6 ms·

I rarely say anything is black and white in this world but sugar is in my opinion. Without any doubt in my mind. Recently in the last 3 months I gave up sugar,

I rarely say anything is black and white in this world but sugar is in my opinion. Without any doubt in my mind. Recently in the last 3 months I gave up sugar, hard core, it's hard but the benefits are out of this world. I was healthy and active. I ate healthy, or so I thought. Boy was I wrong and mis informed. I had heard theories so I decided to check them out. I went all out to avoid sugar for a couple of weeks just to see. It was amazing. I have lost 20 pounds that I didn't think was possible, I think better, I sleep better and I eat way less. I have way more energy, like I drank 5 cups of coffee all the time. I don't fade in the afternoon. Those of you looking for a way to get more energy and focus at work, especially those working long hours in startups. I encourage you to go all out to reduce sugar intake to as little as possible. Of course eat whole fruits those are ok. Best thing I have ever done in my life. There's a saying "those on high sugar diets don't know what it feels like to be sugar free." It feels amazing. Try it. At least once in your life. You won't go back . sorry that was long :-)

tiglionabbit 10y ago
I weaned myself off sugar once too. It was hard. It took about two weeks before the intense cravings subsided, and then everything tasted sweeter. I was getting a sugar high from eating carrots. It was awesome. Later, though, I started working at tech companies that had catered food, so I didn't control my diet anymore. It's funny how much better I feel when I can choose my own diet. I think I'll make a point of avoiding sugary foods again.
kmonsen 10y ago
So what did you actually eat? It seems like sugar is everywhere these days.
- hx87 10y ago
  Amen to that--what is 8g of sugar doing in a serving of /pasta sauce/?
  - hammock 10y ago
    Sugar is a pretty common ingredient in red pasta sauce recipes. It cuts the acidity of the tomato
    - tromp 10y ago
      And makes up about 25% of ketchup...
    - jerf 10y ago
      Vinegar + sweetener is the or a fundamental flavor in a number of things, including barbecue sauce, ketchup, coleslaw dressing, several salad dressings, some pasta sauce and chili-type sauces, cocktail sauce, some pickles, and so on. By that I do not mean "those evil bastards are sticking sugar everywhere", I mean that this is a standard culinary technique. It may be overused and we may consume too much of it, but it is an old technique. It is also one of the answers to the question "how can so much sugar be everywhere but not everything tastes sweet?" Vinegar is one of the bigger answers to that question. (Even ignoring the fact that we can end up very adjusted to the sugar flavor, it is still amazing to me that some things can literally be half sugar by mass and not taste sweet.) I also mention it because if you want to cut sugar out of your life, this is definitely one of the easiest places to miss a significant quantity. It's pretty easy to make yourself a great salad and accidentally slather it in vinegared sugar.
      - tiglionabbit 10y ago
        Don't forget sushi! It's named after the sour taste of sugar-seasoned vinegar. Sodas use other types of acid in vinegar's place.
    - Thlom 10y ago
      Yes, but the "traditional" sweetener in Italian pasta sauce is usually carrot, not processed white sugar. At least that's how I've always made pasta sauce.
  - sliverstorm 10y ago
    If you look around, there's sauce on shelves now without lots of added sugar. It's been gradual over many years, but I'm starting to find more choices of various foods that have a shorter ingredients list, less salt, less sugar, etc.