123

How Bad Is Sugar? (Read 411 times)

    for me, a calorie is NOT a calorie in one simple way... sugars and carbs just don't satisfy for long.  eating low carb and almost no sugar means I'm not hungry on 2,000 (maybe 2,500 the day of a longer run) calories a day.  the proof's in the lack of pudding for me.  down 30 pounds in 5 months now and no problems and no feeling like I'm missing anything.

     

     

     

     


    Hip Redux

      for me, a calorie is NOT a calorie in one simple way... sugars and carbs just don't satisfy for long.  eating low carb and almost no sugar means I'm not hungry on 2,000 (maybe 2,500 the day of a longer run) calories a day.  the proof's in the lack of pudding for me.  down 30 pounds in 5 months now and no problems and no feeling like I'm missing anything.

       

      I agree with this - when I am eating a lot of processed carbs, I end up hungry again in a bit and will always eat more.  If I am eating more protein and fats, I overall eat less.   I can devour most of a bag of potato chips without much thought and then be hungry in an hour, but there's really only so much steak I can eat and it fills me up.

       

      I just wish potato chips weren't so yummy. lol

       

         

        I agree with this - when I am eating a lot of processed carbs, I end up hungry again in a bit and will always eat more.  If I am eating more protein and fats, I overall eat less.   I can devour most of a bag of potato chips without much thought and then be hungry in an hour, but there's really only so much steak I can eat and it fills me up.

         

        I just wish potato chips weren't so yummy. lol

         

        Or steak so expensive.

        Dave


        Hip Redux

           

          Or steak so expensive.

           

          Beef prices are going to continue to go up, too.

           

          But I rarely consider price when buying meat, just sort of one of those things that I buy for quality over price.

           

          L.Chang


            I'm glad that I got so many informative replies. Truth be told, it is hard for me to cut sugar out altogether. While I usually stay away from white, highly-processed sugar...I do enjoy dark turbinado sugar in my coffee...and I enjoy honey...and I enjoy fruit. Perhaps what I gather from all the discussion is that it's good to take some things with a grain of salt (no pun intended?) and practice moderation. I think someone once told me that you can't "out train a bad diet" and that certainly was right.

             

            My only concern was that I'd heard others tell me that even honey and fruit was on the blacklist...and that's where I draw the line : )


            flatland mountaineer

               

              Sugar does not chelate iron.  Sugar also does not "pass", it is burned to release energy and leaves our body principally as CO2 which we exhale.  As a cell and molecular biologist I can say there is no scientific basis for what you understand sugar to be doing.

               

              In terms of diet I think the reason people have problems with consuming high amounts of simple carbs is that they do not suppress appetite very well.  I can eat high-carb stuff for breakfast and I'll be hungry again by mid-morning.  Conversely I can eat a single hard-boiled egg and go without hunger twice as long.

              + like 1000

              The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!

              Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.

              Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that?  quote from Back to the Fut III

              tom1961


              Old , Ugly and slow

                You will have to pry sugar from my cold dead hands

                first race sept 1977 last race sept 2007

                 

                2019  goals   1000  miles  , 190 pounds , deadlift 400 touch my toes

                zoom-zoom


                rectumdamnnearkilledem

                  for me, a calorie is NOT a calorie in one simple way... sugars and carbs just don't satisfy for long.  eating low carb and almost no sugar means I'm not hungry on 2,000 (maybe 2,500 the day of a longer run) calories a day.  the proof's in the lack of pudding for me.  down 30 pounds in 5 months now and no problems and no feeling like I'm missing anything.

                   

                  This was exactly my experience doing very low-carb in the past.  I tried for a couple of months to run and bike on ketogenic level carbs, but I couldn't do it.  It wasn't that I didn't have energy, but it made me nauseous while running.  As soon as I stopped running I felt fine.  Very frustrating.  I end up being all or nothing...either none of the carbs or all of the carbs.  Which sucks.  Years ago I dropped 60#s on Atkins and felt fabulous.  Had the best blood work I've ever had.  I regained about 25 of those pounds, in spite of all the running and cycling I do.  Every year I can manage to drop *maybe* 5#s when my workouts ramp-up in the Summer, if I'm lucky.  But it never stays gone long.  I've been trapped in the wanting to lose 20#s spot for nearly a decade, now.

