Staying away from sugar

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ladydeathstar66
ladydeathstar66 Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
With my plan and numbers it's best I stay away from sugar. But it's in EVERYTHING! This morning I'm having yogurt for the first time since childhood and my app yelled at me due to the sugar content.okau it didn't yell,but it might as well have. I need some food suggestions that will keep me away from natural AND artificial sugars!
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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Meat
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    How low is your sugar goal? Are you low carbing? I had some yogurt this morning which should fit even though I'm pretty low carb, that's why I asked. If you are reacting to the app "yelling" at you, be aware that it says dumb things all the time -- if low carbing, expect to hear about fat intake! ;-) (I don't use the app, log on desktop, but if I did I'd turn off that feature.)

    That said, things I eat that are essentially no sugar:

    Eggs, meat/fish, oils/butter, cheese.

    Things that are reasonably low sugar: most vegetables (some things like brussels sprouts, leeks, onions are surprisingly high, but if you are worrying about this I'd reconsider your goals, maybe), nuts, nut butter, and even full fat yogurt, coconut milk. A little higher but not high: berries.

    If your concern is sugar and not all carbs: anything that is high carb but starchy rather than sweet, including oats, pasta, potatoes, beans and lentils.
  • ladydeathstar66
    ladydeathstar66 Posts: 16 Member
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    This yogurt is quite delicious and I added strawberries. It's definitely something I'd like to keep in my diet as it's quick and way less fattening then what I'm used to eating lol thanks
  • ParadigmShifter
    ParadigmShifter Posts: 289 Member
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    Sweet potatoes. Lots and lots of sweet potatoes. The micronutrient profile isn't bad either.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    ParadigmShifter wrote: »
    Sweet potatoes. Lots and lots of sweet potatoes. The micronutrient profile isn't bad either.

    OP said she wants to stay away from natural sugars.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    ladydeathstar66 wrote: »
    This yogurt is quite delicious and I added strawberries. It's definitely something I'd like to keep in my diet as it's quick and way less fattening then what I'm used to eating lol thanks

    We buy plain yogurt and then my kids add drops of stevia for sweetness and some vanilla or caramel extract. Sometimes some berries. Its about a third the sugar as normal flavored yogurt.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Meat and butter...
  • workerbee2103
    workerbee2103 Posts: 3 Member
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    Full Fat plain yogurt, the label has to list what it is made of so the sugar that is natural in the milk is listed in the pre-cultured start of the process. About half of the sugar is consumed in the yogurt culturing process. I have found if you stick to no added sugar and low natural sugars your taste buds will change and you will not have to add artificial sweetener, just a few berries.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
    edited May 2017
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    It would be pretty unusual to go *no* sugar if you are including sugars that naturally occur in foods. Try cutting out just *added*, refined sugar, honey, and syrups, or limit them to a small amount per day (eg: 2 tsp ~ 30 cals added sugar a day).

    If you are used to a diet high in refined sugars your food is going to taste sour or bland for a couple of months until your body decides to up-regulate its sugar receptors.

    Stevia, monkfruit, and possibly miraclefruit may help you. The last on this list works by essentially gluing sugar molecules naturally occuring in your food next to your sugar receptors for about an hour so that the same sugar molecule is sensed multiple times--it may leave an aftertaste and since the sugar receptors are being stimulated there is in theory a risk that it would delay or prevent up-regulation of your sugar-receptors (which can only happen when they are understimulated for a long time-period) so that you can detect the natural sweetness in foods again.

    I don't know the mechanism for stevia or monkfruit so I can't comment on what side effects they might have. I personally find stevia to have a slight delay of onset and faint bitter aftertaste and for me the best is a 50-50 mix of sugar and stevia, which buys a lot of sweetness for a much lower sugar/calorie content. Haven't personally tried monkfruit. I have a miraclefruit plant but it hasn't fruited for me.
  • crazyycatladyy1
    crazyycatladyy1 Posts: 156 Member
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    workerbee2103 wrote: »
    Full Fat plain yogurt, the label has to list what it is made of so the sugar that is natural in the milk is listed in the pre-cultured start of the process. About half of the sugar is consumed in the yogurt culturing process. I have found if you stick to no added sugar and low natural sugars your taste buds will change and you will not have to add artificial sweetener, just a few berries.

