Cutting Sugar From my Diet entirely
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There's no reason to eliminate all sugars from your diet. Even things like meat have small amounts of sugar in them. Approach it reasonably. Lay off the sweets except for maybe a very small portion of them a day if you have a bit of a sweet tooth. Lay off alcohol, which your body will process into sugar (drunkenness is what happens when you consume more alcohol than your body can turn into sugar). There's been some research suggesting that simple sugars (like glucose and fructose) can be metabolized by the body better than binary sugars (like sucrose and lactose), but basically the comment that sugar is sugar is about right. The whole big to-do in the news and in public discussion about high-fructose corn syrup is simply a late recognition of, and lately an overreaction to, the fact that the difference between simple and binary sugars was overstated before. They're basically the same with perhaps a slight preference for simple sugars.3
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For me, my sugar intake other than that naturally occurring in fruits, vegetables and grain products consists of two cups of coffee in the morning each with a small amount of half and half (containing some lactose) and one scoop of ice cream after dinner (lactose again plus some sucrose). I eliminated other sweets and alcohol; the results have been very good, as I am losing weight without ever really feeling hungry (checking in at about 1300 calories a day, with a maximum of 1710). Yesterday I treated myself to a good-sized (11 oz.) steak without going much over my average, not even close to my maximum.1
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As a New Englander in exile (grew up in Massachusetts, now in Chicago), I have to have my ice cream from time to time!0
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A can of soda a day won't of itself harm you; it just means that you'll have to reduce other calories in your diet accordingly--if you're having that can of soda, the warning in a previous post about gaining 50 pounds in 20 years will apply if you eat the same as you would have eaten without the soda or other high-calorie drink.3
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maybe that can of soda can be your dessert. The calorie content in a soda isn't high for a dessert, and it could satisfy your sweet tooth in place of ice cream or whatever.4
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Previous arguments aside, fruits are lower on the glycemic index, which does make a difference to your body's insulin response. As a diabetic you can run your own science experiments! Eat a tablespoon of table sugar and measure your blood sugar in fifteen minutes, versus eating a tablespoon of fruit sugar as part of some strawberries. The strawberries are handled by your body better, because the fiber and other components of the food moderate how the sugar is digested. Yes, eventually it all becomes the same stuff - but how it gets there makes a significant difference to your pancreas.
One thing this means is that studies have found eating whole fruit actually seems to prevent type 2 diabetes, while consuming added sugars like soda definitely are associated with a higher incidence of diabetes. In addition, fruit contains vitamins and micronutrients which are essential for health, while soda contains food coloring.
Trying to cut out fruit from your diet is a bad idea, there's no benefit to this.4 -
rheddmobile wrote: »Previous arguments aside, fruits are lower on the glycemic index, which does make a difference to your body's insulin response. As a diabetic you can run your own science experiments! Eat a tablespoon of table sugar and measure your blood sugar in fifteen minutes, versus eating a tablespoon of fruit sugar as part of some strawberries. The strawberries are handled by your body better, because the fiber and other components of the food moderate how the sugar is digested. Yes, eventually it all becomes the same stuff - but how it gets there makes a significant difference to your pancreas.
One thing this means is that studies have found eating whole fruit actually seems to prevent type 2 diabetes, while consuming added sugars like soda definitely are associated with a higher incidence of diabetes. In addition, fruit contains vitamins and micronutrients which are essential for health, while soda contains food coloring.
Trying to cut out fruit from your diet is a bad idea, there's no benefit to this.
Coincidentally, people who eat lots of fruit tend to not be overweight while people drinking lots of soda tend to be overweight and being overweight is considered a major risk factor in getting diabetes, so occam's razor...10 -
It's NOT broken down differently. It's broken down the same as say fruit sugar. The body doesn't realize the source. Where's your source from?RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Start reasonably and cut refined sugars for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Make sure you are not replacing with a bunch of artificial sweeteners. Due to a health issue I had to cut refined sugars but still use honey agave and natural sugars in fruits and vegetables. My goal is to stay under 30g a day. Think that is about as close as I can get to "no sugar" and eat a complete diet. (2100 cal/day)
How would cutting refined sugar help a health issue if you are replacing it with natural sugar?
