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*Puts away sugar bag*
3 replies
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@Smashville: Pfft, man. Fight the power! *Eats two bags of sugar*
This \"Heart association\" doesn't know...*Clenches chest and falls to the ground*
*Puts away sugar bag*
@Smashville: Pfft, man. Fight the power! *Eats two bags of sugar*
This \"Heart association\" doesn't know...*Clenches chest and falls to the ground*
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It's a sad fact that if you really want to gain control over the quality of your food intake, your only trustworthy option is to prepare your meals from fresh. There are too few convenient yet appropriate options available. For example, I make my own Greek style yogurt and occasionally share it with friends or family, most of whom, accustomed to eating commercial, heavily sweetened yogurts, complain that mine is too tart or too strong. They aren't accustomed to eating food without a lot of sugar in it.
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@ChuckECheese: This is one of the reasons that I am moving toward cooking more and more of my own food. At this point, if it's not (a) a restaurant meal or (b) breakfast cereal, I try to have made it from scratch or very nearly scratch. I have discovered that it's almost impossible to go over recommended sodium levels if you do your own cooking; sugar is tougher, because many near-scratch ingredients (like plain tomato sauce) are still corn-syruped. But it has to help.
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@picardia: Try tomato paste. So far the brands I've bought--store brands, etc, don't have any sugar/HFCS etc in them. And it's easy to make a sauce. Just add a can or two of water and stir. Add as much or as little water as you want till you see the thickness desired. Add own spices, veggies meats to taste, turn to low (I'll cook for anywhere between 15 minutes to a half hour). It's cheaper than buying tomato sauce.
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@ChuckECheese: i WANT to make my own yogurt at home but trader joe's greek style is so convenient and tasty that i never seem to get started looking into what i need to do to make it.
i agree that most yogurts are waaay too sweet. especially since i like to make tart and savory yogurt sauces for fish and i make tzatziki [greek cucumber] sauce at home.
@catastrophegirl: The techniques are simple, but take time. Here's how:
Get a gallon of 2% milk. Heat it till it is nearly boiling. Turn off, cover and let cool until it is warm like bathwater. This might take a couple hours. Whisk in about 2 to 4 Tbsp of yogurt starter (your favorite yogurt - it can even be flavored).
Leave the pot covered in a warm place (80 to 110 deg) for 8 to 14 hours, depending on temperature. Here in AZ, it's 110 outside, and I can have yogurt in 6 to 8 hours.
Set a colander in a large bowl. Line the colander with moistened paper towels or a moistened thin dish towel. Dump the yogurt in, and it will immediately begin draining. Store the apparatus in the refrigerator. You will need to periodically remove the whey so the yogurt will continue to drain. Prop the colander on a can to raise it in the bowl somewhat. You can feed this whey to your pets, or use it, diluted, to fertilize outdoor plants (too smelly for indoor plants).
After about 4 hours, you should have a thick yogurt. Dump the remaining whey from the bowl, and tip the yogurt/towel into the bowl, peeling the yogurt from the towel. Be sure to pry/scrape off the thickened yogurt that is sticking to the towel. Whisk this yogurt with a spoon or whisk until smooth and aerated, about 30 seconds. Place in covered containers for up to 3 weeks. Makes about 1 1/2 qts.
From 1 gal milk to 1 1/2 qts of yogurt: Now you see why Greek yogurt is so expensive.
@ChuckECheese: have you ever tried to make Kefir? it is very similar to yogurt but a little more runny.
All you have to do is get Kefir grains, you can get them for free or very cheap (one is not supposed to sell Kefir grains since they are living beings, so you might have to pay for \"shipping\"). All you have to do is put them together with the right amount of milk and once it is done, you drain them and you have delicious Kefir. Save the grains and add them to fresh milk, repeat. The Kefir grains do grow fast and soon enough you will have enough to give away to your friends.
@Sodypop: Yes I like kefir, but haven't made it in years. I find yogurt more flexible. I also sometimes culture buttermilk when I'm in the mood.
@ChuckECheese: thanks but the temperature problem has been part of what's been stopping me from doing it. i need to get one of those electric things for it. my house is always below 74 degrees. not good for culturing bacteria
@catastrophegirl: You can do this easily with your fingers. When you first heat the milk (the first heating is not for safety reasons, it's to denature the proteins creating a better set), you should heat it until it's just under a boil (180 deg). At 180, the surface will shimmer and you will see some small bubbles.
Then it should cool until it feels like a warm bath (105-115 deg). Then you add the yogurt and culture it in a warm place - if you can put it outside in a warm climate, that's great. If you need to leave it inside, create some sort of warmer, such as a cooler with a heating pad set to low, or a cooler with a bottle of hot tap water added. I make mine by the gallon in a soup pot.
@catastrophegirl: When I'm incubating my yogurt, I've used a few different methods. In one apartment I lived in, the top of the fridge would get warm, so I could place the milk culture cups on top of the fridge covered with towels to keep them warm. I've also stuffed my microwave full of towels, then stuck the cups in. Keeps them warm. And last but not least, I've used the oven. I've turned it on to the lowest it'll go (170 degrees. Too hot for the incubation) then stick a thermometer in it and kept the door open till it gets to around 100-110 degrees. I then stick in some towels, a pan of hot water I had boiled up, and the incubated cups with a towel on top.
All methods have given me great results on yogurt. The longer you keep the cultures in, the warm space, the thicker the yogurt, but it gets more tart too (at least that's been my experience). I'll usually just make it in the evening then take it out in the morning and stick it in the fridge. It's being incubated for somewhere between 8-12 hours then.
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@catastrophegirl: You could always keep the container in a tub of hot/warm water, and change it out every so often to maintain the heat. More effort, though. Waaay more effort.
@pecan 3.14159265: i have the attention span of a mayfly. i think i need one of the automatic ones that shuts off and beeps or something. but thanks anyway
@ChuckECheese: Completely. I set out to be healthier and started reading labels - sugar's in everything! I didn't realize how much sugar was added to yogurt and other common things - pasta sauce, ketchup, bread. I've been trying to cook from scratch as much as possible.
For my daily yogurt, I switched from the aspartame-sweetened light yogurts to either Greek or plain, natural nonfat. In both cases, I slice up fruit the night before and let it naturally sweeten by breakfast. Yum. My six-Cokes-a-day fiance thinks it's gross, which means I don't have to share.
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@ChuckECheese: It's even worse if you buy something 'low-fat'. That almost always means 'more-sugar'. If you buy something 'low-sugar' that usually means more fat, including saturated fat.
You can have less sugar or less fat but you usually can't have both.