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  Not OP, but: * Avoid processed anything. Most especially soft/fizzy drinks, baked goods, candy, fruit drinks, jams, jellies, syrups, most processed cereals. * Eat fresh vegetables, some fruit, legumes. Whole grains for breakfast (rolled or steel-cut oats). Meat, eggs, and dairy if they're in your diet. * Check breads and other products for added sugar, in all forms: sugar, molasses (often added to "rye" breads as colouring), caramel colour or flavour, honey, rice syrup, agave nectar (nearly pure fructose), corn syrup, HFCS, concentrated apple juice, etc., etc. Generally, Michael Pollan's guidance in The Omnivor's Dilemma is good: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Many strength training books have good guidance on nutrition (contrast with cardiovascular fitness, though there are exceptions). I'll recommend The New Rules of Lifting for Women (Schuler, Cosgrove, & Forsythe) specifically as it includes a large section on nutrition and meal planning. The fitness advice is also generally applicable to men, though there is a companion title on that topic specifically -- its nutritional advice is similar though briefer. http://www.worldcat.org/title/new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-lift-like-a-man-look-like-a-goddess/oclc/156891965&referer=space_alien_cat http://www.worldcat.org/title/new-rules-of-lifting-for-women... Good advice (similar to Pollan) here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12481699 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12481699
  - boodm 10y ago
    What do you think about white rice? Google lists white rice (1 cup, cooked) at 0.1g. Conversely, brown rice shows 0.7g for the same portion. Are these simple sugars? Is this bad for me?
    - dredmorbius 10y ago
      A reputable nutritional guide (and I've listed several, though there are many others) will be far more reliable and complete than me. Please refer to them. If you care to share your findings, report them back to the discussion.
      - boodm 10y ago
        I've found some data on the subject prior, and I find that it doesn't contain sugar, but acts like sugar, but then that's nullified if you eat it with a fiber, etc. It's more than "what does this book say".
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- wishinghand 10y ago
  I'm not the OP but I'd guess it's mostly vegetables, nuts/non meat proteins, and/or meat. Maybe some of the less processed grains like flax or quinoa.
- grecy 10y ago
  The easiest way to eat healthy is to only buy things in the supermarket that have one ingredient. Pretty soon you'll notice you're only buying fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice, beans & non-processed meat. Disclaimer: of course you could buy pure sugar or pure lard - so don't do that :)
  - oldmanjay 10y ago
    Do yourself the favor, buy the lard and leave the pasta for the people who believe the broken gov't recommendations.
  - MaysonL 10y ago
    Also, cheese and butter and possibly milk.
koolba 10y ago
> I rarely say anything is black and white in this world but sugar is in my opinion. Without any doubt in my mind. I think you're missing the word "bad" between "is in".
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  It can be written either way. The "bad" is implied as written. Your suggestion would be clearer.
abainbridge 10y ago
> Of course eat whole fruits those are ok. Why's that any different from eating say table sugar + celery? I just had a slice of a lovely honey dew melon. It was like drinking sugar syrup. I'm pretty sure it was bad for me. Surely the advice should be to not eat too many sugary fruits either, especially not the modern breeds that are much sweeter than more traditional varieties.
- crpatino 10y ago
  > Why's that any different from eating say table sugar + celery? In principle it's not, except perhaps for a glass of water. Most sweet fruits tend to have much more moisture than celery. An unstated assumption that may come with your question is that just like eating fruit is equivalent to eating sugar + celery, it would also be the same to eat sugar, then celery. This is not the case. The fiber and water in the fruit make for phisical barriers that slow down digestive enzimes from reaching the sugar molecules in it. This makes for a steadier release of energy over a longer period of time; the exact opposite of the well known 'sugar rush' phenomenon. [1] Then there is the issue that most people, left to their own devices, will eat too much of sugar and too little of the other two. [1] I don't have the appropriate literature at hand, but this was explained to me by a really close person who's been a Diabetes-I survivor for 21 years and counting. His report is that foodstuffs with identical glycemic indexes do cause different, noticeable physiologic responses based on the amount of fiber in them.