Your body doesn't care where it comes from. Sugar is sugar.
Your body does care.
Refined sugar is broken down by the body differently than natural occouring sugars. Refined sugars are made of bonded sucrose and glucose and when they are processed by the body it dramatically increases insulin production. Or in my case fuel for bacteria production. Consuming 30g +/- of sugar daily is pretty low considering a 12oz can of coke contains 40g.
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NOT a peer reviewed article and written by a guy that SUPPORTS and sells Paleo books. FAIL.RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »Start reasonably and cut refined sugars for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Make sure you are not replacing with a bunch of artificial sweeteners. Due to a health issue I had to cut refined sugars but still use honey agave and natural sugars in fruits and vegetables. My goal is to stay under 30g a day. Think that is about as close as I can get to "no sugar" and eat a complete diet. (2100 cal/day)
How would cutting refined sugar help a health issue if you are replacing it with natural sugar?
Your body doesn't care where it comes from. Sugar is sugar.
Your body does care.
Refined sugar is broken down by the body differently than natural occouring sugars. Refined sugars are made of bonded sucrose and glucose and when they are processed by the body it dramatically increases insulin production. Or in my case fuel for bacteria production. Consuming 30g +/- of sugar daily is pretty low considering a 12oz can of coke contains 40g.
Got a link to some science on that?
1) Refined sugar (table sugar, also called sucrose) is made of glucose and fructose. Guess what honey is made of? Glucose and fructose. Guess what high fructose corn syrup is made of? You guessed it - glucose and fructose.
2) The body digests/metabolizes all sugars (refined or natural) into monosaccharides (chiefly glucose), regardless of their source. Sugar is sugar.
How your body metabolises naturally occurring sugars is different from how it metabolises artificial or processed/refined sugars. They did a study of artificial honey versus natural honey where the artificial honey had exact same ratio of glucose to fructose molecules. What they found was that the body treated the two honeys significantly differently. Too, in studies of the Kuna people who get the majority of their calories from fruit, there are no sugar related diseases and their body mass remains lean. Further studies have shown that the same molecules of sugar are processed differently...for example the fructose eaten with fruit was processed differently from HFCS...and actually that pure fructose was toxic.
https://chriskresser.com/is-all-sugar-created-equal/
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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No because I love vegetables. And sugar in my coffee. And rice krispie treats.10
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Not if you're not exceeding your TDEE while doing it.Fairlieboy wrote: »If you have a can of soda (coke) a day, in a year you will be 1kg heavier. Take 20 years and wonder why you are 50lbs overweight.
I'm always amused by people that tell others to quit sugar, but only if they are fat. Go to Japan and do the same. They have all sorts of processed sugar products there (including soda) and don't have the obesity issues that places like the US have. For one main reason......................................they don't eat so damn much.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I would cut refined sugar and added sugars and artificial sweeteners. I suggest you eat a moderate amount of fruit (perhaps 1 or 2 pieces a day). When you eat the whole fruit the fiber in the fruit slows the sugar/insulin spike. Even more so if you have a bit of protein with it. And berries have so many health benefits.1
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I actually meant people wouldn't automatically assume ketchup has a lot of added sugar but ok take my comment as you wishAlatariel75 wrote: »strawberrysnap wrote: »Ok I tried this out a while ago and it honestly wasn't as hard as it seems but be careful because first of all the only benefit I had was less sugar cravings but I had major headaches plus there is lots of sugar in hidden things like ketchup etc
The sugar in ketchup isn't "hidden". It's an ingredient. If you don't know it's there, it's a deficiency in your cooking knowledge, not something "hidden".
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Fairlieboy wrote: »Reading through these comments show many are confused, or ill-informed. Attacking Chris Kresser or other bloggers is pretty pointless. Nutrition is not maths. Humans are biological. It is called biochemistry, not chemistry. We have more bacteria than cells, and there is still a lot unknown. Four years ago I decided I wanted to live healthier, but was confused about the apparent myths and confusion from medical and dietary /lifestyle. So I read over 100 books. 2000 published, peer reviewed papers about what was best current evidence based lifestyle and diets. I wrote and self published a book called the Take-Out Diet as part of the study for myself.
