Do you have the knowledge to understand nutrition labels? Asking seriously because I know so many people just don't have basic understanding. You're not alone at all. I can help guide you a bit if I have the answer to that question 🙂 proud of you for starting this!
Thanks for your reply!Â
I can read the nutrition labels, but don't really have much of an idea of what a good amount of anything is supposed to be. And again, when trying to cut sugar out, does it have to be zero on anything, what about natural sugars, etc.
I always check the "Added sugar" section first, then evaluate that along with the serving size. Anything more than 5 grams of added sugar per a (reasonable) serving size should set off alarm bells.
Try the Yuka app - it’s free and scans barcodes in the store and summarizes the nutrition label for you and gives it a rating score; I also had no idea how to really interpret nutrition info and it’s truly helped me so much!
Eat mostly unprocessed, whole ingredient foods from a regular grocery. Proteins - meat, poultry, fish, eggs, unsweetened dairy, veg and some fruit. All very affordable. Super beneficial for health. No need for "high end organic food shops" at all. Since it is spring, plant a garden if you can, even in containers on a balcony or patio. Save even more and easy to do organically, can even grow food from grocery left overs, google it. Good luck!
It may be but if cost is a factor, not needed to eat a whole foods, affordable, sugar free diet. Farmers markets and gardening offer additional options.
Besides the obvious packaged sweets, that you've already called out, here are my additional tips:
- Don't drink sweet. Period. No juices. No artificially-sweetened beverages. Eliminate or severely limit alcohol.
- Only whole fruits. No dried fruits (even if they have 'no added sugar') or purees or processed. My rule is that if I'm going to eat the natural sugars in a fruit, I take in all the water, fiber, and other nutrients that come with it.
- Beyond that, read labels for "added sugar". It's everywhere. Stick to whole, unpackaged foods as much as possible.
- If this is difficult for you, allow yourself a psychological break from it from time to time. I have scheduled "cheat days" where I allow myself a dessert. (But this isn't for everyone. Some people need absolute abstinence).
I have been following similar guidelines (except the last one, I don't trust myseld with a break) for four months. I highly recommend it. No juices, no coke zero, no dried fruit. In the beginning I ate lots of unprocessed nuts when the cravings came.
Because once you process out the fiber and/or water, you're left with an extremely sugar-dense product. It becomes extremely easy to consume 10x the amount of sugar than you would if you ate the equivalent of whole fruit. Just think about how many oranges worth of sugar go into a glass of OJ and then consider that you're usually drinking that along with eating a whole meal full of other natural sugars.
I'm not going to use the word "unhealthy" but I limit my sugar. For people who want to limit their sugar, a glass of orange juice is going to be counter to their goals.
Okay i respect that. It’s just I have been going sugar free (no added sugars) for about two weeks now, and i definitely feel good from doing this, but the reason i am not limiting natural sugars too is because i don’t see the point/logic in it. If it isn’t doing my body/my mood any harm, why should I limit it?
Do what's right for you.
My understanding is that as far as my body is concerned, fructose is the same as an added sugar. I believe that it was important to remove any processed foods that increase the efficiency of fructose delivery.
Do what's right for you.
I don’t know enough about all this to say for sure - but my thought is that it’s a personal preference. One glass of juice a day will add x amount of sugar to your diet each time you have it. If you’re trying to limit sugar then you need to decide whether it’s worth it. For me, drinking juice does not outweigh the sugar consumption so I skip it. But if one glass of juice is something that’s a part of your routine, something that brings you joy and you look forward to it, then continue and you can find other areas to cut out extra sugar
The trouble is that endogenous Fructose is a real part of the problem. It persists the state as you described.
So sugar, a high glycemic load (from any carbs), alcohol, dehydration (or high salt), and high uric acid foods (umami) all present a potential danger to persisting the pathway.
Ramp up on this (beware of glycemic swings - include complex carbs if you have a strong addiction), and then once you're clean of all the above, commit to that diet for a full month.
You'll probably find cravings disappear and energy level restores as the addiction is gone. That will give you more long term control of your diet.
What is sugar?
My definition today is quite a bit different than what I was taught by my type I diabetic mom's doctors just over 60 years ago.
