How bad is sugar really?

Hej everyone,

Everything I read about sugar comes down to it isn't healthy and you shouldn't consume more than 150 calories of sugar a day but honestly I'm finding that pretty dam hard and all I do is eat vegetables, meat, fruit ( very seldomly) and some 85% chocolate which contains cacao and some raw cane sugar. Sometimes from the vegetables alone I get over 100 calories of sugar (depending on which vegetables I eat that day, eg. Carrots). So I was wondering if anyone knows something about sugar and its effects on our body or maybe some research I could read about it? I've been googling a bit but tbh I'm not sure exactly what to type in to get what I'm looking for.

I probably have about 50 grams of the chocolate a day as a way to ween myself off of sweet things that will change soon but I'm not sure what I should replace the calories from the chocolate with as I already eat quite a lot of vegetables and have decided not to bring milk back into my diet until my weight is lower and I've removed all grains just because I feel better without them.

Cheers

Are you sure you read 150 calories per day?   I think maybe you read 150 grams of carbohydrate per day.   Can you clarify?

It was 150 calories and I'm not talking carbs in general I'm talking specifically about sugar

From what I have seen lately sugar (fructose) is only a problem for overweight people eating more calories then they need. If you are eating like you say you are it shouldn't be a problem. I'll find the study for you.

I can't go into detail about it but no sugar is not automatically bad.  Amount of carbs and the speed of which they enter the blood stream (glycemic index) are two variables that need to be considered.  The amount of carbohydrate should vary depending on your activity level and goals.  You can manipulate the timing of different GIs based on timing around exercise and relative intensity.

Josh has outlined the importance of timing in his perfect workout nutrition.  If you are trying to gain muscle it is quite beneficial to take sugary (high GI) carbohydrates after exercise.  Otherwise it is considered to be more healthy to keep GI low and limit plain sugar.  However you should know the bolus of food and amount of fat and fiber in food will effect the timing of digestion.  This gets quite complicated so in practice you should limit plain added sugars outside of the workout window.  Don't worry too much about sugar in vegetables just don't go overboard with beets and carrots and you'll be fine.

I could write a ton on this but there are a number of other sources out there.  I personally like the Perfect Health Diet by Paul Jaminet and think it would be a good guide for someone wanting to know about what macros and micros we should be eating.

Sugar is not as bad as high fructose corn syrup, which is basically the same as drinking alcohol, minus the buzz.

My beef with sugar is that it's nutritionally empty.  I remember hearing a story of some sailors who were transporting sugar, got shipwrecked and had nothing to eat but sugar for three days.  When they were rescued, the rescuers couldn't believe what a poor condition they were in after only 3 days, and concluded they would have been better off eating nothing, than eating the sugar.

Thing to remember is that they ate nothing but sugar which is a pretty stupid idea.  Naturally occurring sugar tends to get bundled with fibre (think sugar cane, it's basically a stick) which helps you process it better and mitigate the damage.  If you're getting your sugar from real food sources, or at least eating a lot of fibre, you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

In your diet. You are definitely good!

You are perfectaly good, take sugar, sugar bad for dibites patents.

The more I read about it the more ridiculous my worries sound to me thanks for the all the responses. I think a good portion of my calorie intake is actually fat and protein during no workout times so I guess I should be fine.

It is so hard not to over think these things sometimes.....

Bipocni said:

Sugar is not as bad as high fructose corn syrup, which is basically the same as drinking alcohol, minus the buzz.

 

Just to clarify on this one.  HFCS is typically in the range of 45% to 55% fructose / glucose.  It is used in place of sucrose, (table sugar) in areas where corn is subsidized, so it is cheaper.  That's why it is in just about everything in the USA, but not in other places like Australia.

Sucrose, is also composed of 50% fructose and 50% glucose.  It is the fructose that is metabolised in the same manner as alcohol, thus there is absolutely NO difference between sugar (sucrose) and HFCS.  Don't think it's somehow healthier.

If your sugar intkae comes from veggies and fruits then dont worry too much. Just keep away from processed sweets like candy, chips and such junk food.

Well the only sugar I get other than from fruit and vege is from the 85% dark chocolate I am eating. Perhaps I should cut the chocolate out? But it is solo tasty....

Hon, why would you do a thing like that?     I like a little 85% with a scoop of peanut butter myself...

ausswe said:

 Perhaps I should cut the chocolate out?

Haha funny you should say that because today I dipped a piece of chocolate into almond butter and it was......... DELICIOUS!

It's not sugar that is inherently bad, it is the amount of sugar being added to food and consumed as excess calories. The type of sugar is not particularly relevant in a healthy diet. In an unhealthy diet, it becomes more interesting. Table sugar (sucrose - from sugar beet or sugar cane), high fructose corn syrup and even honey are more or less the same make up of around half glucose and half fructose. Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and can be used as energy by all cells. Fructose goes to the liver and is metabolised differently. For more information check out Robert Lustig - Sugar: The Butter Truth on youtube.

There was a more balanced programme on BBC Radio 4, titled 'Fructose: The Bittersweet Sugar' but unfortunately it's not available any more.

In short, in a healthy diet, the fructose is metabolised (eventually) into glycogen, and in an unhealthy diet, into fat.

Some diabetics eat fructose as it has a low glycemic index, and is much sweeter than glucose or sucrose so they need less.

When I'm avoiding chocolate and cakes (like now - I need to lose 2kg), I eat only glucose, usually mixed with protein for recovery, but it's not good for your teeth as oral bacterial cells, like all living cells, use glucose for energy.

"Sugar" from raw fruits and vegetables is fine. Chocolate is a decent antioxidant. Generally speaking moderations is key here.

i read that just for the brain to be 100% functional you need at minimum 100g sugar per day as adult person.

William said:

i read that just for the brain to be 100% functional you need at minimum 100g sugar per day as adult person.

So where did we get all that sugar from as a hunter-gatherer society?

We'd need more details on this claim, but it could be needing 100g of a certain type of sugar (glucose?) and carbs (most or just some) are transformed into glucose so the brain can work. Also, ketosis.

But mainly, I just need to find Joshua Naterman's posts on this (isn't it like a constant now?).

Edit: Found the thread, didn't re-read it yet, here's the link if you guys are faster readers than I am

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/8415-paleoprimal-and-the-role-of-carbs/?hl=ketosis

Edit 2: it's in Joshua's first post. 

It is true that the brain prefers glucose as its source of energy.  However it was discovered that the brain can use ketones for energy when glucose is scarce.  The glucose consumption of the brain is fairly constant (compared to muscle) and that is where the 100g a day figure comes from.  The body is also capable of converting some amino acids to glucose through the process of gluconeogenesis.

Bipocni said:

So where did we get all that sugar from as a hunter-gatherer society?

Probably from root vegetables.  Really depends on the area the person lived.

Or gluconeogenesis...

Daniel Burnham said:

Probably from root vegetables.  Really depends on the area the person lived.

just fruits and so on i guess yes

Daniel Burnham said:

Probably from root vegetables.  Really depends on the area the person lived.

Jennifer said:

Or gluconeogenesis...

William said:

just fruits and so on i guess yes

Woah guys.

Okay, ignoring the fact that I don't know what gluconeogenesis is (although it sounds kinda like your body just makes the sugar itself?) I merely wanted to illustrate the fact that William wasn't talking about refined table sugar.

Yeah i did not talked about refined table sugar, you are right, bipocni