After reducing my intake of white and brown sugar, how I am still not losing my weight. This is happening because we are getting sugar in different forms or names.
What is sugar?
Sugar is a simple, edible, crystalline carbohydrate. Sugar comes in many different forms, however, all types have a sweet flavor. The main types of sugar are sucrose, lactose and fructose. Common table sugar is typically sucrose which is extracted from cane or beets. Sugar is added to many foods, and drinks.
The word "sugar" comes from the Arabic word sukkar, which came from the Sanskrit word sharkara. The translations of sugar in several languages have the same etymology (origin), for example, azucar in Spanish, sucre in French, Zucker in German, and seker in Turkish.
Nutritional value of white sugar per 100g (3.5oz):
Energy 1,619 kJ (387 kcal)
Carbohydrates 99.98 g
Sugars 99.91 g
Dietary fiber 0 g
Fat 0 g
Protein 0 g
Water 0.03 g
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.019 mg
Calcium 1 mg
Iron 0.01 mg
Potassium 2 mg (0%)
Brown sugar - among the many types and styles, the main two are:
Sticky browns - originally, the type of mixture that comes out of a cane sugar crystallizing pan.
Free-flowing browns
Nutritional value of brown sugar per 100g (3.5oz):
Energy 1,576 kJ (377 kcal)
Carbohydrates 97.33 g
Sugars 96.21 g
Dietary fiber 0 g
Fat 0 g
Protein 0 g
Water 1.77 g
Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.008 mg
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.007 mg
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.082 mg
Vitamin B6 0.026 mg
Folate (Vit. B9) 1 μg
Calcium 85 mg
Iron 1.91 mg
Magnesium 29 mg
Phosphorus 22 mg
Potassium 346 mg
Sodium 39 mg
Zinc 0.18 mg
How much is recommended dose?
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that we limit our daily sugar consumption to 7% or less of our daily calorie intake—that's about
Women -6 teaspoons (100 calories)
Men. -9 teaspoons (150 calories)
But when we eat different foods this adds up fast. Just one 12-ounce can of regular soda contains 8-10 teaspoons of sugar and 130-150 calories. One glazed donut contains 6 teaspoons, and a half cup ice cream (the standard serving size, although most portions are much, much larger) contains 4 grams of added sugar!
Sugar Realted health concern
Well, aside from the increased bulge around the waistline, diets high in sugar are strongly linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, elevated triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and heart disease. Sugar intake has also been linked to depression, migraines, poor eyesight, autoimmune diseases (such as arthritis, and multiple sclerosis), gout and osteoporosis.
Recent research has shown that a high intake of carbohydrates, including sugar, releases a feel good chemical in the brain called serotonin. Think of how you feel after indulging in a high sugar meal or treat—almost euphoric, right? The high of a sugar rush is temporary though. After a few hours—or even a few minutes—you start to crash and you become tired, fatigued and lethargic.
Although sweet foods are tempting and delicious to most people (blame Mother Nature for that!), the more sugar you eat, the higher your tolerance becomes. So if you have a strong sweet tooth or intense cravings for sugar, chances are not that you were born that way, but that your dietary habits and food choices created the sugar monster you may have become.
Fortunately, we can reverse this tolerance in just a couple of weeks by cutting out sugar. Once you have decreased your threshold, something that tasted perfectly sweet a few weeks ago, will begin to taste too sweet to eat, and that can help you reduce your intake of the sweet stuff.
Identify Sugar and Where It's Hiding
The first step in conquering your sugar habit is to rid your pantry and refrigerator of added sugar. Some things (think ice cream, cookies and candy) are obvious, but most of us need to look closer at where the sugar in our diets is coming from. This will require a bit of label reading in the beginning, but after a while, it will become easier.
In order to cut back on hidden or added sugar, scan the ingredients list of a food label. If you see any of the following terms listed, then sugar has been added to the product in one form or another and it is best left on the shelf at the store—especially if that sugar shows up within the first five ingredients of any food product.
Agave nectar
Agave syrup Barley malt Beet sugar Brown rice syrup Brown sugar Buttered syrup Cane sugar Cane juice Cane juice crystals Carob syrup Confectioner’s sugar Corn syrup High fructose corn syrup Corn sugar Corn sweetener |
Corn syrup solids
Crystalized fructose Date sugar Dextran Dextrose Diatase Diastatic malt Evaporated cane juice Fructose Fruit juice Fruit juice concentrate Glucose Glucose solids Golden sugar Golden syrup Grape sugar |
Grape juice concentrate
Honey Invert sugar Lactose Malt Maltodextrain Maltose Maple syrup Molasses Raw sugar Refiner's syrup Sorghum syrup Sucanat Sucrose Sugar Turbinado sugar Yellow sugar |
