Sugar Intake

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  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Unless you have a pre-existing medical condition - do not worry about it as long as you fit it into your macros and generally eat a balanced diet.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    I'm in total agreement with Tigersword.

    Even more so, I am a diabetic and there's still no reason for me to track sugar. I certainly try to avoid large quantities of it in refined or liquid form all-at-once (such as soda or candy), but that's only to avoid a post prandial blood sugar spike, and such common sense it doesn't need tracking. If you're tracking total carbs you are already tracking sugar.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present.
    This might (?) be an argument against sitting down with a bowl of white sugar and a spoon, but it's hardly a damning condemnation of sugar incorporated into foods that make up a balanced meal !
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present.
    This might (?) be an argument against sitting down with a bowl of white sugar and a spoon, but it's hardly a damning condemnation of sugar incorporated into foods that make up a balanced meal !

    I wasn't implying it was. The point was that refined sugar is different, and not as good for the body, as fruit.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    The point was that refined sugar is different, and not as good for the body, as fruit.
    What if it isn't refined ?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrate unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present.
    This might (?) be an argument against sitting down with a bowl of white sugar and a spoon, but it's hardly a damning condemnation of sugar incorporated into foods that make up a balanced meal !

    I wasn't implying it was. The point was that refined sugar is different, and not as good for the body, as fruit.

    REFINED SUGAR IS NOT DIFFERENT. They are chemically identical. The body doesn't recognize "table sugar" or "apple." it only recognizes "sucrose" and deals with it appropriately.
  • bhankiii
    bhankiii Posts: 217 Member
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    I'm a sugar Nazi, I removed it entirely from my diet. No added corn syrup, sugar, cane juice, honey, dextrose, or any of the varied other ways sugar is disguised. I still get plenty though, because sugars are naturally in lots of foods. For instance a cup of skim milk has 12g (about 2.5 tsp) of sugar in it in the form of lactose, and fruits obviously have fructose.

    This was the first step I took in losing weight 6 months ago. The two things I noticed right away were that all my food cravings disappeared and everything I ate tasted amazingly better.

    Rather than argue about whether sugar is toxic, the question I would ask is, why does anyone think they need to add sugar to their food and drink? It wasn't even available to the average diet until 200-300 years ago. We've just become accustomed it being in EVERYTHING and there's really no need.

    After your taste buds adjust - and it doesn't take long, the natural sweetness of everything comes through. I drink a lot of coffee. I've found that the natural sweetness of a little milk in my coffee is plenty to complement raw cacao powder - so I get my chocolate fix every morning without having eat sugar or resort to chemical sweeteners.

    Some people preach moderation, and I've tried that, but it just doesn't work for me. If I have a little sugar my body craves a little more. Only eliminating it entirely stops my cravings. And I truthfully don't miss it.

    I would (and do) recommend to anyone that they go sugar free for a week or two and try it out. But read your labels - it really is in everything.

    As for Greek yogurt - I make my own and it's awesome.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    People have been eating sugar cane since at least 800BC, and honey has been in common use since at least 6000BC. Granulated sugar has actually been in fairly common use in Asia and India since 500AD. That's a lot longer than 200 years. Much closer to 2000 years (for granulated or "refined" sugar,) actually.
  • bhankiii
    bhankiii Posts: 217 Member
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    Not among my people. Sugar cane was brought to Europe by Columbus, and wasn't affordable for the masses until the 1800's. Honey sure. But honey supplies are naturally limited. Real bee keeping, while known to the ancients and the Chinese, wasn't well practiced in the west during the dark ages and only came into its own in the 17-18th centuries.

    Regardless - sugar manufacture and consumption on today's massive scale is purely a modern phenomena.

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