There's sugar everywhere!!!

[annie24]

hi all - I have had a sweet tooth my entire life. and I'm alright with that. I signed up for a candy making class a few months ago, and ever since, it's actually starting to turn me off a bit from sugar and sweets. I guess if you are around something too much, it isn't as interesting anymore.

 

But what I am starting to notice, in american society, there is sugar EVERYWHERE. hidden in places where you wouldn't even think to look. in salad dressings, mayonaise.... even the BACON in my refrigerator has sugar in it!!!! This is out of control!

 

If you watched the movie, "Supersize Me", then you know that the only things McDonalds has on their menu that doesn't have sugar in it are the hash browns, coffee, and sugar-free iced tea.

 

that's out of control!

 

How is a person supposed to live healthier if sugar is hidden in places where you wouldn't even think to look? arg!

[RayKay]

I know.

 

It is important though to remember that there is also a difference between natural sugars and processed ones. Natural sugars are found in almost everything to some degree, they are also used as fuel by our bodies to produce that energy we need.

 

Processed/refined sugars are those that are added to products in processing - refined white sugar, corn syrup, etc.....try to limit those as they do cause insulin spikes and are basically nutritionally void.

[annie24]

yeah, good point. I know we need sugar to live. but sometimes, it is like, out of control.

 

I was talking to someone at dinner last night, he said that coca-cola in the US has high fructose corn syrup, while coca-cola in europe is made with real sugar (sucrose).

 

it's just really disturbing to sometimes read an ingredients list, and see 4 forms of sugar on the same list!

 

I mean, I can accept sugar in my chocolate and cerals, etc.... but what is it doing in my bacon and lite mayo?

[RayKay]

High fructose corn syrup is the worst for you too!

 

I know, I am sure many also are not aware of all the names for different sugars either so don't even know it.

 

If sugar or a form of sugar is first on the list, it's something you should think of as a once-in-a-while thing!

 

I limit it as much as possible, but it cannot be totally avoided (rather I choose not to totally avoid it as I love my ice cream!).

 

Good ideas are to make real oatmeal (ie 5 min kind) instead of the instant stuff, look for rye or whole wheat breads with limited sugar, choose real turkey breast over sandwhich meats, plain yogurt with your own fresh fruit added (the stuff with fruit on bottom mixed in is high in sugar generally), oil & vinegar on your salad instead of dressings, etc.

[annie24]

yeah, you are right.

 

ever since I took that candy making class, I am just more aware of sugar everywhere. it is funny, I have a fridge stocked with "lite" foods, but then when I look at the ingredients, sugar is high in all of them. And sugar gets metabolized into fat if not burned. I've slowly started switching back over to the full fat items, just because they taste better (like cottage cheese and other cheeses and yogurts), but I am just careful to limit quantities.

[agent1607307371]

I remember visiting America when I was younger and being amased at how sweet the food was and how big the portions were.

 

An interesting book on this is Fatland by Greg Critser, it even has some very interesting information about the poularity of madmade sugars in it.

[RayKay]

Often in items where they reduce fat, they do add sugar for the taste.

 

Remember Snackwells which were low in fat? Yeah...very high in sugar!

 

Fat is not all bad for you either, as long as you pick "healthy fats" - they help digestion, your skin, your brain power, and so on! Plus, you can eat smaller amounts and be more satisfied as they tend to BE more satisfying than those with just lots of sugar and no or limited fat.

[annie24]

thanks agent - I will look into that book!

 

and yeah, snackwells are yummy, but for that sugar content, the calories aren't that much lower than the real cookies.

 

I bet you have already guessed what my new year's resolution is. ever since I started yoga, i feel a bit more tuned to what my body wants. I just went to the grocery store and my body was craving all the yummy fruits and veggies, and just walked right past the bakery section (which is by the fruits and veggies). in the past, I would have gone straight to the bakery section.

[RayKay]

Good stuff Annie!

 

Yeah, I am the same way. I crave the fresh produce, even after a run.

 

And yoga is awesome! It really does help you appreciate your body's STRENGTH and ABILITIES more and love it for what it can do, rather than worry about how you wish you had your best friend's hips instead, etc! Research also shows those whom do yoga have better body image, and even have a better body weight partly as they don't "stress" so much about it.

[annie24]

yeah, the yoga + the chocolate making class! ever since taking that class, I definitely get my fill of sugar, but then when I eat "normally" and find sugar in my bread, salad dressings, etc.... I start feeling like I have pure sugar runing through my viens. yuck!

[patch2006uk]

I never understood why 'diet' drinks are so popular. Yeah, they've only got 0.1 calories per tonne or whatever, but the chemicals they have to pack it with to make it taste anything like sweet. Same with 'lite' crisps, to cover the fact that there was less fat, the salt content went skyrocketing. I think it's becoming so that the only safe things to eat are things you grow yourself!