Regarding "sugar". There is fat, protein and "Saccharides" as the 3 foods we eat. Saccharides are a class of biochemicals that go all the way from mono-saccharides (glucose or fructose), disaccharides (eg. Sucrose, maltose) through starches all the way to complex saccharides such as leafy vegetables (broccoli). The evidence is clear and unequivocal regarding health. Minimize sugars. The only question is to what level. Just like alcohol.
If you have a can of soda (coke) a day, in a year you will be 1kg heavier. Take 20 years and wonder why you are 50lbs overweight. If you look at people who drink this or more then their livers histologically look just like an alcoholic. They have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which looks identical to alcoholic fatty liver disease, with identical health risks. Fructose is now know as the culprit because 80% of the metabolism is in the liver. C.f. Glucose is metabolised everywhere. And the simple process is this. Sugar raises insulin levels. Insuline is needed to metabolize the sugar to glycogen or fat. But the increase in insulin increases appetite. Not much but enough so you eat more. Subtly.
If you buy my book, all of those references are there. Alternatively try books by Gary Taubes, or John Yudkin, or David Gillespie, or Prof Robert Lustig, all of whom have written detailed, documented books about the damage that added sugar has done to western diets and contribution to obesity. What most non-science people do not realise is that there will be science studies that are inconclusive, or show the opposite as the experiment had flaws in the methodology, so it can be very confusing. Lastly, there is documented evidence that the food and beverage companies have actively lobbied, and deliberately misled.
Minimise "Added sugar". If the food product is more than 3% (3 gm per 100gm); avoid. (For milk products add 5gm as lactose is naturally there). Avoid having more than about 2 pieces of fruit per day. World Healthy Organization now say no more than 5% of daily calorie intake = 6 teaspoons of added sugar (25gm). Remember this is with severe opposition by food and sugar lobbyists. Most informed scientists say if should be no more than 10gm.
Why would I be a pound heavier if I drink a can of Coke a day? That makes no sense. If I work it into my calories it doesn't cause more weight gain than any other calories.10 -
I interpret what the OP says and means is she is cutting out refined sugars and added sugars.2
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strawberrysnap wrote: »
I actually meant people wouldn't automatically assume ketchup has a lot of added sugar but ok take my comment as you wishAlatariel75 wrote: »strawberrysnap wrote: »Ok I tried this out a while ago and it honestly wasn't as hard as it seems but be careful because first of all the only benefit I had was less sugar cravings but I had major headaches plus there is lots of sugar in hidden things like ketchup etc
The sugar in ketchup isn't "hidden". It's an ingredient. If you don't know it's there, it's a deficiency in your cooking knowledge, not something "hidden".
It doesn't. ~4 grams in 100 ml of ketchup, so less than 1 gram added sugar per serving.9 -
Interesting, I wonder if the cheaper off brand varieties differ or if it's more or less the same0
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I interpret what the OP says and means is she is cutting out refined sugars and added sugars.
They literally said "The only thing now I feel like would affect me is the fact that I would have to cut fruits out which is rather disappointing."
I take that as all sugars. Not just refined and added.10 -
I interpret what the OP says and means is she is cutting out refined sugars and added sugars.
OP (who I thought was a guy) actually made it clear he was thinking/asking about cutting out all sugar, not just added sugar: "I'm considering cutting sugar completely out from my diet.... The only thing now I feel like would affect me is the fact that I would have to cut fruits out which is rather disappointing."2 -
I cut out almost all sugar for the past two years. I eat a ketogenic (very low carb higher fat) diet. My carb intake was usually under 20-30g per day. Most of that came from veggies, or trace carbs in dairy and meat. My sugar was usually around 5g per day.
Over the last month I have participated in a LCHF challenge called "meativore May". I have almost only eaten meat, eggs and some full fat dairy for the last month and a half. I have had some tomato in a chilli and some coconut cream though. I'm about as close to zero sugar as you can get... or as close to zero carb for that matter.
