which is worse, fat or sugar?

DoOrDoNotThereIsNoTry1

By far sugar is definitely worse. Sugar raises your insulin levels. Any unused insulin gets stored in your cells as fat. Healthy fats in food such as olive oil, coconut oil, avacado, salmon, cod are quite good for you. On the other hand, trans fats, too much Omega 6 fats can be a detriment to your body. Excess Omega 6 fats which are found in your cooking oils increase inflammation in your body. I believe it would be better to monitor your sugar intake versus your fat intake, especially if you are consuming health fats.

jennaworksout

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

So, 'clean' eaters do not eat fruit?

we eat fruit in moderation, not too much, mostly more veggies, meats , eggs, nuts and berries. I may have 1 serving of fruit a day, thats about it though.

Sarauk2sf

Just a point that has not been raised yet as far as I can tell.

Sugar has 4 calories per g
Fat has 9 calories per g

While fats are necessary, they are also 'calorie expensive' in comparison.

jennaworksout

1. Your body doesn't know difference between sugars in fruit or a donut. Eat too much of either /or and the body will not be happy. Although fruit twice a day maximum is great added fibre and viitamins.
2. The body was only designed to handle so much sugar intake not the quantities we eat today.I don't understand why people don't see that and insist smugly that they can lose xyz while eating cake..yeh big deal but your health can still suffer even if you are thin.
3. Good fats are better but you can still have too much of those too. Trans fat big no no.
4. Read about low/low load and high GI foods, simple/complex carbs, thermal dynamics and leptin.

This. Well said.

^^^ this

VFBloch0725

They both can be bad if not controlled and administered properly. We need specfic fats for our bodies to function, but too much then our body will store it. We can get sugar from the food that we eat, simple refined sugar is not healthy by any means for our body, natural sugar is fine, but again, moderation. If you are an active person, then you will need more carbs for energy.

Sarauk2sf

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

So, 'clean' eaters do not eat fruit?

we eat fruit in moderation, not too much, mostly more veggies, meats , eggs, nuts and berries. I may have 1 serving of fruit a day, thats about it though.

You better be careful as apparently the sugar in that fruit (and the veggies) is going to kill you.

Also, what about clean eating means you have to eat them in moderation. I thought clean was the type of food. Sounds like you are mixing up low carb with clean.

Sarauk2sf

So much misinformation in this thread, it's like Gary Taubes and Robert Listig are having an orgy...

Neither is worse. Neither is better. They both have their places in a diet.

And tracking sugar while tracking carbs also is silly. Do you also track every single type of fatty acid you eat? Or every amino? Or every oligosaccharide? Sugar is a carb. If carbs are in check , then sugar is in check.

Keep it simple.

As for the whole "your body doesn't need sugar" silliness, your brain and your muscles run on glucose. Most of what you eat is NOT converted to glucose. It's difficult for the body to create hormones out of fatty acids if it turns them into glucose first... Or to build muscle and create enzymes out of amino acids if it converts those into glucose first... What does that leave? Carbs getting turned into glucose, of course, the way we evolved to function. Humans evolved eating a high carb (50%) diet. While there is the rare exception (Inuits,) high carb holds true across all civilizations, through all time periods.

This whole "carbs are bad" fad is just as silly as the "fat is bad" fad from the 80's and 90's.

+1

+2

jennaworksout

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

So, 'clean' eaters do not eat fruit?

we eat fruit in moderation, not too much, mostly more veggies, meats , eggs, nuts and berries. I may have 1 serving of fruit a day, thats about it though.

You better be careful as apparently the sugar in that fruit (and the veggies) is going to kill you.

Also, what about clean eating means you have to eat them in moderation. I thought clean was the type of food. Sounds like you are mixing up low carb with clean.

lol...I never said it would kill me, not sure where that came from....I clean eat and chose to eat 1 fruit a day...thats my choice...
whoa :noway:

Sarauk2sf

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

So, 'clean' eaters do not eat fruit?

we eat fruit in moderation, not too much, mostly more veggies, meats , eggs, nuts and berries. I may have 1 serving of fruit a day, thats about it though.

You better be careful as apparently the sugar in that fruit (and the veggies) is going to kill you.

Also, what about clean eating means you have to eat them in moderation. I thought clean was the type of food. Sounds like you are mixing up low carb with clean.

lol...I never said it would kill me, not sure where that came from....I clean eat and chose to eat 1 fruit a day...thats my choice...
whoa :noway:

Read the first post I quoted. That did. Oh, and you said 'we' eat fruit in moderation which implies you were talking about clean eaters.