  - terminalcommand 10y ago
    I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 12, I'm 21 now. Food with identical glycemic indexes do cause different responses. Bread and food with fibers keep the blood sugar levels sustained. When I have to skip a meal, I've learned that it's best to eat oatmeal crackers. They keep you full and you don't experience hypoglysemia. When I eat candy-bars/chocolate as a substitute for a meal, my blood sugar drops immensely after a couple of hours. I feel exhausted, my hands start to tremble and I forget words/things. On the other hand, fruits also have the same effect on me as candy-bars. Fructose is no different for me. For diabetics at least, sugar is poison. But I can't seem to live without it.
adrianggg 10y ago
A really smart guy said to me once something like, “if you are smart and have money and you don't eat well then you are not smart”. I can't remember the exact quote but the sentiment really stuck with me. Look I'm no expert but I'm telling you the results are outrageous. Please do your own research as I only really have a school boy understanding of how this affects the body. My skin cleared up, my ailments all disappeared, I no longer snore, my wife says I radiate energy and my skin glows. People notice that my eyes are white and bright. My thinking is clear and alert. I run up a big hill occasionally, a massive one, I did it yesterday, I broke a sweat but my body was working and I got to the top in record time with minimal effort. I had been training for years and never could match that performance. It's all SUGAR. I hit the wall because of sugar. I finally cracked the magic code, NO SUGAR. What do I eat? I will lose some people here, but honestly, whole fruit, salad, no dressing, chicken,steak,salmon and WATER. That's it. I said it was hard but I went 100% zero sugar. Real Food. Nothing in a box nothing processed. I now love this food more than anything. Why is whole fruit ok? My understanding is the fibre tells your body when to stop eating. It's a natural way to tell you that you've had enough. If the grapefruit it too sweet, don't eat it. Your body is telling you something. Listen to it Sugar inflames your body, it gives you a rush, then a crash, then it makes you hungry. Sugar makes you eat more. It makes you swing up and down. Getting off sugar is hard, you will have withdrawals. They are not pleasant. My appetite and palette has changed for the better, I love food now, I can't even drink a soda, I spit it out as the most disgusting thing imaginable, that's a massive change for me. I eat way less I'm spending less money. Medically all the little things I was thinking of going to the doctor about have completely gone. 3 months in, a lifetime ahead of positive changes. sorry if this was long and ranty and a bit smug :-)
- nikmobi 10y ago
  I really like this response and I do truly believe that cutting out or minimizing sugar is a truly beneficial thing. But when I got to this: > I can't even drink a soda, I spit it out as the most disgusting thing imaginable I had a hard time taking the rest of your comment seriously. I can understand it being too sweet to your now adjusted taste buds, but calling it the most disgusting thing imaginable is just plain wrong.
mary_fortran 10y ago
If you had 20 pounds to lose, you weren't healthy. You were fooling yourself. Healthy people aren't carrying around 20 extra pounds of fat.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  He said he lost 20 pounds, not 20 pounds of fat. The interesting thing about sugar is that it also causes your body to retain a lot of water. Same with salt. So losing 20 pounds in a short time is totally possible for someone who is tall.
  - tiglionabbit 10y ago
    +1 It's well known that folks who start a low-carb diet can expect to lose about 5lbs in water weight within the first week.
- jimmaswell 10y ago
  For an average height, the span between the lowest non-over-or-underweight weight and the highest is a lot more than 20 pounds, and being a bit into the overweight range doesn't automatically make you unhealthy either. chart: http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/Images/body-mass-index-chart.gif http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/Images/body-mass-inde...
