Is sugar the reason we are fat

ShellyRath

This article was a wake up call. It seems sugar is what is one of the biggest contributors in making us fat or more importantly high fructose corn syrup. I will be taking a look at all of my convenient foods and checking labels. I am going to really cut down on my sugar intake next week and see what happens.

The friend who sent me this article btw, has lost 80+ pounds to my 26. We started at about the same time and all she did was eliminate sugar and gluten. She had to due to health issues, but her loss has been so significant. She has never looked at calories or portion size. Defiantly something to ponder.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=magazine

poustotah

I lost 90 lbs and sugar was a big factor! Now, I keep my sugar down below 30 when I'm not pregnant and below 50 when I am pregnant (I'm currently 7 months pregnant). I watch it VERY closely and most of my sugar comes from fresh fruit. Cutting sugar will lean you out too.

ChrisWag

It really is!!!! I recently lost 45lbs and I notice when my sugar/carb intake is high for a few days I start to feel "fluffy" and so I cut back on them again and I go right back to normal.....Not to mention that diabetes is at the highest level in the country EVER and it can lead to so many more health issues......

Be glad she sent you that article!!!

Good luck! and congrats on the so far weight loss!!!!

Coyla

It depends.

If I don't eat a balanced diet--sugar in conjunction with protein--my blood sugar spikes, then drops. The fluctuation causes me to retain water. I gained 4 lbs in one week because I kept replacing each meal with brownies. (They were really good brownies!) I kept within my calorie goal, but I still gained. That was stupid, not because of the amount of sugar I was eating but because I wasn't eating in a balanced way.

If you don't have a problem with sugar, it may have more to do with the calories you're eating than the sugar. High sugar and high fat foods tend to always be high in calories. So cutting back on sugar and fat will usually result in weight loss.

Ultimately, I think the science is still out on whether sugar will cause weight gain. A friend and I tried an experiment and cut our sugar down by a lot for a month. It made no difference in our weight loss.

TS65

I haven' t read the article - but I'm a firm believer that sugar is an addictive substance. If you think about it, most addictive substances are "refined" - and the more refined it is, the more addictive it is. Examples:

Coke is refined cocoa leaves
Crack is refined cocaine
Alcohol is mostly from refined grains
Heroin is from refined poppies
Crystal meth is refined from 3 ingredients
Tobacco is dried (refined) tobacco leaves
Sugar is refined sugar cane

The problem is that we live in a country where EVERYONE has the same addiction. Would it be normal to wake up and inject yourself with crack? No, but we wake up, stumble to the coffee maker, and pour sugar in our coffee every morning. Or we have a soda in the afternoon as a "pick me up." Sugar is in almost every product available on the market (ketchup, cereals, seasonings). It's everywhere.

People have argued by saying "yea, but people won't steal for sugar." If sugar were all of a sudden illegal tomorrow, do you think people would stop using it or would they find a way to get it?

If you've ever tried to quit sugar, it's dang near impossible. Besides it being hidden in obscure ingredients (did you know most commercial french fries were sprayed with dextrose... a form of sugar... to keep the potatoes from browning?), the withdrawl can take 3 days. You'll find yourself irritable, headaches, etc.

Interestingly enough, at least for me, when I'm not eating sugar all of the carb cravings stop. I no longer am interested in bread, chips, crackers, etc.

Will it ever be recognized as a problem? No. The sugar industry is one of the most powerful industries in the civilized nations. If sugar were to go away, the economy would collapse. Think about it - any company that makes anything requiring sugar would go under - cookies, ice cream, cereal, condiments, breads, pastries, donuts, coffee creamers, soda and the list goes on and on.