[shes2smart]

it is funny, I have a fridge stocked with "lite" foods, but then when I look at the ingredients, sugar is high in all of them. And sugar gets metabolized into fat if not burned. I've slowly started switching back over to the full fat items, just because they taste better (like cottage cheese and other cheeses and yogurts), but I am just careful to limit quantities.

 

Fat is what carries flavor in foods. When food manufactures create low-fat "Frankenfood," they have to make up for the loss of taste and texture that fat gives. One of the easiest ways to do that is to boost the sugar content.

 

Fat is also what gives food saiety value...it makes you feel full and satisfied. That's why people can inhale a box of fat-free cookies and still feel like they want something. Had they just eaten the regular cookies, chances are they would've stopped after a reasonable amount and felt satisfied.

 

The other thing about the low-fat/low-carb/diet/lite and other "Frankenfoods" is that they generally cost less for the food manufacturers to produce, and they sell them for more than the regular version of the product.

 

As for diet sodas....well, I've already expressed an opinion on them here:

 

While this is no longer true, at one point a "regular" Fig Newton cookie was 50 calories....a "fat free" Fig Newton cookie was 70 calories. Nabisco has since changed the recipe (or perhaps just the size) of the fat-free cookies so they have slightly fewer calories than the regular kind. But, again, you'll run into that "eating more of the low fat stuff because the satisfaction level isn't there."

 

Here's a recent article from the NY Times. If you're buying foods that are advertised/promoted as being "healthy" (like Healthy Choice products or Lean Cuisine products), this article may make you re-think those choices. They're not as "healthy" as the manufacturers would like you to believe.

[annie24]

thank you s2s for those links! oh my, you know, I am a diet coke junkie. it's bad. i drink about a liter per day. out of control. i don't drink juices because they have too many calories, but I think you may be right about the diet soda. I am really addicted. maybe i need to drink more water instead....

[shes2smart]

If the Marc David book (quoted in the diet soda post) looks interesting to you, he's also got another one called "Nourishing Wisdom." link removed

 

I like Nourishing Wisdom a little better than The Slow Down Diet, but that's just a personal bias.

[annie24]

thanks! I will look into that!

 

ok, I am reading the back of a packet of salad dressing I got from McDonald's a while ago. Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Salad dressing - All natural.

4 different kinds of sugar! arrrrgh!

 

water

soy sauce

high fructose corn syrup

corn syrup solids

distilled vinegar

sugar

freeze dried orange juice concentrate

soybean oil

seasame seed oil

salt

corn starch

ginger

garlic

corn vinegar

brown sugar

red bell peppers

garlic

guajillo peppers

parsley

apple cider vinegar

xanthan gum

spices

citric acid

caramel color

onion.

[Siriana]

I have no idea how things work in US with unhealthy food you're having here - but the same thing started in my country too and I see a huge amount of teenagers beeing overweight. And it is awfull. The change of our lifestyles brings the problem of unhealthy diet.

 

I eat healthy food and people tend to look at me like I'm crazy sometimes.

But than again they tend to be superficialy curious how do I have the perfect weight? After i describe my eating habits they are disappointed - obviously they think that it is all about genetics or that I have some super secret formula how to eat a hamburger every day and stay fit at the same time.

 

I don't eat bread (max. 1 slice a day) and butter, I eat only small portions of potatoes and pasta. I am cutting down the amunt of sweets I eat (I could eat a whole chocolate - but I never do that). I don't use sugar in my tea, and in my coffie only brown sugar. I don't eat fast food - mc donalds maybe once a month maximum.

Recently I tested my blood and my results are greate - I couldn't be healthier and my doctor was surprised by the amount of Fe I have. But my sugar is low. It is slightly higher than the lowest amount allowed. So I actually was told to eat more sugar?!

Heh......

[shes2smart]

I have no idea how things work in US with unhealthy food you're having here - but the same thing started in my country too and I see a huge amount of teenagers beeing overweight. And it is awfull. The change of our lifestyles brings the problem of unhealthy diet.

 

I think a part of the problem is the way in which Americans approach food and eating in general. We tend to categorize food as "good" or "bad," and in turn if we consume a "bad" food that makes us "bad"...and if we consume a "good" food that makes us candidate for sainthood....and even better if we didn't particularly enjoy it but ate it because it was "good" for us.