  - zumu 10y ago
    Don't forget there's a difference between weight from fat and weight from other sources (muscle, bone, water, etc).
  - mrep 10y ago
    If you lift weights, I wouldn't use body mass indexes.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- ntaenta 10y ago
_RPM 10y ago
What kind of sugar were you eating? Like cookies, cake, pop, ice cream? I don't have any of those foods in my home. I don't buy high sugar foods. So, I'm kind of confused what you consider to be a high sugar diet. How did you get that much sugar in?
- tiglionabbit 10y ago
  Most likely pop. If you eat out a lot, cheap restaurants will shame you into buying huge unhealthy drinks, unless you want to drink water from a tiny dixie cup. It's pretty easy to get a lot of sugar in your entre if you eat at Chili's or Panda Express or anywhere else that uses excessive BBQ sauce. And then there's the fact that Snickers would like you to think it will satisfy your hunger. At least it has peanuts in it...
  - _RPM 10y ago
    BBQ sauce is something that I like with chicken, but lately I've been thinking it's gross to eat it. I have switched to red sauce for my chicken now.
    - prometheanfire 10y ago
      Dry rub is good too :D
malz 10y ago
Have you cut back on carbohydrates too? I'm just curious, since I've eliminated sugary drinks, but I find it harder to cut back on bread, pasta and so on.
- tiglionabbit 10y ago
  Well, we do know that fructose is worse than glucose in terms of its effects on your body because it takes an extra processing step that can cause other complications. This is anecdotal, but I personally feel better when I eat rice than when I eat wheat, though I don't have celiac disease. It would be nice if nutritionists looked into carbs as much as they've looked into fats.
iammyIP 10y ago
I agree, especially industrial sugar is bad food, and artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes are even worse. Sugar and its derivatives are massively overused in todays cheaply processed food chains.
bweitzman 10y ago
Do you drink beer at all? I'd be open to trying to a low sugar diet, but I homebrew and don't want to give that up right now.
mrfusion 10y ago
I keep finding edge cases when I try this. How do you handle sugar in yogurt? How about pizza sauce? Is 5 grams of sugar in super dark chocolate ok? It just seems like it's everywhere.
- Broken_Hippo 10y ago
  >It just seems like it's everywhere. That is precisely the problem, actually. It isn't so much that folks are eating pounds or kilos of sweets daily, it is that we find sugar in everything - even if we wouldn't guessed there was added sugar. Food companies do this for a myriad of reasons, usually backed with research on taste. It is really hard to avoid. I'm not as low-sugar as some of the people here. I figure if I'm eating chocolate, I'm eating chocolate occasionally and damn the sugar. I know there is sugar in that. Occasionally I'll have some daily, but it doesn't make up much of my diet, and that is what I'm much more concerned about. My base diet being fairly healthy. I simply don't eat much flavored yogurt except as an occasional snack. Many people, however, solve this by buying plain, unsugared yogurt and simply adding in fruit. Red sauces and other such things - make what you can at home and freeze some of it for later use. Or start reading ingredients lists carefully. It would be helpful if nutrition labels specified the amount of sugar added (regardless of source), but until then, labels and a lessened reliance on pre-made foods.
- Panoramix 10y ago
  It's everywhere - in the US. Natural yogurt should be relatively easy to find. Add some real fruit if it's too dull for you (after a while it's not). Basically try not to eat processed stuff. Sure, you're not going to die if you eat a pizza here and there, but the baseline should be to eat as much real food as possible, as opposed to processed food. Even for pizza, you could find a place which uses fresh ingredients as oppose to a big franchise where everything is heavily processed and frozen. Finally, give it a try to make your own pizza/yogurt/etc. It can be a lot of fun.

