FitSugar -- Healthy, happy you.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup vs. Sugar

FitSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:00:00 -0800

You've probably seen those commercials boasting that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) isn't as bad for you as you think, since it's made from all-natural corn. It's misleading though because just like refined white sugar, HFCS is a highly processed sweetener. Both sugar and HFCS provide zero nutrition and loads of empty calories.

Check out the chart below to see how the two compare.

	Calories	Carbs (g)	Sugars (g)
1 tbsp. white sugar	46	12	12
1 tbsp. high-fructose corn syrup	53	14.4	5

To find out if one is healthier than the other

Is Sugar Addictive?

FitSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:00:50 -0800

When there's a pile of holiday sweets in your office kitchen, it can sometimes feel like sugar is coaxing you to come to it. Now a Princeton University scientist suggests that siren's call may not be your imagination. According to new research released this week, sugar may wield addictive powers similar to those of drugs.

The studies so far have only been conducted on lab rats, but the results are pretty eye-opening. Over several years, Professor Bart Hoebel and other department of psychology researchers have observed in rats patterns of increased sugar intake, withdrawal, and relapse — all typical characteristics of addition. Rats who were deprived of sugar for periods of time seemed even more anxious to consume it when it was reintroduced. Says Hoebel, "In this case, abstinence makes the heart grow fonder." Here's more:

Hoebel has shown that rats eating large amounts of sugar when hungry, a phenomenon he describes as sugar-binging, undergo neurochemical changes in the brain that appear to mimic those produced by substances of abuse, including cocaine, morphine and nicotine. Sugar induces behavioral changes, too. "In certain models, sugar-binging causes long-lasting effects in the brain and increases the inclination to take other drugs of abuse, such as alcohol," Hoebel said.

Wow, that's pretty shocking stuff, don't you think? Hoebel hopes his research could someday help treat eating disorders, but already it makes me think differently about the way we consume sugar. I have often noticed that the more sugar I eat, the more I crave it; how about you?

Source

Sugar Content and Beverages

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:00:00 -0700

In my recent post about Vitamin Water, a few of you commented that it's loaded with sugar. Just how much though, and how does it and other beverages' sugar contents compare? Take this quiz to find out.

Source

Quiz: Sugar High

FitSugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Me, I keep trying to cut the sugar out of my diet but it's really, really hard. Take this little sugar quiz to see how much you know about sugar. Good luck!

Source

Do You Eat Sugar Every Day?

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:30:00 -0800

My house has been full of sweet homemade baked goods that are so very hard to resist. After a couple of days in a row of eating something sweet, my body starts to crave it, to practically demand it. So, I am going through a bit of a sugar detox which got me wondering about you all and your relationship to cookies, cakes and candy. Tell me . . .Source

Do You Eat Sugar Every Day?

Yes!

No!

Other—share with us below.

You Asked: Cutting Carrots?

FitSugar — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:15:00 -0800

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

Hey Fit!
I have been really trying to stay away from sugar lately and so I am wondering if this means I should stay away from sugary fruits and veggies like carrots and grapes as well?
- SamanthaSugar

To see my answer

Who You Calling Sugar?

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:30:00 -0800

If you're trying to cut sugar out of your diet, the best way to go about it is by reading labels. If nutritional labels just said "sugar," the task of cutting sugar out would be easy, but they don't so it's not. There are many more names for sugar out there and this handy little list reveals them all.

barley malt
beet sugar
brown sugar
buttered syrup
cane-juice crystals
cane sugar
caramel
carob syrup
corn syrup
corn syrup solids

That's just a small taste of it. There are many, many more so

Sugar Causes Wrinkles

FitSugar — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:15:00 -0700

Who doesn't love sugar? I know I crave that sweetness (especially during certain times of the month), but experts now believe that eating too much sugar can make your skin look dull and wrinkled.

How? When you eat the sweet stuff, sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins to form harmful new molecules in a process called glycation. These new molecules are called advanced glycation end products or, appropriately, AGEs for short – am I the only one that finds that acronym highly ironic? The more soda, candy, and deep-fried twinkies you eat, the more AGEs you develop.

Dermatologist Fredric Brandt says, "As AGEs accumulate, they damage adjacent proteins in a domino-like fashion." Collagen and elastin are the protein fibers in your skin that make it firm, springy and elastic. Once they're damaged, they become dry and brittle, which leads to wrinkles and the ever-so-wonderful sagging.

Another thing about AGES is that they deactivate your skin's ability to produce antioxidant enzymes, which leaves your skin more vulnerable to sun damage (another cause of wrinkles).

It's never too late to work on reversing the effects. To find out how

Is White Sugar Really THAT Bad For Me?

FitSugar — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:45:00 -0700

I think you know the answer to the question if white sugar is bad for you. White sugar comes from sugar cane, which is a plant, so why is it so bad for us? Can you say highly processed? Yeah, the gorgeous white crystals most people pour into their coffee every morning has zero nutritional value because it's all stripped away. White sugar is a refined sweetener, adding nothing but calories and taste to foods.

When you eat foods with refined sugar like sodas, candy bars, or high carb meals, it upsets the body's blood sugar balance. This triggers the release of insulin, which the body uses to maintain blood sugar levels at a constant and safe level. After insulin levels spike up, they quickly crash soon after, leaving you feeling sleepy, and possibly even hungry again. This often leads to more snacking and usually on sweet or refined carb treats. This cycle leads to overeating, since you are not really hungry, and weight gain. This is the reason carbs are often viewed as “bad” nowadays, and why the Atkins Diet is so popular.

