How much does sugar intake *really* matter?

As long as you aren't pre-diabetic or diabetic and the sugar you are consuming is not intensifying cravings, you're good.

I don't. If you have a medical reason to restrict sugar (diabetes is the obvious one that springs to mind, though not the only one), that's one thing. Otherwise, I don't pay attention to it at all. My iron intake is more of a concern; that's borderline, so I switched out sugar tracking for iron tracking.

The only thing I can think of is that when sugar and fat are combined, as in baked goods, they can be harder to resist and take up more daily calories than you might like, while not filling you up as much as other foods. That doesn't mean you have to eliminate them. It sounds like you can eat one Cliff bar without finishing the box at one sitting, limit yourself to a square or two of chocolate without eating a whole bar. As long as you're able to moderate your portion sizes, there's nothing wrong with sweets.

Well, it's a pure carb and doesn't contain any other nutrients. Many call it 'empty' calories for that reason, though it's useful as a quick burst of energy if you're working out (and it tastes so darn good!) Besides that? Fat doesn't really taste like much on its own, but it sort of enhances the palatability of already-sweet foods, so the sweetness gets the blame? On some level, many people believe that success HAS to come with suffering, so if it tastes good it can't be good for you?

I'd say the problem with sugar is it's in a lot of food, more than ever. Sugar gets us to eat more, whether it's more sugary processed foods or natural foods. I has an impact on if you have a sugar crash (traditionally the 3pm slump). I know if I have a sugary food sometimes, especially if it's a processed sugar, I will want more food later to keep that satisfied.

I just met with my nutritionist yesterday and she said for women, we should aim to have no more than 25g of sugar daily. She suggested I switch to berries on a rice cake with almond butter rather than a banana.

Sugar can have an impact on your liver. Your body is constantly working to process sugar as you eat and if you eat too much, it works to keep up. Just ask someone who is diabetic. It runs in my family.

Food manufactures add sugar to food that doesn't need it, like those pre cooked chicken roasts you find at the store. Never did I think they add sugar, but lo and be hold, they do. No wonder it tastes so good (Costco and Safeway come to mind) and makes me want to keep eating.

In short, sugar I would say is something to be mindful of and to try to reduce processed foods. I'll say it's quite telling when you reduce your sugar in take, even high sugar fruit, juices, processed food, etc., and see how your body feels. I know I've then craved sugar in whatever form and it takes a while to get used to it. My body will have got used to whatever source of sugar I was eating and the craving get stronger. I'm assuming withdrawal like an alcoholic or drug addict. The addiction to sugar is very real and a problem with our culture today.

Anywho, I'm going to do the best I can to reduce my sugar intake and treat myself once in a while to a treat. I will say it feels really nice having energy all day and not crashing halfway through the day. It's a process to say the least but worth a try.

I find it more useful to track Fiber than Sugar.

I do limit baked goods and increased fruit, as the latter has far less calories.

I deleted sugar and replaced it with fibre. Sugar is only a subset of carbs after all so it's a bit pointless unless you have some specific need to do so.

I just concentrated on a well balanced, nutritious and enjoyable diet within my calorie allowance.

havronab wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

As long as you don't have a medical issue, I don't think sugar is an issue at all.

Sugar (like other tasty things) can be a problem if it causes us to exceed our calorie goals or it crowds out the foods we need to meet our nutritional needs. Other than that, I think it is unfairly stigmatized.

I think that's where my confusion comes from. So many would have you believe that sugar is evil, and so many people cut it out all together, so I assumed there would be some good reasons for this.

A lot of people are black and white/good and bad thinkers...A health organization warns about over-consumption of something and automatically a lot of people think they need to cut it out entirely when in reality there's this whole middle area between over-consuming and eliminating...