can't go ape-**** eating apples or bananas like you can, say, a box of Oreo cookies.
I could, and have, sit down and eat half a box of Oreo cookies. Easily. And when presented with the box of Oreo cookies, especially once my willpower has broken to where I've allowed myself to eat "one", I will probably break down and eat as many as I can eat.
There are about 53 calories in an Oreo. I'm guessing I'd eat about 20 of them in a sitting. That's over 1000 calories - nearly 60% of my daily caloric allotment.
Now apples also contain sugar. But they aren't nearly as appealing as the refined goodness of Oreos! An apple contains about 95 calories. In order to get the equivalent of 20 Oreos, I'd have to eat 11 apples.
I don't think I've ever felt compelled to eat that many apples at a sitting.
This is why eating natural foods is good for weight loss. Even if a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, there just aren't that many compelling natural foods that are as calorie dense and easy to over-consume as processed foods. There are some - shrimp, lobster, steak, etc. - but you'll have to lay out some serious coin to eat your fill of those things.0 -
Replace the word "addiction" in this context with something like "sensitive", and I am on-board. FWIW I did not consider myself one to be "carb sensitive" until recently when I relaized how I can eat a piece of fruit and be satisfied versus a box of pastries a couple months ago. And still wish I had more!
Never really knew what an old boss meant when he said years ago that he was "caffeine sensitive" (something related to prostate enlargement??). Coffee, teas, etc. have NO effect on me, so I didn't get it. Now, I do.0 -
Sugar needs to be defined. Sugar to me is refined white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup {with it many names depending on which country you are from}
It is not to eliminate sugar from the diet , sugar is energy but it is to go to a healthy source of sugar. It does not mean that you eat bags of applles orange peaches cherries etc daily. It mean getting a healthy amount of 2 cups daily of fruits.
Here is a cut and paste article on the subject
From this article : http://www.discovergoodnutrition.com/2011/02/the-truth-about-sugars-in-fruit/
The idea that fruit is “loaded with carbs” or is “full of sugar” needs to be put into perspective, too. It’s true that when you eat fruit, the overwhelming majority of the calories you consume are supplied by carbohydrate – mostly in the form of fructose, which is the natural sugar in fruit.
But that’s the nature not just of fruit, but of all plant foods – they’re predominantly carbohydrate (and that means not just natural sugars, but healthy starches as well as structural elements, like cellulose, that provide fiber). When you eat vegetables, the majority of the calories you’re eating come from carbohydrate, too. But you don’t hear people complaining that vegetables are “loaded with carbs”.
Before dismissing foods as being loaded with sugar, or too high in carbs, consider not only the amount of sugar or carbs you’re eating, but the form of the carbohydrate, too. There’s a big difference between the nutritional value of the natural carbohydrates found in fruits and other plant foods – the sugars, starches and fibers – and what’s found (or, more accurately, what’s not found) in all the empty calories we eat from added sugars that find their way into everything from brownies to barbecue sauce.
Faced with a serving of fruit, how much sugar are we talking about, anyway? An average orange has only about 12 grams of natural sugar (about 3 teaspoons) and a cup of strawberries has only about 7 grams – that’s less than two teaspoons. And either way, you’re also getting 3 grams of fiber, about a full day’s worth of vitamin C, healthy antioxidants and some folic acid and potassium to boot – and it’ll only cost you about 50 or 60 calories. “All sugar”? I think not.
By contrast, a 20-ounce cola will set you back about 225 calories and, needless to say, won’t be supplying any antioxidants, vitamins, minerals or fiber. You’ll just be chugging down some carbonated water, maybe some artificial color and flavor, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 grams of added sugar – about 1/3 of a cup.
Now that’s what I call “full of sugar”.0 -
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