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@Rectilinear Propagation: Yeah, we saw some Frontline (I think, something PBS-y) a few years ago where a food industry worker was pretty much saying, \"Look, we can make it low-fat or low-sugar, and if we take out one, we're adding the other.\" Since then I've noticed that low-fat products have higher carb contents, which is worse for me.
Plus, the industry is sneaky...sugar isn't always listed as \"sugar\". There's the dreaded HFCS, or just regular corn syrup, or dextrose, or other chemical names. They do that in particular on cereals and other kid-fare so moms will look at the first two or three ingredients and not see sugar, since they're listed by biggest-amount first. You can have a product that's 80% sugar but if you break that up into four kinds of sugar, all of a sudden healthy-sounding things like wheat and oats come first.
@ChuckECheese: Yogurt was never supposed to be dessert-sweet, but most national brands are. Dannon coffee yogurt isn't too bad (about half the sugar), and there are brands like Mountain High and Cascade Fresh that provide less sweet alternatives without HFCS. Cascade Fresh is my fav as it's only sweetened with fruit juice; the nonfat lemon is amazing!
@ChuckECheese: I got sick of how sweet the yogurt with added fruit was. It was a dessert not part of a regular meal. So I started adding dried fruit to plain yogurt and it was plenty sweet after a few hours. I'm disturbed how adults infantalize themselves by eating everything really sweet.
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@zaquon: Agreed. I've been doing that as well. Even the lowfat yogurts can have tons of added sugar. Reading the nutrition facts is really important. I have seen yogurt like Belfonte Cotton Candy yogurt that has 25+ grams of sugar. I have been eating Light and Fit yogurt which is usually pretty low, but I'm trying to cut dairy altogether because it doesn't really do any favors. Calcium is easy to get through vegetables.
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@calquist: Light and Fit yogurts are great (compared to the other yogurts out there) and I enjoy eating them a few times a week. Don't rule out dairy completely though, especialy low fat milk; there are lot of beneficial vitamins, minerals, and feeling of fullness that does not always come from vegetables.
Of course you would eat more vegetables to be full and probably net less calories in the end but there is still plenty of positives to dairy, especially if you live an active lifestyle.
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@calquist: Most low-fat foods make up for the fact that they're low fat with sugar. Little shady, but it just means I have to look at the label more closely. The most important information isn't fat count but total calorie count, really.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_Has$240WorthOfPuddin': Agreed. ANd sometimes more important than calories is ingredients. 200 calories of sugar and flour is way worse for you than 300 of fruits and vegetables. Some people get way wrapped up in calories and don't get why they aren't losing weight. 100 calorie packs of oreos are still means you are eating oreos.
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@zaquon: I love my homemade yogurt! We made 9 lbs of yogurt for $2 last Saturday. I've found that 4 teaspoons of sugar per pound, plus a half teaspoon of real vanilla extract makes it perfect.
@Xerloq: I hear ya! I make my own, too. Don't add anything to it until I'm ready to eat a serving. Then I add in some cocoa and a natural sweetener like Stevia or Xylitol.
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@ChuckECheese: Gotta agree with you there.. the less processed food you buy off the shelves the better. You just have to plan so you can prep your food so it is still convenient when you are pushed for time in today's world.
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@outlulz: I agree, my disdain toward Greek yogurt does not necessarily come from the lack of added sugar.
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I've been using xylitol and blue agave syrup for all my sugar fixes, it has been working out fine. I don't even have sugar in my house.
@Mozoltov, motherfucker:
Agave syrup is more comparable to HFCS than sucrose, you may want to rethink that dietary choice if your goal is better health.
@chiieddy:
Whoa. 1 1/3 tbsp per cookie? 3 cookies = 4 tbsp? That's a lot. Did you mean tsp, perhaps?
@Mozoltov, motherfucker: I've been seriously considering buying those Blu electronic cigarettes with the no-nicotine flavor packs to indulge my sweet tooth. I just don't want to plunk down the $60 for the starter kit right now.
@Smashville: I am guessing you are one of those people who don't care about the taste, you just want to get faded. This is why I don't drink anymore, it has to taste good going down.
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@Mozoltov, motherfucker: No, no. I'm with Smashville....tequila is delicious. I actually like the flavor.
@Mozoltov, motherfucker: Really good Tequila is damn tasty, especially with lime and salt. And I'm not one to get drunk (sensitive stomach), but you can't beat a good buzz from Tequila.
But a really good Margarita made with really good Tequila is basically the best thing in the entire world. Strong, please! Om nom nom.
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@Mozoltov, motherfucker: Perhaps it was the \"Smash\" in Smashville that gave it away.
@Smashville: Is it Smash as in shitfaced or Smash as in Godzilla?
@MostlyHarmless: You work for Rolling Stone, don't you? :)
@Smashville: No! One can NEVER like the taste of alcohol!
I prefer a good whiskey over ice. Warm fuzzy goodness. But Tequila has its place. In my tummy.
@pattiesmart: I prefer Maker's Mark...or a good beer. But there are some mighty fine drinks that can be made from Patron. And they don't have to be drunk to get you drunk.
@Applekid: Several years ago, the Nashville Predators ran a \"Welcome to Smashville\" campaign. It's derived from that. Smash as in \"slam your goon ass into the boards\".
@MostlyHarmless: I am clicking your little \"Follow Me\" heart there just for that.
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@Smashville: I admire people who drink tequila because they enjoy it, because I revert to hysterical babyhood when forced to drink the stuff (my friends buy shots of it for celebrations so I'm loathe to turn them down), and then act the fool. I do not know why tequila does this to me, but I swear it makes me more belligerent and inclined to bizarre fantasy than any other liquor. We do not get along, tequila and I.
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@SybilDisobedience: \"I resort to hysterical babyhood when drinking tequila.\"
Your mom's breasts squirted Cuervo? That's AWEsome!
Did you salt the rims or squeeze limes over them first?
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@Smashville: Oh please. No one has \"differing\" tastes. Its either the tastes I like, and people who are idiots.
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Given the fact that almost all processed foods, snacks and even condiments (ketchup) have HFCS in them in some form or other those 6-9 tea spoons are going to be hard to adhere to.....
+5 for increased awesomeness
@Acolyte: Last year I found Heinz Organic Ketchup and it is my greatest find of the year. There is no HFCS in the product and the sugar content is really low. Whenever I have guests over, I always try to break it out and each time I only receive compliments. One would never expect \"Tastes like tomatoes\" to be the number one compliment.
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@Bioengineered Smoothie: I call ketchup \"tomato candy.\"
I'll have to keep an eye out for the organic variety!
@OneBigPear(formerlyWendelWindies): After you have some of the organic kind, try the \"normal\" ketchup. It is soo sweet it is like candy. I used to douse my fries and whatnot with it thinking it is just tomatoes.