tiglionabbit 10y ago

I weaned myself off sugar once too. It was hard. It took about two weeks before the intense cravings subsided, and then everything tasted sweeter. I was getting a sugar high from eating carrots. It was awesome. Later, though, I started working at tech companies that had catered food, so I didn't control my diet anymore. It's funny how much better I feel when I can choose my own diet. I think I'll make a point of avoiding sugary foods again.

kmonsen 10y ago

So what did you actually eat? It seems like sugar is everywhere these days.

hx87 10y ago
Amen to that--what is 8g of sugar doing in a serving of /pasta sauce/?
- hammock 10y ago
  Sugar is a pretty common ingredient in red pasta sauce recipes. It cuts the acidity of the tomato
  - tromp 10y ago
    And makes up about 25% of ketchup...
  - jerf 10y ago
    Vinegar + sweetener is the or a fundamental flavor in a number of things, including barbecue sauce, ketchup, coleslaw dressing, several salad dressings, some pasta sauce and chili-type sauces, cocktail sauce, some pickles, and so on. By that I do not mean "those evil bastards are sticking sugar everywhere", I mean that this is a standard culinary technique. It may be overused and we may consume too much of it, but it is an old technique. It is also one of the answers to the question "how can so much sugar be everywhere but not everything tastes sweet?" Vinegar is one of the bigger answers to that question. (Even ignoring the fact that we can end up very adjusted to the sugar flavor, it is still amazing to me that some things can literally be half sugar by mass and not taste sweet.) I also mention it because if you want to cut sugar out of your life, this is definitely one of the easiest places to miss a significant quantity. It's pretty easy to make yourself a great salad and accidentally slather it in vinegared sugar.
    - tiglionabbit 10y ago
      Don't forget sushi! It's named after the sour taste of sugar-seasoned vinegar. Sodas use other types of acid in vinegar's place.
  - Thlom 10y ago
    Yes, but the "traditional" sweetener in Italian pasta sauce is usually carrot, not processed white sugar. At least that's how I've always made pasta sauce.
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  If you look around, there's sauce on shelves now without lots of added sugar. It's been gradual over many years, but I'm starting to find more choices of various foods that have a shorter ingredients list, less salt, less sugar, etc.
dredmorbius 10y ago
Not OP, but: * Avoid processed anything. Most especially soft/fizzy drinks, baked goods, candy, fruit drinks, jams, jellies, syrups, most processed cereals. * Eat fresh vegetables, some fruit, legumes. Whole grains for breakfast (rolled or steel-cut oats). Meat, eggs, and dairy if they're in your diet. * Check breads and other products for added sugar, in all forms: sugar, molasses (often added to "rye" breads as colouring), caramel colour or flavour, honey, rice syrup, agave nectar (nearly pure fructose), corn syrup, HFCS, concentrated apple juice, etc., etc. Generally, Michael Pollan's guidance in The Omnivor's Dilemma is good: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Many strength training books have good guidance on nutrition (contrast with cardiovascular fitness, though there are exceptions). I'll recommend The New Rules of Lifting for Women (Schuler, Cosgrove, & Forsythe) specifically as it includes a large section on nutrition and meal planning. The fitness advice is also generally applicable to men, though there is a companion title on that topic specifically -- its nutritional advice is similar though briefer. http://www.worldcat.org/title/new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-lift-like-a-man-look-like-a-goddess/oclc/156891965&referer=space_alien_cat http://www.worldcat.org/title/new-rules-of-lifting-for-women... Good advice (similar to Pollan) here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12481699 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12481699
- boodm 10y ago
  What do you think about white rice? Google lists white rice (1 cup, cooked) at 0.1g. Conversely, brown rice shows 0.7g for the same portion. Are these simple sugars? Is this bad for me?
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    A reputable nutritional guide (and I've listed several, though there are many others) will be far more reliable and complete than me. Please refer to them. If you care to share your findings, report them back to the discussion.
    - boodm 10y ago
      I've found some data on the subject prior, and I find that it doesn't contain sugar, but acts like sugar, but then that's nullified if you eat it with a fiber, etc. It's more than "what does this book say".
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
wishinghand 10y ago
I'm not the OP but I'd guess it's mostly vegetables, nuts/non meat proteins, and/or meat. Maybe some of the less processed grains like flax or quinoa.
grecy 10y ago
The easiest way to eat healthy is to only buy things in the supermarket that have one ingredient. Pretty soon you'll notice you're only buying fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice, beans & non-processed meat. Disclaimer: of course you could buy pure sugar or pure lard - so don't do that :)
- oldmanjay 10y ago
  Do yourself the favor, buy the lard and leave the pasta for the people who believe the broken gov't recommendations.
- MaysonL 10y ago
  Also, cheese and butter and possibly milk.

koolba 10y ago

> I rarely say anything is black and white in this world but sugar is in my opinion. Without any doubt in my mind. I think you're missing the word "bad" between "is in".

dredmorbius 10y ago
It can be written either way. The "bad" is implied as written. Your suggestion would be clearer.

abainbridge 10y ago

> Of course eat whole fruits those are ok. Why's that any different from eating say table sugar + celery? I just had a slice of a lovely honey dew melon. It was like drinking sugar syrup. I'm pretty sure it was bad for me. Surely the advice should be to not eat too many sugary fruits either, especially not the modern breeds that are much sweeter than more traditional varieties.

