Natural Sugars Vs. Refined Sugars

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jconnors2012
jconnors2012 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there, looking to see what peoples thoughts are about natural sugars in fruits etc, compared to sugars in soda?
I like to eat a good amount of fruit however this tends to up my sugar level. Is this ok because it is natural sugars and not refined sugars like in soda?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    Nope. Sugar is sugar. That said, I don't advocate cutting out fruit, just moderating the amount to ensure you aren't quadrupling your sugar.

    Also, it's one of my pet peeves when people say low carb but eat lots of fruit, thus they mean that they cut out grains, not carbs. My roommate did this and ended up eating more carbs than me when I wasn't "low carb"
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Nope. Sugar is sugar. That said, I don't advocate cutting out fruit, just moderating the amount to ensure you aren't quadrupling your sugar.

    This! Your body just recognizes some form of glucose, whether it be fructose, sucrose or whatever. it doesn't distiguish and say, Oh, this came from an apple, it counts less than this soda. The benefit to fruit is that it has fiber and slow the absorbtion rate of the glucose but typically you are not drinking the soda in a vacumn of any other food. Although some do. the people who start the day with 2 cokes for breakfast come to mind. Fruit is fine within a total calorie and nutrient plan. I have a couple of peices per day personally. I love fruit and would ahve more but that would not work within my plan.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Nope. Sugar is sugar. That said, I don't advocate cutting out fruit, just moderating the amount to ensure you aren't quadrupling your sugar.

    Also, it's one of my pet peeves when people say low carb but eat lots of fruit, thus they mean that they cut out grains, not carbs. My roommate did this and ended up eating more carbs than me when I wasn't "low carb"
    This, 100%.

    Your body really doesn't know the difference between a snickers bar and an apple, they both have sucrose, fructose, and glucose in them, and that's what the body sees. It doesn't say "hey this is fruit, let's do something different with these sugars!" it treats all sugars in the exact same way. Even the "evil" HFCS is processed identically to sucrose (molecularly they are for all intents and purposes identical in the human digestive tract.)

    Basically, if you don't have an insulin resistance problem, or diabetes, don't worry about sugar in general, it doesn't matter, it won't help or hinder weight loss, provided you stick to your calorie goals.
  • jconnors2012
    jconnors2012 Posts: 22 Member
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    Thanks everyone!
  • Bsp120167
    Bsp120167 Posts: 68 Member
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    Sugar is sugar but if you look at the Glycemic index of the different items it will tell you how quickly your body will assimilate the sugar. For instance Apples and Oranges are very low glycemic index. You can check out the list here . . .

    http://www.glycemicedge.com/glycemic-index-chart/
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Glycemic index only matters when you eat ONLY the GI food in question, and only if you have diabetes. Otherwise, it's a meaningless number. Look at "white bread," the poster child for a high glycemic food. Put some butter on that bread and it's no longer a high GI food at all, because the fat in the butter completely changes the rate of absorption and digestion.

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