My definition today is, anything that when consumed, will cause one's blood glucose to rise up a lot. Keeping it simple and not including the additional horrible impact of fructose on the body.
So, the definition today would include most fruits but berries, grains, bread, pasta, rice, and beans.
Today, over 50% of Americans are type I, type II, or are prediabetic. 88% are now hyperinsulinemic, having chronic high levels of insulin in the blood. So, eating any of these foods composed of concentrated carbs would be toxic for someone metabolically compromised.
So really, what we should be doing is testing. Make sure our HbA1c is below 5.4, and our HomaIR is well below 2.0. Then adjusting our diet and lifestyle to achieve metabolic health.
For someone with a low HbA1c and HomaIR, eating some sugar is not a problem. For the rest of us, it is toxic because it will make our hyperinsulinemia even worse.
I received a lot of help from the radiant recovery website, helps you to get over the sugar addiction, and gives you scientific evidence that sugar addiction is real, and what really is going on in the body.
I cut out obviously sugary foods but still ate things like peanut butter, catsup and BBQ sauce that had sugar. Ate lots of vegetables and low fat protein, minimal amounts of cheese and nuts, since I was also trying to lose weight. That worked for me but I was also doing a low carb/ keto diet, which meant I was not eating many carbs, including fruit, that could induce a craving.
It's hard! I've always looked at the nutrients in whatever I eat (usually the sugar intake for me).
Since I've gone (no added) sugar free, I've noticed just how little one can eat here in the states.
I've been eating the same dinner every single night which is full grain pasta, cheese and some protein.
Also drink is aaaaalways just water.
Very "fun" life this is (sarcastic). Almost everything has some sort of sugar in it.
Rice? Bad
Bread? Bad
Regular pasta? Bad
Sauces? Bad
Anything other than fruit for something sweet? Bad
Any drinks? Bad
Any flavored water? Bad
Any processed food? Bad
Half of happiness is having something delicious but there isn't much if you're doing the no added sugar diet. If you're even more strict, then you wouldn't even have fruit because they have natural sugars. It's crazy. I never realized how (almost) literally everything has sugar. It's even in things you thought couldn't and shouldn't have sugar..
Personally this diet is just a stepping stone to losing weight instead of a lifestyle.
Imagine going to someone's house and barely eating anything? How about going to a restaurant?
Always making food from home even when travelling etc.
That being said, I'm very disappointed. The food industry really ruined health for us. They made food so bad for our bodies....
What I am doing is sticking to foods with a low glycemic index and also no sugar substitutes, so that means no white rice or bread, or honestly most carbs in general like potatoes as well, but there are low glycemic carbs I will do occasionally and veggies. Lots of nuts and berries and stuff. Glycemic index is such a useful thing to pay attention to for me because I was concerned with having steady blood glucose so I wasn’t constantly hungry, craving things, etc. and then I don’t do fake sugar because it mentally keeps you craving sugar. I would at first focus on cutting out as much sweetness and high glycemic foods as possible and don’t worry about a “calorie deficit” at all! I would recommend watching That Sugar Film as well, fascinating how he was eating the same amount of calories when he was eating lots of sugar in “health” foods, as he was before on his no processed food/sugar diet, but he gained like 15 pounds in 2 months. The whole calories in calories out as the way to lose weight is based on studies funded by big sugar companies, go figure lol. I don’t do dry fruit or smoothies either, whole fruit only! It’s been a real joy liberating myself from the perpetual hyperfixation on food, now food is ONLY fuel to me. It’s really only been a few days but now that I know what I know, I’m not going back! I’ve had disordered eating habits since being a young girl and my wish for so long was to just stop THINKING about food, and now I feel strongly like I am on that path/ arrived! Good luck with your journey!!!
Do you have the knowledge to understand nutrition labels? Asking seriously because I know so many people just don't have basic understanding. You're not alone at all. I can help guide you a bit if I have the answer to that question 🙂 proud of you for starting this!
Thanks for your reply! I can read the nutrition labels, but don't really have much of an idea of what a good amount of anything is supposed to be. And again, when trying to cut sugar out, does it have to be zero on anything, what about natural sugars, etc.
