greyeyes

I am on a low fat diet because I'm working for being fit but when it comes to sugar I have no idea. I figure that if it doesent have any fat it's golden and I pretty much eat as much sugar as I feel like. If I cut this out would it have any effect on my physical being and if it does what sort of effect should I be expecting?

apeman

my personal opinion is that people worry too much about fat these days, and end up eating too much sugar. But at the end of the day it's calories you have to worry about on the losing weight front.

As I understand it, eating a lot of sugar makes your liver work harder, and I think could lead to diabetes, or an earlier onset of diabetes than would otherwise happen.

What kind of fitness are you going for?

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limey

That's right. It's all about the calories when losing weight. You have to be careful on a low-fat diet because many foods that claim to be low fat are high in sugar. Just pay attention to the calories because at the end of the day it's calories burned compared to calories consumed that will determine if you lose weight.

saltfish

No matter how much sugar and starch you take into your body, it will either get used or stored. Every gram of sugar that enters your body begins to digest as soon as it hits the saliva. Saliva has an enzyme that breaks down starches and complex sugars. As the sugar and starch breaks down it is absobed through the eiptheilial tissues: gums, cheaks, esophgeal lining, stomach. If a sugar or starch makes it past the acid bath in your stomach it can even be absorbed through the small intestine. Starches and sugars break down into Glucose.

As sugar is taken into the bloodstream a proportionate amount of insulin is released into the bloodstream to deal with the increased sugar levels. The insulin is responsible to allowing cells to uptake the glucose into the cells. The glucose in the cells is immedietly used by the cells. Some of the energy from the glucose is used to aid in the storage of fat that was taken in with the sugar.
Any excess blood-glucose is filtered out into the liver where the excess sugar is turned into FAT (triglycerides).

So, to answer your question, the excess amounts of sugar that you intake, not only making you hyper, increase the insuling levels in your blood to an elevated state. The consquence of excess sugars in your blood lead to you liver catabolizing the sugars into trigylcerides. The extra insulin that is left in the blood will in turn create a 'sugar craving' that will tell your body that you are hungry even though you could be full.

Now, fat is not necessarily a bad thing, fat lines the axons of you nerve cells and makes up a majority of the linings of your cells. Without certain levels of fat in your blood you could risk the production of cells with irregular cell walls, compromising the lifespan of said cells. If you have ever seen anyone who was 'OCD' about fat and would not intake a half a gram a day, over a long period of time they do tend to have decreased health and may develop a sensitivity to fat, which in turn, could lead to diminished galbladder function.

All in all, it is unhealty to live off of any 'restrictive diet', if said restriction is a TOTAL restriction. Sodium restrictive diets can lead to electrolyte imbalance, and such.

Be smart, eat more protein, eat beneficial lipids (nut oils, olive oils, fish oils, Omega-3) avoid trans-fats like the devil! Drink plenty of water, and attempt to limit glycemic-(simple) sugars as much as possible. Simples sugars actually create a fenzy of metabolic activity that would take me many more pages to explain.



-SF

StephenSa

I had to explain this to my fiance' and its an understandable misconception. Advertisers have pushed low or no fat foods hyping that they are better for you and kept the high caloric value of some of these foods on the "down low" so people forget to look at the caloric value of the food and end up with way too many calories a day. In addition sugar breaks down in your system quickly causing an insulin spike which results in more fat storage. I'd probably cut back on the sugar, you'll feel better. You might miss the energy that a simple carb like sugar can produce at first but you should even out pretty quickly. You'll be healthier and probably thinner too. When I cut out soda pop I dropped about a thousand calories a day. That alone can help one lose weight.

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miko

Like others have said, sugar is bad mmmkay?

Stay away from the simple sugars like sodas, candies, etc. It'll just turn into fat.

raeanna74

Too much sugar especially in the mornings for breakfast can give me headaches and inveriably by mid afternoon I hit a major slump and just want to sleep. I find a better balance with a little less sugar and starch as well as plenty of vitamins and minerals helps keep my energy at a steady pace all day.

Sugar affects your energy levels big time. Too much sugar and your body can overreact sending out too much insulin to process it. Then when the sugar and insulin are gone then your body has an energy drop. If you eat sugar eat the less refined sorts. Fruits with natural sugars take longer to process and you won't get as much of an energy drop. Whole grains take longer to break down into glucose than refined white breads.

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Jennteel

Losing weight=Reduce carb's and increase fiber. If the body has no carb's to burn it will burn FAT.

greyeyes

Thanks for the info guys, all of what you guys have said really has helped me. I believe that I'm going to start counting calories as opposed to fat, thanks a bunch. By the way, would any of you guys know how many calories are in, say, Liqour like voldka or tequila?

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NetForce

Losing weight isn't about starving yourself. This is the common misconseption. If you just lower your calorie intake, from let's say 2000 to 1500 a day... all that it will do for you is slow down your metabolism. This means that after you lose weight and come back to your regular diet, you'll gain those pounds back sooner than you think. Counting carbs (Atkins diet) can only lead to more problems like ketoacidosis, and you'll lose mostly your water mass not fat mass.
The best way to lose weight is to eat healthy... (less fried foods.. more fiber... whole wheat bread... avoid bagels) and exercise frequently. Just remember, when exercizing you have to make up a strict routine which you must follow. Going to the gym once a week will only cause more problems with your heart than it'll help you.
Being on a healthy diet and exercise will help you lose roughly 1 pound a week, and will speed up your metabolism helping you stay in shape for a long time.

apeman

well i guess the standard recommendations apply:

at least 20 minutes cardio at least 3 times a week
eat lots of fruit and veg and whole grain stuff
make sure you're not eating more calories than you need

and remember not to eat too many deep-fried mars bars

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