Attempting to Get Around Added Sugars

[Tex]

Howdy, everybody.

Recently, I've been finding more and more and more evidence of just how nasty average peoples' consumption of sugar is. Now, I bet we can all agree that too much sugar is a bad thing, but I've been looking at documentaries such as Sugar Coated and Fed Up to name a few, along with various articles on how much sugar is added to and an integral part of many food options in the world. When put in perspective, the WHO's suggestion of about 30g of sugar for an adult male per day seems hilariously small. One can of soda alone blasts past this.

I'm attempting to cut down on my soda intake nearly 100%, apart from some data I'm gathering for a report I intend to cobble together eventually. I can also assume that many forumgoers here either choose to limit their sugar intakes, or have diets based on allergy needs or whatever, but what can be done for suitable replacements? Fruits and vegetables for several foods, but what about beverages? Are there any good, tasty, and actually low- or no-sugar beverages that are beneficial on the whole?

[Scotius]

Honestly? If we would follow advices of all dietetitians, experts on healthy living etc. - we would have to survive on stale bread and water. And some of them would undoubtlessly argue that bread is unhealthy too. I agree that too much sugar is bad - but in everyday living it's also very hard to avoid its consumption completely. Not to mention we would have to consume more fats then, to obtain enough calories to function

[steve_v]

34 minutes ago, Tex said:

what about beverages?

Water. About as low-sugar and beneficial as you can get, since you are mostly made of it.
I also like beer... Real beer should contain little sugar as most of it is converted to alcohol.

I'm over this faddish "blame one specific ingredient for all problems" bit TBH. It was fat, then salt, now sugar...
Eat food. Not too much, mostly plants. Drink water.
All things in moderation, we didn't evolve to consume vast quantities of refined sugar, so doing that is probably not particularly good for you.
If the amount of sugar in soda concerns you, don't drink soda. I have never understood the fascination with the stuff anyway.

Food is fuel, water is the stuff of life. Why does everything have to be "tasty" all of a sudden?
It's only in the last couple hundred years that anyone had the luxury to turn their nose up at water for not being tasty enough.

Don't believe everything you see in a "documentary" either, there's a "documentary" to support pretty much any claim you might find. (vaxxed springs to mind, but let's not go there).

Edited April 13, 2017 by steve_v

[WinkAllKerb'']

it's complicated because all peoples doesn't 100% diggest the same (breaking reassembling molecule) , not even speaking of the neuro aspect ...

there some main digest line rules but the digest process and what go after in the whole bodies is more sparse than you might think at first, also it evovle over time: one single  or many lifespan

Edited April 13, 2017 by WinkAllKerb''

[Tex]

I tend to look at official guidelines from the US FDA, as well as the WHO, as more of an authority, because it is reasonable to believe that they draw upon data and statistics from many dietitians and nutritionists, and because of that I will have to contend that:

25 minutes ago, Scotius said:

Honestly? If we would follow advices of all dietetitians, experts on healthy living etc. - we would have to survive on stale bread and water. 

There are plenty of essential nutrients that we cannot get from bread and water alone, and I realize it is a bit of an exxageration, but I agree with @Scotius's point that we cannot avoid the consumption of sugar entirely, nor should we, because fruits have lots of natural sugars in them. I also completely agree with @steve_v because I don't intend on letting any one or set of documentaries completely dominate my perception of issues. Documentaries get me interested in researching a topic more, and it turns out that the documentaries do indeed have a point, that the excess of sugar is directly linked to a majority of health problems in developed nations. @WinkAllKerb'' has a good point too, because not all people digest things equally, but that can be an entirely different discussion.

Water in itself is very beneficial, yes, but what sorts of beverages are there that can do more for the body than water can alone, as in providing nutrients and fibers?

[steve_v]

4 minutes ago, Tex said:

it turns out that the documentaries do indeed have a point, that the excess of sugar is directly linked to a majority of health problems in developed nations.