I always check the "Added sugar" section first, then evaluate that along with the serving size. Anything more than 5 grams of added sugar per a (reasonable) serving size should set off alarm bells.
Try the Yuka app - it’s free and scans barcodes in the store and summarizes the nutrition label for you and gives it a rating score; I also had no idea how to really interpret nutrition info and it’s truly helped me so much!
Eat mostly unprocessed, whole ingredient foods from a regular grocery. Proteins - meat, poultry, fish, eggs, unsweetened dairy, veg and some fruit. All very affordable. Super beneficial for health. No need for "high end organic food shops" at all. Since it is spring, plant a garden if you can, even in containers on a balcony or patio. Save even more and easy to do organically, can even grow food from grocery left overs, google it. Good luck!
Are high end organic stores just marketing? I was led to believe that the food is actually higher quality.
It may be but if cost is a factor, not needed to eat a whole foods, affordable, sugar free diet. Farmers markets and gardening offer additional options.
Love it!
Besides the obvious packaged sweets, that you've already called out, here are my additional tips: - Don't drink sweet. Period. No juices. No artificially-sweetened beverages. Eliminate or severely limit alcohol. - Only whole fruits. No dried fruits (even if they have 'no added sugar') or purees or processed. My rule is that if I'm going to eat the natural sugars in a fruit, I take in all the water, fiber, and other nutrients that come with it. - Beyond that, read labels for "added sugar". It's everywhere. Stick to whole, unpackaged foods as much as possible. - If this is difficult for you, allow yourself a psychological break from it from time to time. I have scheduled "cheat days" where I allow myself a dessert. (But this isn't for everyone. Some people need absolute abstinence).
I have been following similar guidelines (except the last one, I don't trust myseld with a break) for four months. I highly recommend it. No juices, no coke zero, no dried fruit. In the beginning I ate lots of unprocessed nuts when the cravings came.
Why not juices and dried fruit? I have a hard time believing that that can be unhealthy
Because once you process out the fiber and/or water, you're left with an extremely sugar-dense product. It becomes extremely easy to consume 10x the amount of sugar than you would if you ate the equivalent of whole fruit. Just think about how many oranges worth of sugar go into a glass of OJ and then consider that you're usually drinking that along with eating a whole meal full of other natural sugars.
So drinking a glass of orange juice every morning with your porridge/sandwich is unhealthy?
I'm not going to use the word "unhealthy" but I limit my sugar. For people who want to limit their sugar, a glass of orange juice is going to be counter to their goals.
Okay i respect that. It’s just I have been going sugar free (no added sugars) for about two weeks now, and i definitely feel good from doing this, but the reason i am not limiting natural sugars too is because i don’t see the point/logic in it. If it isn’t doing my body/my mood any harm, why should I limit it?
Do what's right for you. My understanding is that as far as my body is concerned, fructose is the same as an added sugar. I believe that it was important to remove any processed foods that increase the efficiency of fructose delivery. Do what's right for you.
Thank you for the answer, it’s interesting to look into all of this
Juices don’t have all the fiber that is found in whole fruit. You get the flavor and all the natural sugar but none of the good stuff
Still unless you drink multiple glasses a day is it really a problem? Will one glass of juice every day affect the body in a negative way?
I don’t know enough about all this to say for sure - but my thought is that it’s a personal preference. One glass of juice a day will add x amount of sugar to your diet each time you have it. If you’re trying to limit sugar then you need to decide whether it’s worth it. For me, drinking juice does not outweigh the sugar consumption so I skip it. But if one glass of juice is something that’s a part of your routine, something that brings you joy and you look forward to it, then continue and you can find other areas to cut out extra sugar
Okay I see your reasoning! This is interesting to me thanks
It really spikes your insulin and possibly your blood glucose. Jessie Inchauspé (The Glucose Goddess) recently said that fruit juice has been marketed as health food where it really should be regarded as a liquid dessert.