@Bioengineered Smoothie: Haha yea isn't is sad how we've become so accustomed to the HFCS or sugary taste that we don't even taste the actual vegetable?
@mazzic1083: It is very sad that people don't understand how things were supposed to \"taste\" late as 100 years ago. I have been on an eating program called the Abs Diet Power 12 (from Men's Health) and basically you cut out all sugar. I now drink my coffee black. I had a sip of my gf's caramel machiatto sp? the other day and it tasted gross. But I go gangbusters for fresh berries, fruit, and yogurt.
Also, I don't care if I what I eat is classified as a vegetable or a fruit, it is (hopefully) all natural to me.
@mazzic1083: P.S. I don't mean to make you out to be a fool. My beef is with educational institutions perpetuating misinformation.
@darkforcesjedi: I studied physics but I don't expect everyone to adhere to the definitions that physicists use for words like \"energy\" and \"force\". These mean different things in common speech and in scientific contexts.
Similarly, \"fruit\" means something different in common speech and in scientific contexts. The culinary and the botanical usages of the word \"fruit\" are simply different. Get over it.
If your educational institutions didn't teach you that a single word can mean different things in different contexts, then they failed you.
@mazzic1083: Sadder still that people can't tell the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.
Vegetable: root, stem, leaf, tuber that we eat
Example: mustard, celery, parsnip, rhubarb
Fruit: the product of a ripened ovary (embryonic plant -- seed -- and pericarp)
Example: rose hip, pepper, squash, peas & pods, beans, corn kernel, cucumber, eggplant
@darkforcesjedi: I am full of fail today. Mustard greens are a vegetable, but mustard seeds (which are used to make the condiment are not).
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That Mary Poppins was full of shit.
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@Bluth_Cornballer: No she was right, it does make the medicine go down, just not if you're diabetic.
Lucretius said it first, though:
\"For as physicians, when they seek to give
Young boys the nauseous wormwood, first do touch
The brim around the cup with the sweet juice
And yellow of the honey, in order that
The thoughtless age of boyhood be cajoled
As far as the lips, and meanwhile swallow down
The wormwood's bitter draught, and, though befooled,
Be yet not merely duped, but rather thus
Grow strong again with recreated health.\"
@thesadtomato: ah no, i've had those sugar free cough medicines. i'll just take some insulin with my meds.. .that's nasty stuff
@catastrophegirl: Whoa! I know, though. My medicines have quinine in them and taste horribly bitter. I have to hide the pills in balls of bread because even if they touch my tongue a tiny bit it's hell.
Is it really necessary to demonize yogurt right from the get go? I understand that most commercial \"fruit on the bottom\" yogurts are loaded up with unnecessary sugar, but if you select the right kind(s) of plain yogurt and add your own fruit, you are only getting the sugars found naturally in the milk and the added fruit.
@HunanGarden: I eat plain yogurt with honey every day with my lunch. Is the tablespoon of honey I add considered \"added sugar?\" Or is honey not really considered sugar? Hmm.
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I'm still not giving up using sugar when I bake cookies, even if they are apparently going to kill me.
At least it will be a very tasty death.
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@theblackdog: My last batch of chocolate chunk, walnut cookies used 1.5 cups of sugar and made 18 cookies (I like them big or it'd have been 3 dozen).
That's .08333 cups per cookie or 1 1/3 tbsp per cookie. 3 cookies (about a serving) would be 4 tbsp. Just as long as you're not overdoing it with processed foods otherwise, a cookie treat isn't too bad.
I don't drink soda or add sugar to my iced tea, and yet I still find it hard to avoid.
@sonneillon: Yeah, I can't handle the carbonation! I'll on occasion have a soda. It's usually the full-sugar kind because diet sodas are RANK (plus I usually go for . But I really only drink a couple sodas a month. I drink a shit ton of water and 100% grape or apple juice and that's about it.
Oh and coffee but I like my dark and bitter.
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@willystyle: Thinking like that will help you sleep better at night. Although with a name like willystyle I think that is highly unlikely. :)
@sonneillon: Especially when HFCS bypasses the body's natural satiation system so it is unable to tell you you're full.
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I never realized how much sugar was in this Yoplait. 12 ounces of yogurt has 12 more grams of sugar than a 12 oz. can of Coke.
I'm having both for lunch.
@EBounding: It all depends on the type of yogurt you are eating. All yogurt has sugar in it (it being a dairy product and all) but you can limit the other crap by buying PLAIN fat free or low fat (low fat may have less overall sugar) and adding a tbsp of natural jelly (not Smuckers or any of that other high added sugar crap) to provide some flavor.
@pattiesmart: I've eaten yogurt parfaits for lunch before. Yogurt, some fruit and granola, and it makes a darn good meal. But I also don't really require a lot of food for a meal. I can easily subsist on salads, with a juicy steak or burger once in a while.
@pecan 3.14159265: Damn Pecan you are lucky. I'm averaging about 4,000 calories a day consisting of mostly carbs and protein. I find that if I don't eat that much my gym workouts suffer but sometimes I'm jealous of the \"salads with a juicy steak or burger ONCE in awhile\" approach.
@mazzic1083: Well, I'm also not a weightlifter or anything. And by meat once in a while, I mean that I'm eating bison chili right now and will probably eat again tomorrow. I think I average about 1,200 calories a day, which is the norm since I only eat twice a day, and not too much. After my chili I'm going to have a handful of blueberries, and because I'm eating healthy salads for the rest of the week, I'm eating a Payday bar.
@pecan 3.14159265: At least you have everything in balance and in proportions. I saw some bison meat in the supermarket the other day and read online that it tastes great and is super lean. Is the taste worth it?
@mazzic1083: Ohhh. My mouth is watering thinking of bison meat. I won't have hamburgers now unless they're made from bison. They're just. so. tasty.
(and more expensive, sadly... *cries*)
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@mazzic1083: It actually tastes like something, compared to the usual cornfed bland American cattle. worth a try.
@mazzic1083: It tastes pretty much just like beef, and cooks just like beef so you can easily substitute it in recipes. It can be a little more expensive, but bison is indeed much leaner than beef.
It's pretty much impossible to cut sugar out of your diet unless you make EVERYTHING from scratch. Even bread has frigging HFCS in it.
@Yurei: You can buy sugar free bread. Nature's Own makes a SF bread. Think Splenda is the replacement of sugar. (Either that or malitol or one of the -ols...)
@Yurei: Bread has to contain some kind of sugar. It's what the yeast feed on. Even home-baked white bread will have sugar as an ingredient.
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@Orv: Sugar speeds the process, but it's not requisite--classic French bread, for instance, doesn't use sugar, nor many recipes leavened with a starter or other non-yeast processes. Yeast is perfectly happy to eat flour.
