Not Calories but Sugar

squisherz

So here a back story:
A few years ago I was extremely misinformed and unknowledgeable about food. Now I try to stay informed read a lot of books, watch documentaries. I became a calorie counter. I lost 30lbs. cause I didn’t realise how much calories I was actually eating. I have since gained most of if back over the course of 1.5yrs.

A couple of weeks ago I reset my weight and started again. Then while food shopping with my soon to be sister in law who as lost amazing over 30lbs in a short period of time was mostly looking at sugar where I was looking at calories and a few other things.
So I know that not all calories are created equal. And I have removed most processed foods from my diet over that last while.
I took some of what she was doing and started watching Sugars and keeping them low, well I lost 2 lbs in the first 3 days.
So that brings me to my question. Does anyone watch sugars mostly? Should I be concerned about the amount of natural sugars in my veggies and fruits?
I know that sugar turns to fat in your body and this it is used in a lot of low cal processed snacks.

Just wanted to see what others thoughts were on this.

Maureen0208

You don't have to worry about the sugars in your fuits and veg. However you should be eating more veg than fruits. This part is super hard for me because I love fruit way more than veggies. Lol. Another thing you should really watch out for is Msg. Scientists use msg to make rats fat so they can test on them. I don't know why food companys put it in food except to keep people fat and coming back for more.


Maureen

zderain

it's really because supposedly using msg stuff adds flavor and is cheap, same with corn syrup. But in reality its only cheap because corn farmers are subsidized, so its not cheap to the American consumer at all.

zderain

read this : http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/2011/05/excitotoxins-msg-and-hidden-names/ when I try to take this all into consideration and the fact that I live on $100 foodstamps and cant afford the high electricity bill that cooking often creates... It seems impossible for me to even diet.

jbaerbock

Sugars are essentialy empty pointless calories. And your body breaks it down and can store it as fat if you eat too much or give it sugar shock first thing in the morning for breakfast.

As was previously mentioned added sugar and refined sugars are the big enemy. I have a banana in my smothie every morning which doesn't bother me because it has some nutritional value [even though it's in the teens sugar wise].

Also try to get more vegies than fruits. While fruit is good for you too it does contain a lot more sugar than a veggie would.

One thing I've noticed since I've cut back on sugar a lot more is that my taste for sugar has really declined. Now adequatly sweet to me is very different from the average person [and my old perception] of what sweet is.

And example is I get the lowest sugar possible jelly and preserves. I've gotten some that have 5g per tbsp. To me they are on the border of too sweet. To my wife they aren't sweet at all and she thinks I'm nuts hehe.

s0njas0n

I stay away from refined sugars. I use honey...rarely. I found that when buying almost anything prepackaged, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, soups, etc. things that don't need sugar have sugar added. I do continue to eat fruits because this is a healthy type of sugar, just don't go overboard : )

Apalachn

I stay away from refined sugars. I use honey...rarely. I found that when buying almost anything prepackaged, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, soups, etc. things that don't need sugar have sugar added. I do continue to eat fruits because this is a healthy type of sugar, just don't go overboard : )

I also find it annoying that things that do not require sugar include it. Fortunately, you can usually find a good brand that does not include sugar. At any rate, I have been reading a lot about sugar lately and learned that fructose is absorbed by the body similar to table sugar. It is just the fiber in the fruit that helps to balance it out. That's why fruit is not too bad (unless you are diabetic like me). I can pretty much only eat berries.

For me, counting sugars is way more important than counting calories. I don't actually actively count anything, but do a weekly audit on my intake. With all the fiber I eat, I don't have an issue overeating.