crpatino 10y ago
> Why's that any different from eating say table sugar + celery? In principle it's not, except perhaps for a glass of water. Most sweet fruits tend to have much more moisture than celery. An unstated assumption that may come with your question is that just like eating fruit is equivalent to eating sugar + celery, it would also be the same to eat sugar, then celery. This is not the case. The fiber and water in the fruit make for phisical barriers that slow down digestive enzimes from reaching the sugar molecules in it. This makes for a steadier release of energy over a longer period of time; the exact opposite of the well known 'sugar rush' phenomenon. [1] Then there is the issue that most people, left to their own devices, will eat too much of sugar and too little of the other two. [1] I don't have the appropriate literature at hand, but this was explained to me by a really close person who's been a Diabetes-I survivor for 21 years and counting. His report is that foodstuffs with identical glycemic indexes do cause different, noticeable physiologic responses based on the amount of fiber in them.
- terminalcommand 10y ago
  I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 12, I'm 21 now. Food with identical glycemic indexes do cause different responses. Bread and food with fibers keep the blood sugar levels sustained. When I have to skip a meal, I've learned that it's best to eat oatmeal crackers. They keep you full and you don't experience hypoglysemia. When I eat candy-bars/chocolate as a substitute for a meal, my blood sugar drops immensely after a couple of hours. I feel exhausted, my hands start to tremble and I forget words/things. On the other hand, fruits also have the same effect on me as candy-bars. Fructose is no different for me. For diabetics at least, sugar is poison. But I can't seem to live without it.

adrianggg 10y ago

A really smart guy said to me once something like, “if you are smart and have money and you don't eat well then you are not smart”. I can't remember the exact quote but the sentiment really stuck with me. Look I'm no expert but I'm telling you the results are outrageous. Please do your own research as I only really have a school boy understanding of how this affects the body. My skin cleared up, my ailments all disappeared, I no longer snore, my wife says I radiate energy and my skin glows. People notice that my eyes are white and bright. My thinking is clear and alert. I run up a big hill occasionally, a massive one, I did it yesterday, I broke a sweat but my body was working and I got to the top in record time with minimal effort. I had been training for years and never could match that performance. It's all SUGAR. I hit the wall because of sugar. I finally cracked the magic code, NO SUGAR. What do I eat? I will lose some people here, but honestly, whole fruit, salad, no dressing, chicken,steak,salmon and WATER. That's it. I said it was hard but I went 100% zero sugar. Real Food. Nothing in a box nothing processed. I now love this food more than anything. Why is whole fruit ok? My understanding is the fibre tells your body when to stop eating. It's a natural way to tell you that you've had enough. If the grapefruit it too sweet, don't eat it. Your body is telling you something. Listen to it Sugar inflames your body, it gives you a rush, then a crash, then it makes you hungry. Sugar makes you eat more. It makes you swing up and down. Getting off sugar is hard, you will have withdrawals. They are not pleasant. My appetite and palette has changed for the better, I love food now, I can't even drink a soda, I spit it out as the most disgusting thing imaginable, that's a massive change for me. I eat way less I'm spending less money. Medically all the little things I was thinking of going to the doctor about have completely gone. 3 months in, a lifetime ahead of positive changes. sorry if this was long and ranty and a bit smug :-)

nikmobi 10y ago
I really like this response and I do truly believe that cutting out or minimizing sugar is a truly beneficial thing. But when I got to this: > I can't even drink a soda, I spit it out as the most disgusting thing imaginable I had a hard time taking the rest of your comment seriously. I can understand it being too sweet to your now adjusted taste buds, but calling it the most disgusting thing imaginable is just plain wrong.

mary_fortran 10y ago

If you had 20 pounds to lose, you weren't healthy. You were fooling yourself. Healthy people aren't carrying around 20 extra pounds of fat.