So even in the basic bread we default to sugar where other countries don't.
@Yurei: I just bought about 5 pounds of sugar which should last me more than the rest of the year. I bake a lot, so whenever a recipe calls for sugar, using sugar substitute has never turned out well. I know there are Splenda cookbooks or sugar substitute cookbooks out there, but to me, it's worse to serve something made with Splenda to someone who never tastes Splenda.
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@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah I've tried baking with the sugar substitutes as well and they turn out... 'wrong' somehow. It always browns inconsistently or just tastes weird. The way I see it, I don't eat cookies, pie, or other things like that every day. So I don't see the need to skimp out on the 'good' stuff. I use this same reasoning to not buy silly low fat ice cream. If I wanted to pay for air I'd buy a balloon.
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@satoru: 'I use this same reasoning to not buy silly low fat ice cream. If I wanted to pay for air I'd buy a balloon.'
Amen!
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@pecan 3.14159265: My mom swears by using a 50/50 sugar splenda mix. The real sugar ensures that it maintains the correct texture, and the splenda cuts the calories by 50%
@Yurei: Several brands make a point of not including HFCS now, but unfortunately that doesn't mean they'll save you sugar, just HFCS.
@Yurei: Depends on the bread. If you get an all Natural Whole Wheat bread then there's a good chance it doesn't have HFCS in it. If you get the cheapo wheat bread then you are sure to have HFCS in it.
Also be careful as I have gotten 12 Oat All Natural Bread and found that the 3rd ingredient was sugar; not HFCS but still just sugar.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-6173-100x100.png\")
@Bioengineered Smoothie: I'm trying to think of my scratch-made bread recipes, and I think sugar would be the third ingredient by weight in a lot of them, depending on what else was in there. I mean, bread is basically flour, sugar, and yeast with some water in there. Everything else is flavoring.
I feel like since I started making scratch-made bread, though, I can really taste when store-bought bread has the right amount of sugar in it, and when it's way over-sugary. (I still buy store bread for sandwiches and toast.)
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): There's even more sugar when you get to breads like challah, which include dried raisins or cranberries.
@Bioengineered Smoothie: Ingredient lists can be very misleading. What if those first two ingredients make up 95 percent of the content? It's much better to look at the actual amount (grams) in the nutritional information section.
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I just ate 6oz container of yogurt and it had 11 grams of sugars in it. According to this website [nutrition.about.com] is had 2.6 teaspoons of sugar in it?
Is that right?
Good job proofreading, me.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-77175-100x100.png\")
So I read this last night and am still not understanding WHY. I'm sure they are right and have seen the obscene amounts of sugary crap people eat on a daily basis but none of the articles say WHY all this sugar is so bad.
Is it because it makes you fat?
I just think its interesting that the AHA can make statements likes this, put out a press release and not even back up what they are saying in any of it and no one questions it.
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@veronykah: One thing I am skeptical about is whether some of the alternatives (such as eating \"naturally sweet\" foods like raisins, or all-fruit spread vs. jelly) is all that much better for you. I mean, a certain percentage of our table sugar comes from beets, for god's sake. BEETS! And yet by the time it gets into your cookies, all the vegetably benefits are gone. I suspect the same thing happens with uber-concentrated grape-juice sweetened fruit spreads, for example.
@OneTrickPony: And even fruit juice is pretty much sugar water with a little extra. It's not just the source, it's the actual thing you're eating.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-498940-100x100.png\")
@veronykah: It's a problem b/c pretty well everything you eat eventually gets turned in to glucose - which the human body's cells need continuously in order to function. Simple and complex carbs, protein, and fats all get converted to glucose for use by the body one way or another. What can't be used immediately gets stored as glycogen and then fat. Throw 22tsp's of sucrose on top of an average diet and you get huge insulin spikes (which over the long-term will lead to diabetes) and stored fat.
The other issue is that alcohol can be burned by the body directly, and is your body's primary choice over other sources of glucose. So if you drink, especially sugary drinks, all that extra sugar raises insulin and the eventual fat storage even more :-(
@golddog: The insulin spikes will depend on your insulin resistance, though, which isn't a universal characteristic. And to be fair, the insulin issue doesn't seem to be the reason behind the AHA's guidelines--that's more of a low-carb rationale, and the AHA isn't advocating low-carb here--they're advocates of low-fat, Mediterranean-style diets.
@veronykah: That would be the fault of the source you were reading. The AHA makes it very clear as to why in their news release:
\"High intake of added sugars is implicated in numerous poor health conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke.\"
@cabjf: Not to belittle that source but I am curious as to whether they consider what an active individual's body would do with that sugar? Sure sugar is horrible for your body if you're very sedentary (just like too much of any type of food/calories would be bad) but wouldn't an active lifestyle pretty much blow away those risk factors?
I might be getting ahead of myself as most of us Americans do not get enough exercise or activity each day and that is probably who AHA is referencing, the average American...
@mazzic1083: Sugar is not a vital part of our lives. It can be cut completely out and one still has enough energy to do stuff whether an active lifestyle or seditive.
I went low-carb almost 10 years ago. Cut out sugar as completely as I can (If it's in foods naturally that's one thing, such as fruits, but no added sugar, or HFCS etc). I get along just fine.
Every body's different, and for me, when I ate stuff with sugar, I had cravings for everything and anything. I couldn't stop eating. My hunger never went away. I had bouts of depression, would go on these highs then crash so hard I couldn't function, my time of the month was horrid. Mood swings left & right, cramps from hell, and I just. couldn't. lose. weight. This had been going on since I was a kid. I thought this is the way everyone lived, to be honest. So, when a friend asked me if I wanted to go low-carb with her, I said sure. Tried it, and never looked back. Lost 50lbs, no more cravings at all.and have kept the weight off for all this time. Not hungry all the time, and I can now eat till I'm satisfied. Not till I'm stuffed. Time of month, cramps bearable, mood swings gone.
Food tastes different, now. Better. I can tell when foods have sugar in them. A-1 Steak Sauce. I had no idea. It's too sweet now. I make my own. Even some meats--deli meats & bacon. (which surprised me). Sweet bacon, I love bacon. But sweet....yech. If I've eaten something with sugar in it (and I've slipped up here & there--forgotten to look at the ingredients, or a barista just didn't pay attention to my order, and I didn't double-check) Man. I can tell. Hunger won't go away, a huge rush, then a crash--which now feels like a really bad hangover--oh, and bathroom troubles.