It's probably a mite more complicated than that, a 'direct link' is extremely difficult to support as there are no long-term properly controlled studies to draw from.
Sugar consumption has increased, as has the prevalence of certain 'first world' diseases, that the same is seen in populations recently exposed to 'western' diets is compelling, but still circumstantial.
Then there's the little detail that not all sugars are metabolized in the same way...

7 minutes ago, Tex said:

Water in itself is very beneficial, yes, but what sorts of beverages are there that can do more for the body than water can alone, as in providing nutrients and fibers?

Why do we need this 'super beverage'? You should be getting nutrients and fiber from your food, like pretty much all other life on the planet.

[WinkAllKerb'']

to me it's sort of fall in the weather.com "kel temps il fait demain et dans 30 jours" kind of topics .. in french weather=time it's the same word

and well weather and time over 30 days ... still looking for an accurate model worldwide ? i personnaly don't

so well neuro frequencies stimuli (wich chemical are a very small part partner) and all "of that kind"... i watch people playin with that more or less amused, they will learn there mistake soon enough imho

unfortunately that's prolly gonna be the very very very very hard way ...

Edited April 13, 2017 by WinkAllKerb''

[HebaruSan]

1 hour ago, Tex said:

what about beverages? Are there any good, tasty, and actually low- or no-sugar beverages that are beneficial on the whole?

If you find water too boring, tea has zero carbs by default, and allegedly antioxidants. It can also provide some of the caffeine kick you may be used to from soda. But nothing should replace plain water.

[WinkAllKerb'']

when water is too boring it just mean you need to diggest the molecule in the air hebaru ^^ and no longer use your stomach or mouth to eat and diggest what float in the air hehe (could make a good book, let's call it "aerophage vampire & werewolf the next gen" :3)

Edited April 13, 2017 by WinkAllKerb''

[YNM]

Rule of thumb : don't consume more than what you'll lose in a day. That runs to around 1 kg worth of things at most.

For beverages, (mineral) water shall do good. If not, tea, but tea is somewhat acidic (if you have problems with that I recommend not to do it too much). Warm water is always best.

EDIT : Also, that 30g of sugar must be referring IV glucose or something. No way you can get something that tiny and still produce excrements !

Edited April 13, 2017 by YNM

[mikegarrison]

2 hours ago, steve_v said:

If the amount of sugar in soda concerns you, don't drink soda. I have never understood the fascination with the stuff anyway.

A lot of it has caffeine. It's always helpful for your sales figures if you can slip an addictive stimulant into your product.

[steve_v]

8 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

A lot of it has caffeine. It's always helpful for your sales figures if you can slip an addictive stimulant into your product.

Indeed it does, but considering the addictive properties of sugar itself, caffeine is a minor detail.
Coca-Cola started out containing cocaine, but I'm pretty sure removing it didn't dent sales in a big way.

And there are plenty of sodas that have no caffeine at all. People still consume it in ridiculous quantities.

For my caffeine hit, I drink coffee. Usually without sugar.

Edited April 13, 2017 by steve_v

[Streetwind]

Water really is the answer. If you must drink soda, there are plenty of "diet" soda products, some of which even taste pretty much the same as the regular deal. Now, you probably don't want to gorge yourself on artificial sweeteners just like you don't want to gorge yourself on real sugar, but I've yet to see or hear any real scientific argument against a can of diet soda a day. Like, there's been studies that suggest that certain artificial sweeternes might potentially be carcinogenic... if you consumed more than six liters of such a beverage per day, for an extended period of time.

At that point, I honestly don't think an unconfirmed cancer risk is the biggest of your worries

[WinkAllKerb'']

well like many other thing, i see more necrosis like a partner , like worm that eat flesh in cemetery ... sure it's uncomfortable ... but "aging" (and/or early) endlife diseases sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ... there two kind of people, some are happy to leave, some fear death, for some it just happen ... then come the physical/psychological pain aspect

it remain part of the ecosystem ... even if that could sound harshe

... "life is strange" ... [grumpy censored] ... "life is just strange" ...
 

Edited April 13, 2017 by WinkAllKerb''
*whatever that could mean for you, my definition is prolly not the one you'll find in any medic school first stage(s)

[KerikBalm]

What I do is buy carbonated water, and some lime juice. Like this stuff: 

Add lime juice to the carbonated water, and drink that instead of commercial soda, or many fruit huices that have way too much sugar added.