Shockingly I feel GREAT while I eliminate carbs. More energy. Steadier energy. My blood glucose is fantastic (I have some insulin resistance) and I imagine my insulin levels are great too. My skin and hair get better and my stomach is much better with smaller and more regular bm's. Crab cravings are gone. Totally. My appetite really drops too. I rarely eat before 2pm because I am not hungry. Funnily enough, I am getting smaller even though the scale is not moving - weirdest thing. My guess is that is caused by getting a higher protein intake, which I usually struggle to reach.
I feel so good that I imagine I will stay largely "carnivore" for the time being. I may add in fresh produce as the summer goes on, but for now I am mainly eating meat. I feel too good to bother with carbs. Besides, I have never been a huge fruit eater so limiting myself to a handful of berries every few weeks is not a big deal.3 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »I interpret what the OP says and means is she is cutting out refined sugars and added sugars.
OP (who I thought was a guy) actually made it clear he was thinking/asking about cutting out all sugar, not just added sugar: "I'm considering cutting sugar completely out from my diet.... The only thing now I feel like would affect me is the fact that I would have to cut fruits out which is rather disappointing."
Hmmm, well maybe.. thats usually what people say when they mean they are going to cut out the refined sugars, i.e. cake, pie, Snickers bars, etc.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I interpret what the OP says and means is she is cutting out refined sugars and added sugars.
OP (who I thought was a guy) actually made it clear he was thinking/asking about cutting out all sugar, not just added sugar: "I'm considering cutting sugar completely out from my diet.... The only thing now I feel like would affect me is the fact that I would have to cut fruits out which is rather disappointing."
Hmmm, well maybe.. thats usually what people say when they mean they are going to cut out the refined sugars, i.e. cake, pie, Snickers bars, etc.
I think him saying he'd have to cut out fruit demonstrates that he is referring to intrinsic sugars too (that in fruit, veg, dairy, sweet potatoes, etc.), although he may not have thought it through and realized it is in so much else.7 -
strawberrysnap wrote: »Interesting, I wonder if the cheaper off brand varieties differ or if it's more or less the same
Depends how much tomato paste is used. Mine says the amount in the ingredients so it was pretty easy to determine. Tomatoes have a lot of inherent sugar.5 -
If it doesn't have the added sugar it'll taste more like tomatoes than ketchup and not sweet enough for the typical ketchup lover I would assume. Every label I can recall from Heinz to French's lists the second ingredient as some kind of added sugar. I suppose there are probably brands made with artificial sweeteners that might avoid the added sugars.strawberrysnap wrote: »Interesting, I wonder if the cheaper off brand varieties differ or if it's more or less the same5 -
Doesn't sound realistic or sustainable imo1
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strawberrysnap wrote: »
I actually meant people wouldn't automatically assume ketchup has a lot of added sugar but ok take my comment as you wishAlatariel75 wrote: »strawberrysnap wrote: »Ok I tried this out a while ago and it honestly wasn't as hard as it seems but be careful because first of all the only benefit I had was less sugar cravings but I had major headaches plus there is lots of sugar in hidden things like ketchup etc
The sugar in ketchup isn't "hidden". It's an ingredient. If you don't know it's there, it's a deficiency in your cooking knowledge, not something "hidden".
Really? ? Have you tasted it? It's like syrup ... sickly sweet.6 -
strawberrysnap wrote: »
I actually meant people wouldn't automatically assume ketchup has a lot of added sugar but ok take my comment as you wishAlatariel75 wrote: »strawberrysnap wrote: »Ok I tried this out a while ago and it honestly wasn't as hard as it seems but be careful because first of all the only benefit I had was less sugar cravings but I had major headaches plus there is lots of sugar in hidden things like ketchup etc
The sugar in ketchup isn't "hidden". It's an ingredient. If you don't know it's there, it's a deficiency in your cooking knowledge, not something "hidden".
My point is that people are so divorced from what goes in their food these days that they don't seem to have any idea that there is sugar in things like ketchup, and bread and all sports of foods that aren't commonly thought of as sugary, but then are made out to have "hidden" sugar, when really it's just a lack of food knowledge on the part of the consumer.11 -
I just assume that anything in a can or bottle will have sugar in it ... and then I check the label to see.
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