 

In Nourishing Wisdom, Marc David wrote a bit about how there are no "good" or "bad" foods. There are foods that will make you feel better if you eat them, and foods that will make you feel better if you avoid them, but that doesn't make them good or bad. That just makes them foods that agree or don't agree with your body in particular. F'rinstance, I don't like the effect spicy-hot foods have on my body, so I avoid them. However, there are plenty of folks who love foods that give them those mouth-burning, face-flushing, sweating, sinus-clearing sensations.

 

Of course, there is the whole dynamic of people wanting what they can't (or think they can't) have. If you tell someone they can't have chocolate cake, and they like chocolate cake....what do you think they're likely to develop an intense craving for? When you categorize foods as "good" and "bad"....and all the bad stuff has fat and sugar (which are things your body really likes on a biological level)...you're setting up for a heck of an internal war.

 

If you don't think people have been brainwashed by the food manufacturers and diet industry into categorizing foods (and the people who consume them) as "good" or "bad," just watch the reactions of people who happen to see a fat woman eating an ice cream cone in public.

 

True Story: Many years ago, a friend and I stopped at a TCBY (frozen yogurt chain) for a snack while we were out shopping. As we sat there with our yogurt, talking and laughing and having a grand old time, a group of 3 girls took a table accross from the restaurant from us. They looked to be in their late teens or early 20's. One of them was GLARING at us for a good 5-10 minutes. As they left the shop, the one who'd been glaring at us turned around stared directly at us until we looked up at her and then yelled, "Don't you fat b*****s wish you were f'n skinny!"

 

Yeah, both me and my friend are fat and we had committed the crimes of 1. being seen in public....2. being seen in public eating....3. being seen in public eating "bad" food. Apparently that girl thought that gave her the right to be rude and mean. I understand she probably had some massive food/eating/body image issues of her own, however at the time both my friend and I were stunned into silence (as were the employees behind the counter). After a few moments, we threw away our remaining yogurt and quickly and quietly left the shop. Would that I have been quick-witted enough to retort, "Not if it means being a mannerless wench like you..."

 

The other thing I see as a big problem in the way Americans eat is the speed at which they eat. Everybody's so freakin' busy (or at least thinks they are) that a lot of meals are grab-n-go affairs. That makes it real easy to not pay much attention to what you're stuffing in your mouth in terms of taste, quality and quantity. The cues your body gives you to indicated "I'm satisfied" and "I'm full" (and, for me anyway, "satisfied" very often happens way before I get to "full") are subtle signals. And if you're eating while driving, talking on your cellphone, watching the clock or doing 3 or 4 other things at the same time, it's real easy to miss those subtle messages and keep eating past the point of satisfied or full....or to even realize that maybe you really don't want what it is you're eating.

 

Before practicing eating with awareness, I might order a dessert on rare occaisions, eat it in a hurry, snarf it all down without particularly tasting it, feel guilty about eating it and feel "I've-had-a-little-too-much-sugar" queasy for the next few hours.

 

After practicing eating with awareness, I order a dessert when I crave it, I eat slowly, taking small bites and taking time to savor every bite, and very often I find I'm satisfied and don't want anymore when there's still over half of the dessert left.

 

For most people, when they truly allow themselves to eat what they want, when they want, in the quantity they want, and they learn how to be fully present and have their mind connected to their body when they eat, how savor and taste their food, and to observe how different foods make their body feel after eating them, they usually discover that they start naturally eating less and start making truly healthier choices because of making the realization that a lot of the highly processed and fiddled-with stuff doesn't taste good and it doesn't make them feel very good physically, either.

[shes2smart]

ok, I am reading the back of a packet of salad dressing I got from McDonald's a while ago. Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Salad dressing - All natural.

 

With some of those fast-food salads, you really have do your homework. You might find out that you could've had a standard hamburger -- not the quarter pounder with cheese, but just a regular, standard McD's burger & a water (which would probably make you feel fuller for a longer period of time...thereforeeee eat less overall) for fewer calories than the salad.

 

 

 

One other thing (and this should probably be part of the post above) people in this country tend to do is equate "thinner" with "healthier" and that is not necessarily the case.

 

It is not being fat in and of itself that will kill you....it's a sedentary lifestyle. The important measures of one's health are not found on a scale or BMI chart...they're found in your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

 

Assuming the diets of these two people are similar, a thin person who leads a sedentary lifestyle is at greater risk of developing life-threatening diseases (particularly heart disease) than a fat person who exercises regularly. If the thin person smokes (and there are people who smoke in part because it helps maintain their weight or they are afraid of gaining weight if they stop smoking), then they have an even greater risk than the fat, non-smoking regular exerciser.

 

(Sources for above: "The Obesity Myth" (also published as "The Diet Myth") by Paul Campos, "Losing It: False Hopes & Fat Profits In The Diet Industry" by Laura Fraser, "The Fat Girl's Guide To Life" by Wendy Shanker, "Fat!So?" by Marilyn Wann)

[Survictor]

Good home made food is the way to go.

