More Protein, Less Sugar

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Barelmy
Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been tracking my food for a few days now, and while I'm generally okay with keeping the calories under the limit, I never realised before just how much sugar I eat. I'm also a vegan, and I find that my protein is low.

I think I eat okay. I snack on fruit, which is where the majority of the sugar comes from. Any tips on how to lower my sugar while still eating fruit? I find I tend to go over my vitamin C, so I can probably cut some of it, but if anyone has any tips on fruit with less sugar, that would be welcome. I'm going to switch from rice milk to unsweetened soy milk, which will give me 9g more protein and 10g less sugar per serving, and I'm going to experiment with cutting out/lowering the sugar in my baked beans recipe.

As for protein...I know pulses, grains, and beans, but I have no idea how to cook those or work them into recipes. Any tips? I've only been a vegetarian/vegan for the past six months, and only totally vegan since the new year.

Replies

  • togden
    togden Posts: 324 Member
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    http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

    http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/nutrition/high-protein-foods.html (2nd chart)

    http://vegetarian.about.com/od/healthnutrition/tp/protein.htm

    http://www.womenfitness.net/protien-option.htm
  • melissa1977
    melissa1977 Posts: 129 Member
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    I wouldn't worry about fruit/veggie sugar too much, unless your doctor has told you to watch that. What you want to avoid is added sugar - white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. Natural sugar from fruits should not be too much of an issue, but if you're really worried, find a list of low glycemic fruits to choose from and you can use that as a guide to adjust your sugar intake.
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
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    Melissa, I'm just concerned because my food tracker lumps it all together. I guess I can always hide it from my main screen if it's really not a problem, and just work on cutting out added sugar.

    Thanks togden, I'll take a look at all of those.
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
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    Fruits with very low fructose:
    limes
    lemons
    cranberries
    passion fruit

    Low fructose:
    prune
    apricots
    guava
    dates
    plum
    cantaloupe
    raspberries

    moderate fructose:
    clementine
    kiwifruit
    blackberries
    star fruit
    cherries,sweet
    strawberries
    pineapple
    grapefruit
    boysenberries
    tangerine
    nectarine
    peach
    orange
    papaya
    honeydew
    banana
    blueberries

    high fructose:
    apple
    persimmon
    watermelon
    pear
    raisins
    grapes
    mango
    apricots
    figs
    TAKE YOUR PICK! :)
  • endurowoman
    endurowoman Posts: 23 Member
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    More veggies!!!! You have to really pack them in. Have you tried green smoothies? Check out Victoria Butenko's books from the library, this will help a lot. Good luck, I'm really proud of your effort, also organic is important.
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
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    Thank you, shreddingit, I can see a couple of switches I can make right away from that list.:)

    Based on that first link togden posted, I've juggled my preferences so I only require 10% of my calories to come from protein, which makes it seem a lot more manageable.

    Thank you, Endurowoman. I've tried green smoothies, but I fell out of the habit somehow. I'll be sure to look out for that book.:)
  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
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    bump. i've been wondering about this too!

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