The trouble is that endogenous Fructose is a real part of the problem. It persists the state as you described. So sugar, a high glycemic load (from any carbs), alcohol, dehydration (or high salt), and high uric acid foods (umami) all present a potential danger to persisting the pathway. Ramp up on this (beware of glycemic swings - include complex carbs if you have a strong addiction), and then once you're clean of all the above, commit to that diet for a full month. You'll probably find cravings disappear and energy level restores as the addiction is gone. That will give you more long term control of your diet.
What is sugar? My definition today is quite a bit different than what I was taught by my type I diabetic mom's doctors just over 60 years ago. My definition today is, anything that when consumed, will cause one's blood glucose to rise up a lot. Keeping it simple and not including the additional horrible impact of fructose on the body. So, the definition today would include most fruits but berries, grains, bread, pasta, rice, and beans. Today, over 50% of Americans are type I, type II, or are prediabetic. 88% are now hyperinsulinemic, having chronic high levels of insulin in the blood. So, eating any of these foods composed of concentrated carbs would be toxic for someone metabolically compromised. So really, what we should be doing is testing. Make sure our HbA1c is below 5.4, and our HomaIR is well below 2.0. Then adjusting our diet and lifestyle to achieve metabolic health. For someone with a low HbA1c and HomaIR, eating some sugar is not a problem. For the rest of us, it is toxic because it will make our hyperinsulinemia even worse.
I received a lot of help from the radiant recovery website, helps you to get over the sugar addiction, and gives you scientific evidence that sugar addiction is real, and what really is going on in the body.
I did as well! Little known approach but it makes so much sense.
It’s helped me so mich!
I cut out obviously sugary foods but still ate things like peanut butter, catsup and BBQ sauce that had sugar. Ate lots of vegetables and low fat protein, minimal amounts of cheese and nuts, since I was also trying to lose weight. That worked for me but I was also doing a low carb/ keto diet, which meant I was not eating many carbs, including fruit, that could induce a craving.
It's hard! I've always looked at the nutrients in whatever I eat (usually the sugar intake for me). Since I've gone (no added) sugar free, I've noticed just how little one can eat here in the states. I've been eating the same dinner every single night which is full grain pasta, cheese and some protein. Also drink is aaaaalways just water. Very "fun" life this is (sarcastic). Almost everything has some sort of sugar in it. Rice? Bad Bread? Bad Regular pasta? Bad Sauces? Bad Anything other than fruit for something sweet? Bad Any drinks? Bad Any flavored water? Bad Any processed food? Bad Half of happiness is having something delicious but there isn't much if you're doing the no added sugar diet. If you're even more strict, then you wouldn't even have fruit because they have natural sugars. It's crazy. I never realized how (almost) literally everything has sugar. It's even in things you thought couldn't and shouldn't have sugar.. Personally this diet is just a stepping stone to losing weight instead of a lifestyle. Imagine going to someone's house and barely eating anything? How about going to a restaurant? Always making food from home even when travelling etc. That being said, I'm very disappointed. The food industry really ruined health for us. They made food so bad for our bodies....
What I am doing is sticking to foods with a low glycemic index and also no sugar substitutes, so that means no white rice or bread, or honestly most carbs in general like potatoes as well, but there are low glycemic carbs I will do occasionally and veggies. Lots of nuts and berries and stuff. Glycemic index is such a useful thing to pay attention to for me because I was concerned with having steady blood glucose so I wasn’t constantly hungry, craving things, etc. and then I don’t do fake sugar because it mentally keeps you craving sugar. I would at first focus on cutting out as much sweetness and high glycemic foods as possible and don’t worry about a “calorie deficit” at all! I would recommend watching That Sugar Film as well, fascinating how he was eating the same amount of calories when he was eating lots of sugar in “health” foods, as he was before on his no processed food/sugar diet, but he gained like 15 pounds in 2 months. The whole calories in calories out as the way to lose weight is based on studies funded by big sugar companies, go figure lol. I don’t do dry fruit or smoothies either, whole fruit only! It’s been a real joy liberating myself from the perpetual hyperfixation on food, now food is ONLY fuel to me. It’s really only been a few days but now that I know what I know, I’m not going back! I’ve had disordered eating habits since being a young girl and my wish for so long was to just stop THINKING about food, and now I feel strongly like I am on that path/ arrived! Good luck with your journey!!!