                  Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                  remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                       ~ Sarah Kay

                  Runner Mike


                    I tend to side on the most of the claims out there are based on BS and not actual science. Furthermore, I have not heard one person mention that there is a genetic component to weight gain and how we use various things we put in our body.

                     

                    I'm the opposite of the guy who cuts out sugar for the "experiment of one" I drink regular soda, enjoy candy now and again.  I run about 30-50 MPW and have been the same weight for about 2 years.  I'm actually only 10lbs up since college (I'm in my 40s) For most of my running life, I never did more than 25 MPW.

                     

                    My times are still okay with me setting a 1/2 PR in 2012 (1:23).

                     

                    I think the OP set up the question in such a way to elicit a response he want. Sugar isn't 'Bad" per se.


                    Member Since 2008

                      You will have to pry sugar from my cold dead hands

                       

                      What he said.

                      L.Chang


                         

                        This was exactly my experience doing very low-carb in the past.  I tried for a couple of months to run and bike on ketogenic level carbs, but I couldn't do it.  It wasn't that I didn't have energy, but it made me nauseous while running.  As soon as I stopped running I felt fine.  Very frustrating.  I end up being all or nothing...either none of the carbs or all of the carbs.  Which sucks.  Years ago I dropped 60#s on Atkins and felt fabulous.  Had the best blood work I've ever had.  I regained about 25 of those pounds, in spite of all the running and cycling I do.  Every year I can manage to drop *maybe* 5#s when my workouts ramp-up in the Summer, if I'm lucky.  But it never stays gone long.  I've been trapped in the wanting to lose 20#s spot for nearly a decade, now.

                         

                        It's good to hear someone else's experience. I have heard similar experiences with people who've tried low-card and no sugar diets, it's just really difficult (for me, at least) to do. I've also heard some good stuff about the primal/paleo diet (I'm not conflating it with the Atkins diet).

                         

                        I understand your "all or nothing" frustration. My hope is to stop consuming processed foods altogether, but I simply don't see anything wrong with eating a slice of whole wheat bread or with consuming honey in one's coffee. I've had doctors tell me before that sugar should be completely eliminated from one's diet...and my question is, is it even possible? Moreover, when we completely eliminate one food source from our diets, I'm wondering if we set ourselves up for failure in the long term.

                         

                        Anyway, these are just thoughts I had while reading your response. I'm not a medical expert, but I do enjoy my turbinado sugar, honey, and fruit. : )

                          I just finished a 6 month experiment to lose weight, get back into running, and see how sugar and carbs affected my blood work.  Here's data including some background data:

                           

                          2007: weight 230 pounds, running = 0 miles

                          LDL   136

                          HDL    33

                          TG     161

                           

                          late 2008: weight 208, running 20 miles a week, eating "better" according to standard medical advice

                          LDL   130

                          HDL    35

                          TG     152

                           

                          2014: 6- month experiment of almost no sugar and no bread/rice etc... weight 206 pounds, running = 20 miles

                          LDL   109

                          HDL    53

                          TG      52

                           

                          How will the experiment turn out over 10 years?  I don't know yet.  But my numbers on low carb just blew everything away that I could do with exercise and eating "right".  Sugar for me is a few chunks of 85% cocoa dark chocolate after a longish run or half an apple. 

                           

                           

                           

                           

                          runlikeagirI


                            When you say no sugar, do you mean no added sugar or do you not eat things like fruit at all?

                              When you say no sugar, do you mean no added sugar or do you not eat things like fruit at all?

                               

                              for 6 months I ate very little fruit.  but some.  (maybe 1/4 apple a day or something like that.)

                               

                              that was my main source of sugar.  almost no milk because that's fairly high in sugar.

                               

                              so yeah... my sugar intake was really low.  I lost 30 pounds though and my blood numbers were great.

                               

                               

                               

                               

                              123