ETA: makes sense now who the 'we' is - I see from another post of yours that you recently started eating paleo. Clean is not necessarily paleo btw.

bcattoes

There is no single answer to this question. In general:

If you are low on fat and high on sugar from fruits and vegetables that would better than high on fat from red meat and dairy and low on sugar.

If you are high on fat from fish and fruits and vegetables and low on sugar, that would be better than high on sugar from added sources (table sugar, honey, sugary drinks, candy, etc.) and low on fat.

But even those generalizations are not true for everyone. Too much sugar even from natural sources can be bad for some medical conditions such as diabetes or insulin resistance. Low fat (not fat free) can sometimes be beneficial for those with heart disease or GI problems.

bcattoes

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

I'm so tired of hearing the words "eating clean" wtf does it really mean?

It means the speaker is anal-retentive when it comes to eating. :laugh:

+1

crazybookworm

It all depends on the type of fat and sugar you are intaking. If you drink milk and eat a lot of fruit and veggies, MFP will still calculate the sugar which will probably put you over, but natural sugars are great for your body(of course still in moderation) but they are needed in your body. If it's sugar from junk food, and processed foods then that's not very healthy for your body.

Fat is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Obviously not 40g of fat from a McDonalds Big Mac, but healthy fats from Olive Oil, meats, milk, nuts, etc.

It's simple. Your body needs healthy fats and natural sugar.

WendyTerry420

Sugar is the killer. Ask anyone who advocates eating clean. That is the first thing that has to go!

I'm so tired of hearing the words "eating clean" wtf does it really mean?

It means the speaker is anal-retentive when it comes to eating. :laugh:

I just saw a show on rawists, one drank her pee every morning, one did enemas like every day and the third was a bit of a lunatic.

they all were. like "I can smell cheese and bread and meat in someone skin", if you could smell that well, all you would smell is poop in their bowel. they all think eating cooked food will kill you.

so yah, this clean thing to me sounds like bs to me. maybe I should google it. lol.

:laugh:

The basics of it is what I already try to do, eat nutrient, dense, whole foods, as close to their natural state as possible. But some people get nuts with it. They act like anything that comes from a box or can will instantly turn you into an obese invalid, ready to drop dead at any moment.

AnnofB

I'd say sugar, as fat fills you up and can be the type that is good for your heart, whereas sugar turns into bodyfat and is not necessary to live/thrive.

This.

KS_4691

sugar is worse.

KittieLea

sugar is worse.

_Kitten_Kate

SUGAR!!!!!!!

jcstanton

Sugar is much worse.

Your body needs fat for brain function, cell renewal, and satiety. As long as the majority of fats that you're eating are the healthy ones .

Your body doesn't need sugar for anything. Most of what you eat is converted into glucose, and sugar is already glucose, hence why it makes your blood sugar spike; your body doesn't need much energy to digest it.

Also, if you're prone to binges, healthy fats tends to help ward off the urge

Are you sure your body doesn't need sugar for anything?

Not unless you're doing a marathon or something and need immediate energy! Carbs are sugar, just a more complex form. You don't need the literal, simple sugar for every day life is all i'm saying

So you'd be perfectly fine with a blood glucose level of 0?

Way to take my words and twist them into meaning something else. And I thought I was the journalist here.
Your body converts a huge percentage of what you eat into glucose. So your body CONVERTS IT INTO SUGAR ITSELF. You don't need to eat literal sugar. It's adorable that you're trolling and trying to start fights though.

"Your body doesn't need sugar for anything"

So who is twisting words, what does that mean exactly, either your body does or does not need sugar.

You took a PORTION of what she said completely out of context. She said you don't need ADDED sugars. Meaning sweeteners like corn syrup, refined sugar, etc... Your body already takes the naturally occuring sugars in fruits, veggies, and whole grains and turns them into the sugars your body needs for energy.

mmapags

It all depends on the type of fat and sugar you are intaking. If you drink milk and eat a lot of fruit and veggies, MFP will still calculate the sugar which will probably put you over, but natural sugars are great for your body(of course still in moderation) but they are needed in your body. If it's sugar from junk food, and processed foods then that's not very healthy for your body.

Fat is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Obviously not 40g of fat from a McDonalds Big Mac, but healthy fats from Olive Oil, meats, milk, nuts, etc.

It's simple. Your body needs healthy fats and natural sugar.

And how exactly is "natural sugar" different from any other sugar? And how does the body recognize that the sugar is "natural"? And then how does the body process "natural sugar" differently?

testease

No food is inherently good or bad until you take in account the context of the situation.