Sugar Intake

what do you mean?

It sort of depends on the type...we have

sucrose - table sugar
fructose - fruit sugar
lactose - dairy sugar

glucose - blood sugar (found in items for diabetics)

There are more, but these are the most common. Sucrose is white sugar that you put in your coffee and pastries. It has a really large effect on insulin, so it should be kept as low as possible. It's easy to avoid...just don't put a bunch on your coffee (or use a sweetener), and don't eat cakes/cookies; choose items that are no-sugar added or use cane sugar, which is unbleached and unrefined.

Fructose has a smaller effect on insulin which depends on the fruit. Fruit juice will contain some fructose, but most often it'll also contain table sugar. So stick to actual fruit and don't worry too much about the sugars as long as you're staying withing recommended amounts (which is about 2 cups).

Lactose also has a minimal impact on insulin, so you don't really need to worry about those either. However, keep in mind that a lot of yogurt has added corn syrup and sugar. Get plain yogurt and add just as much sugar/sweetener as you need, or buy a brand that's no sugar added. Also, flavored milks, even if they're low-fat, are often loaded with table sugar, which really negates any health benefit from the protein in the milk. The RDA for dairy is 3 cups.

Glucose you'll only use if you're a diabetic or using it for post-workout nutrition, so that's sort of for a different audience. It has a large impact on blood sugar but when used appropriately it is beneficial.

Oh man, I LOVE your avatar! I used to watch Ren and Stimpy all the time. :bigsmile:

I would really only count the sugar from the cereal. The milk sugars and the vegetable starches won't do much to your blood sugar. V8 is actually a great drink after a hard workout because it's filled with electrolytes (sodium and potassium).

I'm glad to see some info about sugar on here.

My breakfast this morning consisted of:

Kashi Oats cereal (7 grams)
Skim Milk (8 grams)
Can of regular V8 (11 grams)

My suggested sugar intake is 26 grams so it is already blown away at breakfast!!!

Should I just be concerned about the sugar that is added to the cereal? The skim milk and V8 apparently have sugar that is naturally occurring. (I checked the V8 can and sugar is not an ingredient.)

It sort of depends on the type...we have

sucrose - table sugar
fructose - fruit sugar
lactose - dairy sugar

glucose - blood sugar (found in items for diabetics)

There are more, but these are the most common. Sucrose is white sugar that you put in your coffee and pastries. It has a really large effect on insulin, so it should be kept as low as possible. It's easy to avoid...just don't put a bunch on your coffee (or use a sweetener), and don't eat cakes/cookies; choose items that are no-sugar added or use cane sugar, which is unbleached and unrefined.

Fructose has a smaller effect on insulin which depends on the fruit. Fruit juice will contain some fructose, but most often it'll also contain table sugar. So stick to actual fruit and don't worry too much about the sugars as long as you're staying withing recommended amounts (which is about 2 cups).

Lactose also has a minimal impact on insulin, so you don't really need to worry about those either. However, keep in mind that a lot of yogurt has added corn syrup and sugar. Get plain yogurt and add just as much sugar/sweetener as you need, or buy a brand that's no sugar added. Also, flavored milks, even if they're low-fat, are often loaded with table sugar, which really negates any health benefit from the protein in the milk. The RDA for dairy is 3 cups.

Glucose you'll only use if you're a diabetic or using it for post-workout nutrition, so that's sort of for a different audience. It has a large impact on blood sugar but when used appropriately it is beneficial.