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, Scotius said:

we would have to survive on stale bread and water. And some of them would undoubtlessly argue that bread is unhealthy too.

As if the water isn't.

4 hours ago, steve_v said:

Water. About as low-sugar and beneficial as you can get, since you are mostly made of it.

Don't forget that unsalted water washes out the minerals. It's dangerous to drink it.

4 hours ago, steve_v said:

Why does everything have to be "tasty" all of a sudden?

To make the saliva and the gastric juice be produced.

Spoiler

And to keep a family together even despite of their cooking skills.

 

[Streetwind]

8 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Don't forget that unsalted water washes out the minerals. It's dangerous to drink it.

Unless you plan on drinking laboratory grade distilled water, you would have to imbibe multiple gallons of regular mineral water while also not eating anything before or after that for it to really become dangerous.

(Not that it doesn't happen - a woman killed herself that way.)

[kerbiloid]

Or if you drink much water working hard under the sun.

[Green Baron]

5 hours ago, Tex said:

Howdy, everybody.

Recently, I've been finding more and more and more evidence of just how nasty average peoples' consumption of sugar is. Now, I bet we can all agree that too much sugar is a bad thing, but I've been looking at documentaries such as Sugar Coated and Fed Up to name a few, along with various articles on how much sugar is added to and an integral part of many food options in the world. When put in perspective, the WHO's suggestion of about 30g of sugar for an adult male per day seems hilariously small. One can of soda alone blasts past this.

I'm attempting to cut down on my soda intake nearly 100%, apart from some data I'm gathering for a report I intend to cobble together eventually. I can also assume that many forumgoers here either choose to limit their sugar intakes, or have diets based on allergy needs or whatever, but what can be done for suitable replacements? Fruits and vegetables for several foods, but what about beverages? Are there any good, tasty, and actually low- or no-sugar beverages that are beneficial on the whole?

Fruits and veggies are the right way, bought from the farmers market. Beverages indeed are almost always sugared, often heavily. In Europe they must be labeled so that customers can tell natural juices, juices from concentrate and artificial stuff. The latter is labeled Nectar, but often from the color one can tell that there is only "plastic" in there :-)

Water is a good tip, depends on the quality. It is not dangerous at all if you don't drink like 10l in a short time. Water is what keeps animals alive all over the world. I think 2-3l over the day is what is recommended. In Germany the quality of public water supply is superb, contaminations way below what the eu standard specify. Usually there is too much chloride in the public water (i remember this was the case in the US), you'll smell it. Then use a filter or let it rest half an hour or boil it.

Yeah, thats it. Water, no artificial nectar, little juices, nothing of the obvious sugar things, avoid industrial style muesli, ketchup, yogurt if it contains "fruits" (but read the ingredients, some may be ok) ... happy low sugar feast :-) I would say you don't need a diet, just avoid the industrial stuff and eat fresh things from the farmers market. That includes cooking yourself, which is fun !

btw.: low sugar doesn't mean untasty, that's propaganda :-)

11 minutes ago, Streetwind said:

 

(Not that it doesn't happen - a woman killed herself that way.)

Yeah, but she drank like 15l right away. Who has such idiotic ideas ?

[WinkAllKerb'']

yup this and the monsento x.xxx % tralalalalala anyway with everithing that float in the air soil and rain water .... nowdays thoose label ... the mind does a lot also (placebo effect) it's still unclear tho'

some people with serious disease got better but scientist can't always explain what happened in their body

Edited April 13, 2017 by WinkAllKerb''

[peadar1987]

While eating loads of sugar almost certainly isn't great for you, I'd always advise caution on blaming it for the increase in "western diseases".

Often, these diseases, heart disease, cancer, dementia, are paradoxically symptoms of a healthy population. As in, if you live long enough to get cancer, it means you haven't already been killed by an infectious disease, or malnutrition, or any of the million and one other preventable things that still kill people on a daily basis in the developing world.