    Plain yogurt still has sugar in it (chobani plain has 4g for example). Berries have sugar as well. OP seems to be saying no sugar at all, which would leave meat and fish, (though beef has trace amounts of sugar), butter and eggs (again, trace amounts of sugar). That's a pretty sad way to live though, (and not realistic or sustainable for any amount of time).
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Plain yogurt does not have sugar. 90% of yogurt in the grocery store is candied with sugar and stuff.
  • crazyycatladyy1
    crazyycatladyy1 Posts: 156 Member
    edited May 2017
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Plain yogurt does not have sugar. 90% of yogurt in the grocery store is candied with sugar and stuff.

    http://www.chobani.com/products/plain#plain-non-fat
    http://www.dannonyogurt.com/yogurt/lowfat-yogurt/plain/
    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Plain-Greek-Nonfat-Yogurt-32-oz/26559565
    http://www.stonyfield.com/products/yogurt/smooth-creamy/lowfat-plain
    .....

    OP said no sugar, including natural. That rules yogurt out.
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
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    Yogurt has sugar in it because it is made with milk, which has lactose in it, which is a sugar. I eat Oikos triple zero black label Greek Vanilla yogurt. It is sweetened with Stevia and has fiber added as well as a high protein count. Of course I add fruit to it, usually berries or a slice apple with sliced almonds. Not sure what yogurt you usually eat, but my option may work for you.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2017
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    workerbee2103 wrote: »
    I have found if you stick to no added sugar and low natural sugars your taste buds will change and you will not have to add artificial sweetener, just a few berries.

    OP didn't actually say she was consuming flavored yogurt.

    Anyway, mostly just responding to say that even when I ate added sugar more often and didn't watch natural sugars one bit that is exactly how I liked my yogurt. I've never even thought about adding sugar or artificial sweetener to it (I don't own any artificial sweetener, since I don't like it, except weirdly in a few products I am used to). Berries make yogurt (and oats, for that matter) sweet enough for me.

    Sometimes people act like you can't consume added sugar at all without your taste buds being screwed up, so I wanted to point out that I've always liked lots of not especially sweet things regardless of the fact I also consumed sweeter things.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Plain yogurt does not have sugar.

    Of course it does. I always buy plain yogurt. It has lactose.
  • AndiJH
    AndiJH Posts: 84 Member
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    Chiming in - it is totally possible to omit ADDED sugars (artificial and non). It's not easy, and takes a lot of label reading. You can look up recipes from the 21 day sugar detox. Look up low glycemic index fruits and veggies (example: 1cup of blueberries has way less sugar than 1cup banana slices). Choose dried fruit that has no preservatives or added sugar. Choosing whole-food meals over packaged products helps too. Direct Message me of you want - I'm on a modified sugar detox as we speak!!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    AndiJH wrote: »
    Chiming in - it is totally possible to omit ADDED sugars (artificial and non).

    OP's question, which related to yogurt, was: "I need some food suggestions that will keep me away from natural AND artificial sugar." I read that to be expressing a concern about inherent sugars (i.e., the lactose in yogurt, the sugar in fruit and veg, etc.), as well as added.

    Obviously if one wants to avoid added sugar one can (I'm not sure it's that meaningful to spend a lot of extra energy avoiding even a few grams of added sugar, but eh -- I've done it at times, and like I said above, I eat very little currently bc of low carbing). I see no particular reason to avoid inherent sugar (or entirely avoid added sugar, although cutting it down is often helpful) and it seems like OP might be concerned because of MFP's app being silly.

    Whatever she wants to do, though, I see 0 reason to focus on recipes from some "detox" plan. Most recipes don't have added sugar if they are not for sweet things and it's extremely easy to avoid those that do. If you searched on epicurious for recipes not including sugar you'd be overwhelmed, but you don't even need to do that. I look at recipes all the time for ideas and, again, most don't involve added sugar and if they do it's simple to modify them (Fundamentals of Italian Cooking does recommend a pinch of sugar in some pasta sauces, but I never have any at hand and don't find it needs it, so I just omit it.)

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