So, it's possible for one to live without sugar and not have problems. There's a time of detox, as the remnants of the sugar are leaving the body, and those few days (up to a week) are horrible--headaches, kind of feels like the flu, but once it's out, one feels much better. They don't call sugar the 'white poison' for nothing...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-802739-100x100.png\")
@Sunshine1970: A lot of meat cures are a mixture of salt and sugar and spices - otherwise you won't ever get bacon or gravlax or pastrami or corned beef or salami or prosciutto or most cured meats.
You can cure in a brine-only method using salt, water and vinegar, but the cure won't last as long (maybe 4-6 weeks in cool storage) and is, well, hella salty.
Once you introduce sugar into the mix, your cure lasts longer (now we're talking 4 months w/cool storage) and smoking can now be introduced to the party for more complex flavor profiles.
Keep in mind that the cures are rinsed off the meats - yes, much of it has permeated the meat, but a lot is simply rinsed away. I do cure my own bacon and even when I've got the \"really sweet\" cure going that involves the addition of maple syrup - by the time my week-long cure is finished, the maple syrup is long gone with the rest of the slurry down the drain. What's left behind is the hint of maple flavor.
All of it in moderation.
@mazzic1083: You'll note they talked about ADDED sugars. Naturally occurring sugars in food will give you plenty of simple carbs (and your body will process complex carbs into simple ones if you're eating starches rather than sugars ... and excess fats and proteins will be converted to sugars too, for that matter, if needed).
Refined sugar wasn't part of the human diet until very recently. It isn't necessary by any means.
@veronykah: The Wall Street Journal piece has a little more information--apparently it's in an effort to curb obesity, even though they admit that there's not a huge amount of proof that sugar intake and obesity are connected.
So good skeptical call on your part.
i just wish that A) I could buy dried cranberries with no sugar (or at least splenda sweetened) or B) dried cherries weren't so expensive.
I like to use fresh fruit in place of sugar in oatmeal (also, I've since switched to steel cut oats, which are tastier and have better texture IMO)
Almond milk has much less sugar than regular milk
Also, highly refined flour can be almost as bad as sugar, which because of the way it's processed causes an insulin spike, with resultant caloric storage (fat) and lowered energy levels
@Sunshine1970: I actually think it tastes better. It does have a slight almondy / nutty taste, but it's in no way overpowering or unpleasant. It's amazing in coffee. Certainly better than any soy milk I've tried. They sell it both unsweetened and sweetened, personally I don't see the need for a sweetened version- although the sweetened, chocolate flavor is incredibly tasty.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-76367-100x100.png\")
@lpranal: @SybilDisobedience: Would dried cranberries even be edible without at least a tiny bit of added sugar? 'Cause fresh (raw) cranberries are REEEEALLY tart.
@Princess Leela: no, but I think I'd really like to try some with some splenda. nobody makes them with splenda, AFAIK.
@Princess Leela: That's true, but I think the problem is that there's just too much sugar involved. When I'm making cranberry chutney for Thanksgiving, I don't want all that added sugar.
@lpranal: Oh, steel cut oats, NOM NOM NOM. Trader Joe's makes a \"quick-cooking\" kind that, if you soak overnight beforehand (I put them in the milk I'm going to cook them in), only take 2 1/2 minutes in the microwave. Breakfast FTW.
Also, I put a little stevia on 'em for sweetness. But maybe that's going to kill me too?
@lpranal: Agreed on the dried cranberries WITHOUT sugar thing. I'm beginning to think they're a mythical entity - even the small-time ones I can purchase from local vendors at the farmer's market have sugar added.
@SybilDisobedience: Does the manufacturer add the sugar during the boiling and dehydrating process, or does the fruit get tossed in syrup? I wonder whether it would take out some of the sugar if the dried cranberries were soaked in hot water (so the syrup can melt a little) and then rinsed. They'd still be relatively dehydrated, and they would lose some of the sugar.
@pecan 3.14159265: I have no idea how they add the sugar. If it were as easy as boiling it I'd sure doing it. Might be worth an experiment.
@lpranal: Have you tried drying your own? I also have trouble finding cranberries that aren't sickeningly sweet, and I think they're also much too expensive. It may be in fact, more expensive, to dry your own, but at least you could control the sugar.
@pecan 3.14159265: I haven't yet found a really easy way to do it that produces good results. I'm definitely all about the dehydrator, I just can't seem to find a fruit that both tastes good and is short on the prep time - all the recipes i've seen involve boiling the cranberries for a few minutes. I may try just smashing them and seeing how that goes.
@lpranal: I find that using honey gives me plenty of sweetness in my oatmeal, but with way less calories, especially when you use 1/2 of the serving size (or less).
@lpranal: The AHA guidelines are only about \"added sugars,\" so they're not including milk or fruit in the 6 or 9 teaspoons: \"The guidelines do not apply to naturally occurring sugars like those found in fruit, vegetables or dairy products.\"
@floraposte: yeah, and to be fair, the sugar in milk doesn't really have the same bad effects as processed sugar. I just find it gives me a little \"leeway\" , for example if I'm making a latte that I want to add maple syrup to (one of my weaknesses) if I use mostly almond milk (and a little bit of half and half) I can still end up with a fairly low-sugar drink.
a lot of dried fruit does have added sugars though.
@lpranal: I adore maple syrup, and I'm afraid that even though the sugar is a natural part of it it's not coming in on the \"approved\" list for the AHA. Ditto for honey. Oh, well.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-132151-100x100.png\")
@lpranal: +1 for Almond Milk!!!
It also lasts longer than cow milk and adds a much appreciated nutty yummyness to just about anything.
@TinkishDelight: I've heard some good things about almond milk but never tried it; do you know who much one could expect to pay for it? I'm assuming more than regular milk?
@mazzic1083: Unfortunately I am terrible at remembering prices (I know, I know Consumerist) but I do know it is significantly cheaper (in my area) at stores like Whole Foods than it is at Safeway or Giant. I think it is more than milk, but not by much. There are also some pretty great recipes online to make it yourself. I buy Almond Breeze.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-410094-100x100.png\")
We're all doomed anyway at this point. It's nearly impossible, not to mention expensive, to make everything from scratch that you eat so you can watch out for sugars or fats or chemicals. I've given up at this point. It's depressing.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1034061-100x100.png\")
@Eldritch: Cook large quantities in advance. Also, unless you are paid enough to afford a personal chef, you work too much.
@Eldritch: I know how you feel! I have a fulltime job and a part time job, plus an active social life, and a TINY kitchen with NO cabinet space. Plus I hate cooking. I just don't like it. When I leave at 6am every morning and don't get home until 6pm or later, I really have no desire to spend time in the kitchen. I'd rather do something relaxing or fun with my time off.