 

All the food and grocery companies are in the business to sell food... any food! It is up to you to decide upon what to eat and what not to eat but you have to be as canny as they are! Don't believe all that they tell you.

 

Generally, I eat food Mamma used to cook. Steamed or poached fish, a small helping of potatoes with lots of veg and a lovely home made rice pudding made with skimmed milk. I don't think it is so much as going on a diet but eating a balanced diet and if it is ladened with fat, salt or sugar as often processed, packaged food is, then it isn't balanced.

[easyguy]

Good home made food is the way to go.

 

All the food and grocery companies are in the business to sell food... any food! It is up to you to decide upon what to eat and what not to eat but you have to be as canny as they are! Don't believe all that they tell you.

 

Generally, I eat food Mamma used to cook. Steamed or poached fish, a small helping of potatoes with lots of veg and a lovely home made rice pudding made with skimmed milk. I don't think it is so much as going on a diet but eating a balanced diet and if it is ladened with fat, salt or sugar as often processed, packaged food is, then it isn't balanced.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

I too do not consider myself to be a on a "diet". Just a shift in eating lifestyle.

[annie24]

you know, I lost 35 pounds about 5 years ago doing weightwatchers. and they are a really great program, I feel I learned a lot from them, and I got pretty skinny. however, my like, every thought was about food. "if I eat this for lunch, then I can only have this or that for dinner." or "If I eat this today, then I need to spend an extra 20 minutes at the gym tomorrow..."

 

it just got out of control, always thinking about food all day!!! I went off the plan and have gained almost all the weight back over 5 years. I know I could go right back on weightwatchers and lose it again, but I just don't have the time or mental energy to devote 100% of my thoughts to planning my meals 48 hours in advance.

 

I am trying to get that balance naturally now. I went to the grocery store right now, bought the low-sugar granola and cooking ingredients. I used to cook a lot, because I used to be a vegan (no animal products) and vegetarian for a while also. but now i am so busy and I eat meat again. But... I've slacked off, but I think it may be time to go back to cooking a lot, so at least I know what is in my food! I live very close to an all organic food Co-op. I am a member. it is expensive, much more so than a normal grocery store, but I think for some stuff, it may be worth it.

 

shes2smart - you should have thrown your ice cream at that horrible person! or at least said, "I may be fat, but you're ugly, and I can diet!!!"

 

syrix - yes, I know what you mean. it is becoming more of a global problem, obesity. why do you think that is happening in your country? more McDonald's cropping up and burger king and KFC?

[easyguy]

You don't need some program to help you lose weight. All you need is to do your homework and use common sense; skim nutrition labels, get familiar with how the body works. Programs like Weight Watchers seem to work for some people (like Annie), but not everyone. The problem it seems, is that so many people want to lose weight fast. If you are on a balanced diet, it would be reasonable to lose a couple pounds a month strictly from dietary changes.

 

Like Annie, I lost about 35-40 pounds over a 3 year span. Atkins for the first couple of months, then a balanced way of eating up until now. I'm in no rush to lose a bunch more weight. I just eat healthy and exercise, and let time to its work. I feel better every day.

 

Whatever you do, do not deprive yourself of essential nutrients for long periods of time. Your body needs them. Carbohydrates are not bad, but eating 3 big plates of pasta is. If you are hypo or hyperglycemic, watch what you eat. There are many charts out there that educate you about different foods on the glycemic scale.

 

Just my two cents.

[Siriana]

Well Annie, people have less time - they have to work a lot for a small amount of money - so they just think they don't have the time to spend with the their familes. Priorites are pretty much twisted. People tend to spend their free time in the wrong places. They prefer eating or watching tv (or both at the same time!) in the evening over a good walk or a good talk.

Also there is so much things that they offer you to buy, which you can't afford yourself (except on credit - and I am against it, if it's not necessary - you know, people who buy shoes on 5 checks...), people choose to spend their time buying things that they know they need and for which they don't have to feel guilt buying (of course it is wrong) so what do they buy? food. In abnormal quantites.

 

Oh, and I had an awfull meeting with the capitalism (I am not against it) yesterday. They opened a huge mall in my city (they claim it is the biggest in this part of europe - Balkan i guess) and I went there with my bf. We stayed for two hours, entered maybe 5 shops and didn't manage to see the last floor (out of 5). Everything is new and shiny, and after a while we figured out that we are tired. Simply too much neone light and new informations on one place. We spend these two hours in a completely non productive way. Walking by the see would be soo much better. But I am proud of myself - I bought nothing!