[Steel]

1 hour ago, peadar1987 said:

While eating loads of sugar almost certainly isn't great for you, I'd always advise caution on blaming it for the increase in "western diseases".

Often, these diseases, heart disease, cancer, dementia, are paradoxically symptoms of a healthy population. As in, if you live long enough to get cancer, it means you haven't already been killed by an infectious disease, or malnutrition, or any of the million and one other preventable things that still kill people on a daily basis in the developing world.

I'm not sure it's specifically those diseases that have people worried, it's the ones that have a link to diet (i.e heart disease, diabetes, strokes, even gout is making a comeback e.t.c). These are increasing and at the moment the consensus is that poor diet is a big factor (not necessarily just sugar, but thats certainly part of it).

However, the most prevalent and dangerous thing that's on the rise (and is pretty solidly linked to diet in most cases) is obesity. In the US and the UK over 1/3 of people are obese, and it comes along with a whole range of health risks, as well as a statistically higher chance of suffering from other diseases mentioned earlier. Sugars - especially refined ones - are well-linked to weight gain and are known to have addictive properties, so there's little doubt that they are partly to blame for this.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Steel

[KerikBalm]

1 hour ago, kerbiloid said:

Or if you drink much water working hard under the sun.

In that case: Its not that you're drinking water, its that you're sweating and losing water AND minerals.

Drinking plain water solves the water loss problem, but not the mineral loss. That is why gatorade was developed ("Its got electrolytes!" - I hope people get this reference  ).

In the case of gatorade, high sugar content makes some sense. A common low cost treatment for diarrhea in 3rd world countries is the so called "Oral Rehydration Therapy" - people also lose a lot of water and minerals when suffering from diarrhea. The treatment is to give them what is essentially gatorade until the bout of diarrhea is over.

There is a specific process called "Glucose coupled sodium transport"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11193601

Quote

Water is absorbed across the small intestine in the absence of external driving forces. However, it has been established that water transport is secondary to active sodium transport. In the upper intestine both sodium and water absorption are largely dependent on the presence of D-glucose. The link between active sodium transport and glucose is the coupled transport of sodium and glucose across the brush border membrane of enterocytes by the Na+/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1). Na+ that enters the cells with glucose is pumped out towards the blood by 3Na+/2K+ pumps on the basolateral membrane, and glucose passes out across the basolateral membrane by facilitated diffusion, the net result being that glucose and sodium are transported across the epithelium. The coupling between Na+, glucose, and water transport is less well understood.

The large amount of sugar in some sports drinks actually makes sense if you are really active and sweating large amounts... but its not something you should be drinking while lounging around just because you like the sweet taste.

Also see:

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/250/2/G221.short

If you aren't sweating, you don't need to replace lost sodium, and most food has more than enough. If you aren't doing something that rapidly dehydrates you, then plain water is fine, and you don't need glucose enhanced uptake of water and sodium to replenish your water/sodium stores at a faster rate.

Edited April 13, 2017 by KerikBalm

[kerbiloid]

10 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

In that case: Its not that you're drinking water, its that you're sweating and losing water AND minerals.

Drinking plain water solves the water loss problem, but not the mineral loss.

Spoiler

The sweat is more salty than water.

Edited April 13, 2017 by kerbiloid

[p1t1o]

I have been looking at this in terms of soft drinks too, with regard to dental issues.

Every single soft drink on the shelf has at least 10% by weight of sugar....10%! Even fruit juices with no added sugar are the same, and they are worse because they can be very acidic.

Now, I H-H-H-H-HAAAAATE the taste of sweeteners. Diet drinks taste like swill to me, I honestly dont know how people can drink them. And now some non-diet drinks enhance their sweetness with added sweetener!

Of course yes, I drink plain water sometimes, but I am a middle-class child of the 90's and am spoiled ok? I like my soft drinks, and I like them not to taste like garbage chemical sweeteners.

I have only found a sparse few drinks that dont have sweeteners and fall significantly below the 10% by weight mark.

The only one I can remember off the top of my head now is "Purdey's" which has something like 5% sugar. Its also very tasty.

https://www.purdeys.com/