Also it's summer right now and cooking just heats up my entire tiny kitchen, and I don't even have room for a toaster oven :(
@pattiesmart: i despise cooking....well, I despise doing dishes. in the winters, i'd use the crockpot and make all sorts of one dish meals. in the summer, i'd eat nothing but tuna noodle and chef's salad.
@sponica: I like cooking. I haaate doing dishes. Thank God for dishwashers--it's amazing what a difference it makes to my willingness to mess stuff up in the kitchen.
@Eldritch: eh... speak for yourself. i cook / prepare almost all my own meals, and yes I have a fulltime job. And No, I don't want an award, cookie, or any other condescending denouncement of something so rudimentary as cooking, I do it because its cheaper than going out. I'm actually pretty lazy when it comes to cooking, which works out well since cooking and eating simpler is usually healthier. Also I try to avoid sugars, but fats (non-saturated) really don't bother me. Non-saturated and non-trans fats have turned out to not be nearly as bad for as once thought, and even saturated fats aren't the satanic lipids we once assumed. Learn to enjoy cooking and it actually becomes fun to dream up healthier, tastier solutions.
@lpranal: Couldn't agree more, especially about simple cooking meals. I find that you can stir fry almost anything and as long as you don't add all the verious sauces you get a great healthy meal consisting of rice, meats, and vegetables. Not much room for sugar or trans-fat in that and it's definitely an easy way to cook in a hurry.
@lpranal: Agreed. I try to avoid sugars, but not so much to the extent that I wouldn't eat sugar. I have to have my cookies and candy bars. But I love salads, and since vegetables contain no added sugar, and I try to make my own dressing, voila!
@Eldritch: Why is it impossible? I dont' think it is. I make a lot of things, not everything but quite a bit, from scratch and it's actually a LOT cheaper in many instances than buying prepared food and definitely tastes better.
@Eldritch: Get yourself a slow cooker, and a slow cooker recipe book. It usually consists throwing ingredients into the cooker. Almost no prep work. Maybe a bit of cutting of veggies, or the meat to fit into the cooker. I will throw everything into the cooker the night before, store it in the fridge at night, then pulling it out in the morning, turning it on low before work, then after work turn it off and enjoy.
There will be leftovers for days on end. Lots of lunches and extra dinners can be had. And it's cheap.
@Eldritch: so, basically, we're not all screwed, just people who work 14 hours a day that don't have cooking skills?
@lpranal: I guess I just don't see why someone can't go into a supermarket and buy something that is premade and healthy, instead of having to resort to everything being crammed full with cornsugar and stuff.
I'm not explaining things correctly today. You can ignore me. :/
@Eldritch: Nah, I get you, Eldritch. I only have time to cook on the weekends, and even then it's sometimes a struggle. I wish it were easier to buy prepackaged foods that weren't laden with HFCS and other crap, too.
@Eldritch: I'm 100% with you on not being able to go into most grocery stores and find non-overly-processed food. It's ridiculous, but we consumers have no choice but to \"vote with our money\" and not buy the pre-made stuff, until companies stop assuming we're not just being cheap, we also want less processed crap.
@Eldritch: I get what you mean. I think the problem is that there's always a push and pull and a need to balance the cost of food manufacturing with the quality of ingredients.
For instance, take public school lunch programs in the US. Many cities grapple with the need to provide lunches, snacks and breakfasts. For a lot of low-income families, public school lunch programs take a lot of burden off the parents. It's a constant There's a constant tug-of-war when it comes to supplying the proper nutrition with keeping costs low, as to enable companies to feed thousands of school children in one district, county or city.
This extends to companies which provide premade foods. Sugar and salt add flavor, and are cheap. It's more expensive to use ingredients which omit cheap ingredients such as sugar and salt.
Is it wrong that all this talk about sugar is making me really hungry for something sugary?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-335454-100x100.png\")
@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, and your handle and avatar aren't helping at all, either.
...and *cough* that wasn't any kind of come-one, man. Yep... totally straight--assuming you're a dude. But, even if you're a girl, I'm a married man, so...
[continues digging hole of self-embarrassment]
Yep, I likes me some pecan pie. A-la-modio. The REAL pecan pie... not you. Course, I'm sure you're a nice person, and I'd probably like you. But, not in that way. Just... in a regular, online conversational way.
[grits teeth, backs away from keyboard]
@jokono: What's ironic is that I like pecan pie, but I've only had it once in about two years. It's too sugary.
I cut refined sugar out of my diet for a few months but accidently reintroduced it with a packet of Sugar in the Raw in my morning coffee. It was like I took a hit of crack. It had such a strong affect on me (headache, anxiety, increased hearbeat, hyperactivity, sudden crash) that it was actually frightening. I'd like to say that after that experience I went off the sugar completely and never looked back but unfortunately I love cupcakes far far too much. If I'm adding a sugar I generally use agave nectar, but it doesn't work too well in baked goods.
@TinkishDelight: Did you not even eat fruits or something? I can't see one teaspoon of Sugar in the Raw causing such an effect unless you're just psychosomatic.
@RecordStoreToughGuy_Has$240WorthOfPuddin': Been there, done that. Like a hangover is right. Will try not to do again (lol but it'll happen, I know...)
@TinkishDelight: I did this a few years back. I cut out as much sugar as I possibly could from my diet for about two months, then went to a wedding where many sugary sweets were served at the reception. I indulged quite a bit, since it was a special occasion. The next day I was groggy and had a killer headache. It was almost as if I had a sugar hangover.
@TinkishDelight: If you think about this though it doesn't make a lot of sense from a physiological standpoint. Sugar in your body is regulated by insulin. It doesn't really matter how much sugar you eat, there aren't any health effects unless you're diabetic and you can't produce or produce enough insulin to balance it. It's commonly thought that sugar causes hyperactivity and such, but clinical studies show that no such causality exists.
@satoru: Understand that even in a nondiabetic, healthy body, mainlining sugar forces the pancreas to work overtime. The \"hangover\" is from your blood sugar first spiking and then crashing (because the pancreas secretes extra insulin to deal with the extra sugar). Tax your endocrine system enough in this way and you could, in fact, wind up with Type II diabetes ... research DOES strongly suggest links between a high-carb (ie, high-sugar) diet and insulin resistance.
The kids + sugar = hyperactivity thing is a separate issue.
@Princess Leela: Right, though there's some interesting suggestion that genetics play a factor in just who responds by becoming insulin resistant and who doesn't. Could be the new lactose tolerance, evolutionarily speaking.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-169958-100x100.png\")
i've had Type I Diabetes for 5+ years.
this is not a problem.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-4147-100x100.png\")
9 Teaspoons? I drink more than that every morning.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-335709-100x100.png\")
When I was a kid in the 1970s I remember reading a Mad Magazine spoof about how Americans were going to end up as morbidly obese, indoor scooter-riding lazy bastards (shaped like inflatable punching clowns) with Red China knocking on their front doors.
