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I'm Thinking About Quitting Bad Sugars...

post #1 of 16
10/2/08 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
I'm thinking about losing the sugar from my diet. I don't eat poorly but I do eat a lot of sugar / candy / sweets. I excercise regularly but I think sugar keeps me from being as svelte physically as I could be and keeps some extra weight on that I don't need. I also see the negative effects of the highs and lows and how too much sugar can lead to diabetes and other diseases. My family has a history of diabetes (mother and uncle - mother's brother) I have a really good cookbook which I've used several times called The Good Carb Cookboo, and it's amazing when cooking without "bad carbs" how one doesn't get sleepy or lethargic after eating. I'm not really clear on what sugars are good and bad. Refined sugars / foods are not good for you but what about fruit juice with no added sugar? Anyone else doing something similar? Edit: I almost forgot, I am allergic to many raw fruits (oranges, apples, peaches, plums) but I can run them through a juicer and be ok or eat them in juice or cooked form. Why? No idea but it would be nice to use them as sweets instead of candy or cookies. I just can't really do it.
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post #2 of 16
10/2/08 at 12:37pm
Fruit juice is sugar. It's actually more sugary/calorie dense than soda in most cases. Fruit juice is simply sugar. It's fructose, which is naturally occuring, but it's still sugar and not different from a can of coke. If you want vitamins, then eat the real fruit and skip the processed juice.
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post #3 of 16
10/2/08 at 1:48pm
No such thing as 'bad carbs' or 'bad sugars'. Fruit is healthier than candy, but fructose is no better than sucrose. It's everything else that's in it, too. Juicing whole fruit, if you can with your allergy, is the best way to get more complete nutrients.
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post #4 of 16
10/2/08 at 3:06pm
I keep out most refined sugars, except for after workouts when I sometimes have no choice.

I think the lack of sluggishness etc after meals without 'bad carbs' is to some extent the placebo affect, but there certainly will be some difference.

I'm not sure of a full list of refined sugars (and the products that have them), but I am sure you could get a good idea by a few google searches.
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post #5 of 16
10/2/08 at 5:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tck13 View Post
Refined sugars / foods are not good for you but what about fruit juice with no added sugar?

You need the fiber in fruit to keep it from being the equivalent of drinking pop. If you're drinking OJ, get the kind with the pulp. I guess if that would trigger your allergies, then definitely skip it. Still, fresh fruit juice is still natural, as opposed to high fructose corn syrup.
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post #6 of 16
10/2/08 at 9:33pm
Tck13, Fructose will promote fat accumulation (especially visceral) to a greater degree than glucose—low glycemic index notwithstanding—via bypassing normal metabolic channels for sugar/starch digestion. There were times when this would have been evolutionarily advantageous, but that’s beyond the scope of the discussion. With a family history of Diabetes, I would invest in a glucose tolerance test. Ideal readings would yield, among others, a fasting insulin level of <4 uIU/mL and fasting glucose of perhaps 85 mg/dL, though the "average" values typically come closer to 10 uIU/mL and 100 mg/dL, respectively. If your measurements substantially exceed these, I'd recommend adjusting your active carbohydrate level to within 50-150 g/day, with a minimum of 25 g of fiber. (Fiber delays gastric emptying, blunting the insulin response to carbohydrate ingestion.) Though as you say that juicing allows you to eat raw fruit with no issues, I wonder if you may have existing IBS issues being exacerbated by the insoluble fiber content of the fruits. R.B.
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post #7 of 16
10/2/08 at 9:39pm
You might try Stevia, an herbal sweetener.
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post #8 of 16
10/3/08 at 3:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bachbeet View Post
You might try Stevia, an herbal sweetener.

+1. I'd endorse stevia as a good option. Though I only use it as a sugar replacement in coffee.
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post #9 of 16
10/3/08 at 11:59am
I find that cutting out the sweets has been the easiest part of maintaining a more cut physique. But then again, I have never been big on sweets, aside from a weakness for ice cream and that whole family of cold desserts. When I do sweeten something like coffee, oatmeal, or yogurt I like to use something natural, like honey.
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post #10 of 16
10/3/08 at 11:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bachbeet View Post
You might try Stevia, an herbal sweetener.

+8. Its natural and has a much better taste then Splenda.
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post #11 of 16
10/3/08 at 11:56pm
Stevia tastes like shit.




IBS is not an allergy to food.
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post #12 of 16
10/4/08 at 4:34am
To: Why (should I bother actually reading the posts?), Speak blunt. It's my way vis-a-vis. But don't confuse my words publicly. Now. "Allergy" means different things to different people. A true food allergy is an immune response to specific protein(s). It is not a function of the fiber status* (i.e., either removing via juicing or breaking down by cooking will not bring amelioration, as Tck13 states in his case). Gluten proteins (from wheat products, *allowed residual in commercial dextrin fiber supplements, etc.) can produce allergic response and are, at best, strongly correlated with IBS disorders and are, at worst, causal. Asthe nature of his reaction was not defined, and IBS complaints are a well-documented result of food intolerance, I questioned if IBS played a part im his symptoms. R.B.
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post #13 of 16
10/4/08 at 3:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rand B View Post
But don't confuse my words publicly.
Don't assume I did. I was elaborating.
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post #14 of 16
10/4/08 at 6:29pm
OK.
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post #15 of 16
10/4/08 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rand B View Post
Tck13,

With a family history of Diabetes, I would invest in a glucose tolerance test. Ideal readings would yield, among others, a fasting insulin level of <4 uIU/mL and fasting glucose of perhaps 85 mg/dL, though the "average" values typically come closer to 10 uIU/mL and 100 mg/dL, respectively. If your measurements substantially exceed these, I'd recommend adjusting your active carbohydrate level to within 50-150 g/day, with a minimum of 25 g of fiber. (Fiber delays gastric emptying, blunting the insulin response to carbohydrate ingestion.)

Though as you say that juicing allows you to eat raw fruit with no issues, I wonder if you may have existing IBS issues being exacerbated by the insoluble fiber content of the fruits.

R.B.

This sounds / looks like an all day test, or at least testing at various times?
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