enraged_camel 10y ago
He said he lost 20 pounds, not 20 pounds of fat. The interesting thing about sugar is that it also causes your body to retain a lot of water. Same with salt. So losing 20 pounds in a short time is totally possible for someone who is tall.
- tiglionabbit 10y ago
  +1 It's well known that folks who start a low-carb diet can expect to lose about 5lbs in water weight within the first week.
jimmaswell 10y ago
For an average height, the span between the lowest non-over-or-underweight weight and the highest is a lot more than 20 pounds, and being a bit into the overweight range doesn't automatically make you unhealthy either. chart: http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/Images/body-mass-index-chart.gif http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/Images/body-mass-inde...
- zumu 10y ago
  Don't forget there's a difference between weight from fat and weight from other sources (muscle, bone, water, etc).
- mrep 10y ago
  If you lift weights, I wouldn't use body mass indexes.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ntaenta 10y ago

_RPM 10y ago

What kind of sugar were you eating? Like cookies, cake, pop, ice cream? I don't have any of those foods in my home. I don't buy high sugar foods. So, I'm kind of confused what you consider to be a high sugar diet. How did you get that much sugar in?

tiglionabbit 10y ago
Most likely pop. If you eat out a lot, cheap restaurants will shame you into buying huge unhealthy drinks, unless you want to drink water from a tiny dixie cup. It's pretty easy to get a lot of sugar in your entre if you eat at Chili's or Panda Express or anywhere else that uses excessive BBQ sauce. And then there's the fact that Snickers would like you to think it will satisfy your hunger. At least it has peanuts in it...
- _RPM 10y ago
  BBQ sauce is something that I like with chicken, but lately I've been thinking it's gross to eat it. I have switched to red sauce for my chicken now.
  - prometheanfire 10y ago
    Dry rub is good too :D

malz 10y ago

Have you cut back on carbohydrates too? I'm just curious, since I've eliminated sugary drinks, but I find it harder to cut back on bread, pasta and so on.

tiglionabbit 10y ago
Well, we do know that fructose is worse than glucose in terms of its effects on your body because it takes an extra processing step that can cause other complications. This is anecdotal, but I personally feel better when I eat rice than when I eat wheat, though I don't have celiac disease. It would be nice if nutritionists looked into carbs as much as they've looked into fats.

iammyIP 10y ago

I agree, especially industrial sugar is bad food, and artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes are even worse. Sugar and its derivatives are massively overused in todays cheaply processed food chains.

bweitzman 10y ago

Do you drink beer at all? I'd be open to trying to a low sugar diet, but I homebrew and don't want to give that up right now.

mrfusion 10y ago

I keep finding edge cases when I try this. How do you handle sugar in yogurt? How about pizza sauce? Is 5 grams of sugar in super dark chocolate ok? It just seems like it's everywhere.

Broken_Hippo 10y ago
>It just seems like it's everywhere. That is precisely the problem, actually. It isn't so much that folks are eating pounds or kilos of sweets daily, it is that we find sugar in everything - even if we wouldn't guessed there was added sugar. Food companies do this for a myriad of reasons, usually backed with research on taste. It is really hard to avoid. I'm not as low-sugar as some of the people here. I figure if I'm eating chocolate, I'm eating chocolate occasionally and damn the sugar. I know there is sugar in that. Occasionally I'll have some daily, but it doesn't make up much of my diet, and that is what I'm much more concerned about. My base diet being fairly healthy. I simply don't eat much flavored yogurt except as an occasional snack. Many people, however, solve this by buying plain, unsugared yogurt and simply adding in fruit. Red sauces and other such things - make what you can at home and freeze some of it for later use. Or start reading ingredients lists carefully. It would be helpful if nutrition labels specified the amount of sugar added (regardless of source), but until then, labels and a lessened reliance on pre-made foods.
Panoramix 10y ago
It's everywhere - in the US. Natural yogurt should be relatively easy to find. Add some real fruit if it's too dull for you (after a while it's not). Basically try not to eat processed stuff. Sure, you're not going to die if you eat a pizza here and there, but the baseline should be to eat as much real food as possible, as opposed to processed food. Even for pizza, you could find a place which uses fresh ingredients as oppose to a big franchise where everything is heavily processed and frozen. Finally, give it a try to make your own pizza/yogurt/etc. It can be a lot of fun.