WHOOPS.
It's too late to cut out the sugar. The gates of Hell (not to mention the doors on my morning bus) are currently clogged shut with fat American teenagers.
According to my food diary, I've only had the recommended amount of sugar 7 out of past 30 days. The most I had was 34 teaspoons in one day. That's mostly from from a slice of chocolate cake and two cups of cherry limeade.
\"...while the average man, owing most likely to his increased awesomeness...\"
Hell yeah. Way to represent, brah'.
I stopped drinking soda years ago and I drink juice sparingly. Water is delicious.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-257467-100x100.png\")
Awesome, I have at least 16 a day and that's just my soda! GO ME
1 teaspoon = 4.745 grams.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1268729-100x100.png\")
Loading up on fruit isn't necessarily a good idea either. While fresh fruit has no _added_ sugar, your average banana naturally contains the equivalent of about 8 teaspoons of sugar.
A handful of grapes? About 3-4 teaspoons.
That daily apple to keep the MDs from breaking down your door? 5-6 teaspoons.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-428486-100x100.png\")
Teaspoons are for wimps. I eat my sugar with a TABLESPOON.
Considering the amount of coffee I drink, it's probably a good thing that I gave up sweetening it and just milk/cream.
Cut back on sugar. Cut back on HFCS. Aspartame should be banned. Ooh, that Splenda might be bad too. Stevia....well that pretty much doesn't taste like anything I would expect sugar to taste like.
The freakin AHA is crimping my style.
@crazydavythe1st: Stevia does take a bit of getting used to, but after the initial oddity of it, I really like it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1225142-100x100.png\")
Enough with this teaspoon crap! It's a totally worthless measure. One teaspoon is about 4.2 grams of sugar. That means the article recommends daily intake for females is 25 grams of sugar and 37.8 for males. For comparison, the USDA recommends that someone on a 2k Cal diet consume no more than 40g daily.
Why is sugar bad? Your body burns X number of calories a day. What X is depends on a lot of things, but not what you eat. To satisfy that number of calories, your body converts things to energy, burning the easiest things first. Sugar (and alcohol) are at the top of that list. There is so much easy energy in sugar, you can light a sugar cube on fire. Also high on the list is simple refined carbs (white flour).
So, if your body get's all the energy it needs from the sugar you eat, everything else you eat goes to your arteries and thighs. This makes you obese and kills you.
(Sugar also rots your teeth, but that's another post)
@DPGumby: You have to also consider the amount of sugar already in products you eat, on top of what you add. That's how you get to the 40g.
@DPGumby: It's not a useless measurement because a lot of people use teaspoons (or the approximation from a regular spoon) as a measuring tool. Most people can eyeball some sugar and approximate how many teaspoons it is - grams are an entirely different concept.
@pecan 3.14159265: I always thought the Teaspoon unit of measure is one of those BS units used to give people a meaningful idea of how much of some stuff they're talking about, akin to \"times around the earth\", \"times to the moon and back\", and \"beard-seconds\".
Fun fact, the distance to the moon and back is about 1.53 × 10^17 beard-seconds according to Google.
@Applekid: If you're a baker, a teaspoon is not a 'useless' measurement. But admittedly most people just eyeball the amounts. But generally the volume measurement is consistent with the weight equivalent when dealing with sugar. For flour on the other hand, 1 cup volume of flour can vary wildly in weight.
Check out [sugarstacks.com] for a great visual. They pile up the equivalent number of sugar cubes for popular food/beverages.
I've kicked sugar for the most part. Now salt, on the other hand, you can have after you pry my himalayan salt brick from my cold, dead, dessicated hands.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-353932-100x100.png\")
Forget it, I've been overeating from the sugar group since I was a little kid and it hasn't killed me yet! I'm going to die with a cupcake in each hand.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-211131-100x100.png\")
Damnit, what does the American Heart Association have against The Archies?
I've cut way way back on the cola. Just diet cola sometimes. But I love sweet tea, damnit.
My 6 oz Stonyfield yogurt had 22 g of sugar in it. Grams to tablespoons is a really hard measurement to convert given liquid volume vs. weight, but this article attempted it.
Apparently, 22 g of sugar is equivalent to 1.75 tbsp.
@chiieddy: My Payday candy bar has 21g of sugar in it. It would shock me, but in no way is a Payday bar advertised as healthy, so the sugar content isn't bothering me. Aside from that, my lunch contained only small amounts of sugar (from canned tomatoes) and I'm drinking a liter of water. All in all, I'm trying to even it all out.
@pecan 3.14159265: It's only 11 here and I'm almost done with my 2nd liter of water. Do you think that helps? Speaking of, I have to pee againnnn.
@pattiesmart: Yes. Water is actually a good way of staving off hunger fits because it keeps you full, is nutritious for your body and prevents you from consuming sugary juices or sodas. My mother gets thirsty a lot, and I don't know if it's because she really enjoys having something to drink, or if she's actually thirsty. She always has a water bottle with her, and it drives me nuts, but it also means that she doesn't eat nearly as much and stays hydrated.
@pecan 3.14159265: I drink a lot, too. It's mostly because it's out of habit. I've also done some research. Those of us who drink a lot tend to feel thirst quicker (which isn't a bad thing) than those who don't, which makes sense. Our bodies are used to a certain amount of water every day.
We also will feel dehydration a lot quicker, though!
I never go ANYWHERE without my bottle of water, and I'm not at all adverse to drinking out of a sink if need be.
I rarely get hangovers because I drink at least one glass of water with each drink. Of course, this means I PEE A LOT, but it's worth the no hangover.
Great, more health advice that's practically impossible to follow unless you're a vegan who has time to cook everything from scratch from expensive organic ingredients...
@Orv: Except I think the short version is \"stop drinking sodas, fool.\" Which isn't that tough to follow.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1251980-100x100.png\")
An easy but hard to do concept because it takes lots of discipline: If it is man made, don't eat or drink it. That will eliminate the sugar and processed food problem.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-945163-100x100.png\")
What about Splenda?
@pecan 3.14159265: The problem isn't with sugar, it the caloric content of the sugar, especially in comparison to it's nutritional content. They specifically address soda/pop and candies, which have lots of calories due to added sugar, but provide no nutrients. They even talk that it's better to swap out the Snickers bar for an equivalent fruit even if they have similar sugar content.
Splenda or other artificial sweeteners are several hundred times sweeter than regular sugar. Thus they are needed in only small amounts making them 'calorie free' in comparison to the amounts required to get the same sweetness with sugar. In fact such sweeteners are often recommended to diabetics in order for them to control their blood sugar levels.
