Eating sugar, what form, how much and with what?

[Deleted User]

I like sweets. I like to eat fruit and cookies and drink milkshakes and so on. But we're warned time and time again to watch your sugar intake. And not all sugar is equal. We have monosaccharides (glucose, fructose and galactose), disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) and polysaccharides (starch and glycogen).

Everything I type below is to the best of my knowledge. Feel free to correct any mistakes and add any important details which may be missing.

Glucose is ok, fructose is bad and most of us don't consume much galactose. Sucrose is a mixed bad because it is made up of glucose and fructose, lactose is ok because it's glucose and galactose. Starch and glycogen are both fine because they're long chains of glucose.

What you consume with your sugar also affects it's metabolism. Fruits are a better choice than candy because they contain water and fiber. Some claim you should consume protein with sugar.

Then we come to sweeteners. White sugar, raw sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup, treacle and rapadura are mainly sucrose. Maple syrup and honey are a mix of glucose and fructose in roughly equal quantities. Lactose is contained in dairy. The bad ones are agave and high fructose corn syrup which are mainly fructose. Stevia itself is not a carbohydrate but is sold mixed with other things and I'm not sure about their effect on the body. Not sure about coconut sugar and whatever other exotic shit you tend to find in the supermarket these days.

The most important things to avoid are sweetened beverages and candy. Soft drinks and asian style milk tea drinks are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Fruit juice contains lots of sugar without any fiber. Candy is pretty much sugar with some esters added for flavour.

Now I'd like to ask about the chocolate cookies I baked the other day (they taste fucking nice). They're high in sucrose and starch but also contain protein from eggs and fiber from cocoa powder. If I eat one cookie a day will I slowly but surely accumulate damage that affects me in the long term? Is there any difference between eating two in one sitting and having one in the morning then another in the evening? Is it worth making them with glucose and a little bit of molasses rather than brown sugar?

 

[Tigran]

Depends on the Fructose. Naturally occurring fructose in things like fruits is fine for most people.

And honestly, unless your a diabetic or just eating a craptop of sugar/carbs and not exercising.. one to two cookies won't make a difference. The simple fact is those if you want to have a lot of sweets, you either need a metabolism that can handle it. *some can, some can't* or you need to exercise.

And people -really- need to stop labeling "Soft drinks" as a source of sugar, because as someone medically required to drink Diet coke due to stomach issues, it annoys the hell out of me to explain almost every fucking time that diet sodas are NOT FILLED WITH FRICKEN SUGAR YOU FREAKING IDIOTS! (Okay... I'm better now.... I just hate having to explain that to people on a constant basis)

 

[Deleted-355425]

Just don’t eat refined sugars.

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Just don’t eat refined sugars.

Also some sweetners that are in diet drinks can still trigger insulin spikes.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Hmmm...
GBATemp Clinic? Is this new?

No idea about all those sugars, my grumpiness tells me things too sweet are digusting anyway.

I guess most my sugar intake comes from lactose added to my coffee, and whatever type of sugar that comes in bread and pasta, perhaps also tomato.

I guess I just don't like sweet things that much.

 

[BORTZ]

Anything that is considered a carb will raise your glucose levels. Do this too much and your body will become less receptive to your own insulin. You will end up overweight and a T2 diabetic. Honestly, your best bet is to kick the habit now. Sweets are the demon of the food industry, not fats. Do not buy "fat-free" shit.

 

[jt_1258]

Yes, bagged, 5 pounds, with 5 more pounds of sugar. /s

 

[leon315]

Since all tempers are Geerds(geek+nerd) and spend a lot of time sitting playing videogames or using pc, this topic will certainly save a lot of souls from potentially diabete and obesity

 

[FAST6191]

Video because why not


As for the matter at hand I mostly go with avoid anything I am unlikely to find nibbling on natural things (or as immediate products of digestion), try to consume calories such that it is about on par with your activity, generally keep a bit active and avoid being sedentary for too long (not the same thing as being active -- sitting at a desk for 8 hours is still bad if you spend 4 hours running around afterwards). Obviously if you have a medic tell you do something else then go with that -- the former is mostly for people that already healthy.

and rounding it out as I started silly

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I like sweets. I like to eat fruit and cookies and drink milkshakes and so on. But we're warned time and time again to watch your sugar intake. And not all sugar is equal. We have monosaccharides (glucose, fructose and galactose), disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) and polysaccharides (starch and glycogen).

Everything I type below is to the best of my knowledge. Feel free to correct any mistakes and add any important details which may be missing.

Glucose is ok, fructose is bad and most of us don't consume much galactose. Sucrose is a mixed bad because it is made up of glucose and fructose, lactose is ok because it's glucose and galactose. Starch and glycogen are both fine because they're long chains of glucose.

As far as I can tell it's never been proven that fructose is any worse for you than the other types of carbohydrates. It's metabolized to glucose in your body anyway.
After all, it's derived from fruit, so it's a more natural source of sugar. And if it really was that bad for you do you think health organizations would suggest to people to eat plenty of fruit?

The most important things to avoid are sweetened beverages and candy. Soft drinks and asian style milk tea drinks are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

That may be true in US but in some other parts of the world HFCS isn't used nearly as much. Over here you would have a hard time even finding it in food/drink although I did notice it's used in Snapple.
Also, what is your flag? It doesn't show a tooltip when I hover over it and I've never seen that flag before.

Now I'd like to ask about the chocolate cookies I baked the other day (they taste fucking nice). They're high in sucrose and starch but also contain protein from eggs and fiber from cocoa powder. If I eat one cookie a day will I slowly but surely accumulate damage that affects me in the long term? Is there any difference between eating two in one sitting and having one in the morning then another in the evening? Is it worth making them with glucose and a little bit of molasses rather than brown sugar?

I think the key is moderation, and to just make sure you're getting enough exercise.
If the cookies aren't huge and you get enough exercise I don't see any problems with that.
You need a lot of exercise just to burn off a few hundred calories, but it's not only about that, it's also about staying healthy. Sugar in and of itself isn't a bad thing AFAIK, but it's essentially empty calories and you never want too much of that. If you exercise enough to stay healthy and burn off all the calories you take in (and don't eat incredibly unhealthy things like lots of trans fats and saturated fats or other things that are linked directly to health problems, sugar itself can also be linked to health problems if consumed in excess but I don't think this counts as excess) you'll probably be fine.
As with basically anything, excess consumption is bad for you.

 

[Deleted User]

Hmmm...
GBATemp Clinic? Is this new?

I wouldn't go diagnosing health problems here but asking for nutritional advice is fine.

Anything that is considered a carb will raise your glucose levels. Do this too much and your body will become less receptive to your own insulin.

I wouldn't go saying carbs are evil.

It doesn't show a tooltip when I hover over it and I've never seen that flag before.

I don't think I ever actually set my country. I'm in Australia.