What am I supposed to do if I get like, a super attack of the hiccups?
I think this is admirable, but really we need to be saying to people 'Stop eating so much god damn food'. I think the constant demonizing of specific foods or such isn't addressing the real problem. It's no better than saying don't eat carbs, or drink only liquids or any number of fad diets. We seem to be adverse to telling people the truth about things as if it will hurt their feelings. It's a simple equation of calories in vs calories out. WHAT you eat is not really relevant, as long as you keep that basic equation in check.
@satoru: Refined sugar isn't really a food, so it's OK to demonize it. And once you've restricted this low-volume high-calorie addictive substance, overeating becomes less of an issue. It's pretty hard to get fat by eating apples or rice and beans.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-188412-100x100.png\")
@morlo: That's mainly because people who only eat apples and rice and beans are so disinterested in the food that they don't eat much. I read recently that the reason most diets work is that people grow so bored with the food that they don't eat as much.
You have a good point though about addiction. People become addicted to sugar and don't even realize it. If you avoid all sweets or overtly sugary foods for a week, it becomes a lot easier to avoid them for good.
@ShariC: Probably depends on the diet a person is following. The ones I've followed in the past had nothing to do with boredom. It had all to do with hunger. I would be so hungry that I'd eat anything in sight. And all of it with sugar.
Sugar addiction is real. I'm 100% sure I have it. You are so right about avoiding sugar for a time then it's easier to avoid them. Cravings go away for sugary things...although I do crave corn tortilla chips & salsa once a month and will not be happy till I get it lol...
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-581631-100x100.png\")
I need to go back in time and tell Kid!KoryBing to stop eating brown sugar right out of the tub with a giant tablespoon.
i should probably tell Adult!KoryBing to stop doing that too.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-127623-100x100.png\")
I'm eating some Fisher Sunflower Kernels and there is 1 gram of sugar per 1 oz serving. I know it's not a lot. But if I'm going to get my extra servings of sugar, I want it in something that's sweet. Not a sunflower kernel. Am I supposed to harvest my own sunflower kernels?
No cranberry, in any form, is going to be edible without a bunch of sugar added. I tried some unsweetened cranberry juice once, and it literally took my breath away. But yes, I would like to get dried fruit with no added sugar so I could control the ingredients in recipes.
I don't much care for cooking either, but I decided my health took priority, and I wasn't able to eat healthy without cooking for myself. So I cook most everything from scratch. That said, I have a full time job and don't want to spend a lifetime on it. If you get the cable channels that nobody watches (Discovery Health and FitTV I think), Sam the cooking guy ROCKS! He makes easy healthy stuff, mostly from scratch (or enough from scratch to still be healthy), that takes less time than going out to eat, and is really tasty.
@Ann: The Food Network. Awesome. I'll get up early on Saturday mornings just to watch it, sometimes. It's my Saturday morning cartoons. :-)
@pecan 3.14159265: properly yes, but his baby back ribs CAN'T be healthy for me....mmmmmm brown sugar.....old bay seasoning.....mmmmmmmm piiiiiiig
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Now do they mean sugar (sugar) or sugar (high fructose corn syrup)?
@Vandelay Import Export: They mean anything that's sugar. The MSNBC article doesn't have it, but a CNN article here: [www.cnn.com] mentions all the different sugar types they're talking about
so, me eating the cake frosting in the fridge is a bad idea....oh well, i'm underweight as it is
Eh. My blood pressure is naturally so low I have to take medicine to keep from fainting constantly, my cholesterol levels are 'beautiful' according to my last checkup, I haven't eaten red or white meat in twenty years, rarely drink sodas, avoid HFCS and don't eat a lot of dairy.
I'm keeping the sugar.
Since I've lived away from the U.S. for 20 years, I've largely forgotten how sweet some normal processed foods can be. One of my friends bought a case of Campbell's tomato soup at a Costco (in Japan, where I'm currently living) and found it pretty inedible because it was too sweet from the added corn syrup. She gave me two cans and it was pretty gross. I make my own soup to avoid this problem, but I can only manage this because I work part-time from home. It's very difficult to prepare all of your own food if you work full-time, but it is much much better both in terms of quality and control.
When I was working full-time (as was my husband), I ran myself ragged trying to cook all of the time (to save money mainly). It is possible to manage, but a lot of your free time is sucked away by doing so if you work full-time and have any reasonably long commute. If more people had to cook everything (and I'm talking about baking all of the bread myself, too, since whole grain bread is very hard to find in Japan), they'd appreciate housewives more.
I'm fortunate to avoid the high quantity of added sugar in the U.S., but Japan's food has tons of added fat so you lose out either way.
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It seems like the majority of food items in the US is overloaded with something bad to \"give it flavor\". I grew up eating candy from Japan. When I got to the US, candy was so hard to eat because it was just overwhelmed with sugar. I dont understand how a lot of the foods here can have so damn much HFCS, preservatives, fat, sugar, etc..
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Cut Back on Life, says the American Sugan Association
Sorry had to do it.
I can't live without sugar. 3 spoonfulls in my morning 20 oz coffee, olong with maybe 4 oz cream.
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The ones that tend to upset me most are things that don't need extra sugar. Biggest example? Juices. There is plenty of sugar is natural juice alone, there is no need to add additional sugar to that. I would never buy a juice that has added sugar, except ofcourse for things like Lemonade for obvious reasons. Most often I will add extra ice to water it down a bit too.
having worked for the sugar industry, i'd like to point out there is no sugar in most soft drinks. just HFCS. mercury-laced HFCS...
whats really scary is how sugar substitutes are refined. Splenda is refined with pure chlorine. i don't eat much in the way of sugary foods mostly because i prefer to cook for myself, but when i do i like sugar in the raw.
Replacing cookies with popcorn huh? Yeah, because replacing sweet sugar with fatty butter is just SO much better.
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When I'm having a bad day at work (the norm), I pour like half an inch of sugar into my cup of tea.
@geeky_reader: Ugh, I hate sugar in my tea. Just lemon for me, I drink it totally unsweetened. Coffee, though...iced, light and sweet, every time.
@floraposte: I've gotten to a point where I put less than half a cup in an entire gallon pitcher of tea. Which brings me to my second point...
@MostlyHarmless: I can't drink tea in most restaurants anymore because compared to what I drink at home it's like downing a glass of pure syrup. There are a few places that don't over-sweeten their tea and I quite enjoy those, but more often than not I'm asking for a glass of unsweetened tea to mix with it.
@geeky_reader: I've actually cut back on sugar in my tea, but I understand your view. If I accidentally sugar my tea twice, I consider it happy accident.