Refined carbs such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, baked goods such as cookies have the same effect on your body, so that's why you should look for alternative foods made from whole grains. When you feel like snacking, stick to straight up fruits, nuts and ones that contain whole grains. These are slow burning carbs that contain vitamins and fiber too, so they'll give you a consistent flow of energy without the sugar meltdown.

Source

P.L.O.W. - Sugar Sweet

FitSugar — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 03:00:00 -0700

We all know that eating too much sugar is bad for our bodies, but that doesn't mean we crave it any less! This playlist is in honor of all things sweet. These songs have the word SUGAR in the title or somewhere in the song itself.

OK, I admit it. I got a little carried away here, but there are just so many great songs about SUGAR! If you know of any others, please share them below.

To see the playlist,

SweetPerfection: Sugar's Healthy Twin

FitSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:30:00 -0700

I recently was sent a sample of Sweet Perfection, an all-natural sweetener that is supposed to be used in the place of sugar. Typically I am skeptical of things like this, but I am willing to give everything a try once.

SweetPerfection is made from oligofructose, which is actually chicory root ground to a very fine soluble fiber. For all you glycemic dieters, SweetPerfection has a super low glycemic index of zero.

The claim is that you can use SweetPerfection anywhere you'd use sugar -- In fact it is 100% guaranteed to taste and perform exactly like sugar. SweetPerfection's high fiber content (122 g per cup) rivals the zero grams in regular sugar. Not to mention the fact that it has 280 calories in a cup, whereas sugar has about 770!

I put it to the test in my tried and true blueberry muffin recipe. Want to know what I thought? Then

Food Labels Revealed!

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 03:00:00 -0700

Recently I came across an interesting article on how to read between the lines on food labels. The most effective way to learn how to read a food label effectively is to learn what manufacturers may be doing to deceive us, the consumers. So here is a great list of deceptions from Mike Adams on NewsTarget.com:

One trick is to distribute sugars among many ingredients so that sugars don't appear in the top three. For example, a manufacturer may use a combination of sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, brown sugar, dextrose and other sugar ingredients to make sure none of them are present in large enough quantities to attain a top position on the ingredients list (remember, the ingredients are listed in order of their proportion in the food, with the most common ingredients listed first).
Another trick is to pad the list with minuscule amounts of great-sounding ingredients. This trick is called "label padding" and it's commonly used by junk food manufacturers who want to jump on the health food bandwagon without actually producing healthy foods.
A third trick involves hiding dangerous ingredients behind innocent-sounding names that fool consumers into thinking they're safe.
Did you know that the name of the food product has nothing to do with what's in it? These names are designed to sell products, not to accurately describe the ingredients contained in the package. A perfect example is Krafts Guacamole Dip that contains hardly any avocado.
There is no requirement for food ingredients lists to include the names of chemical contaminants, heavy metals, bisphenol-A, PCBs, perchlorate or other toxic substances found in the food.
Food companies have also figured out how to manipulate the serving size of foods in order to make it appear that their products are devoid of harmful ingredients like trans fatty acids. The smaller the serving size, the closer they get to the 0.5 g loophole where they don't have to list trans fat at all.

Moral of the story: Read labels carefully, because what you see, may not always be what you get.

Fructose: Sugar's Dark Side

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Sugar is sweet, but one would be hard pressed to consider it a "super food." Some people actually refer to it as the "devil."

Sugar is actually made up of two simple sugars. Half is the sugar called glucose, the body's most basic fuel. The other half is another sugar known as fructose, which sounds harmless - almost as if it is derived simply from fruit. Health scientists have long held suspicions about fructose, but most evidence against the simple sugar was circumstantial. A new study has illustrated that this form of sugar is truly bad news.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis devised a complicated study pitting fructose against glucose that involved drinks sweetened with the different sugars. Volunteers drank the equivalent of 3 sodas a day. The participants drinking the fructose sweetened beverage had increased LDL "bad" cholesterol and blood fats, while the glucose drinkers had no rise in these risks for heart disease. Add to those heart disease risks the fact the fructose caused a decrease in insulin sensitivity - a sign of risk for type 2 diabetes. Interestingly enough, the fructose drinkers gained an average of 3 pounds during the 3 month study and the glucose drinkers gained no weight.

Preliminary data from new studies show that regular sugar and high-fructose corn syrup each seem to have the same effect as fructose alone -- even though both are only about half fructose and half glucose (normal corn syrup is 100% glucose).

So when folks ask me if sugar is the "devil", I might just have to tell them the answer may already be in their hearts.

Get Rid of Unwanted Hair: Sugaring

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:45:00 -0700

Unwanted hair - it's a fact of life. Many women choose to shave or wax, but there might just be a sweeter way. Have you ever heard of sugaring?

Also known as Persian Waxing, it's a method of hair removal that has been around for thousands of years. Similar to waxing, it's supposed to be less painful because it only sticks to the hair, unlike wax which also sticks to your skin.

It's made out of all natural ingredients including sugar (honey or molasses is sometimes used instead), lemon juice, and water. You can play around with different recipes and do it yourself, but I recommend having a professional do it for you.

First, the area is dusted with powder, then warm sugar solution is applied and spread around with a tongue depressor. A porous piece of cloth is then pressed onto your skin. Just like waxing, the strip is then quickly pulled off in the opposite direction the hair grows.

Fit's Tips: If you want to stir up a batch of your own, make sure you have a candy thermometer. You can buy pre-made sugar solutions such as Moom and Nad's and have a regular hair removal party!

Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Bar

FitSugar — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:30:00 -0800

Fiber is good for you, we all know that. Since the recent study on fiber decreasing risks for breast cancer I have been extremely interested in upping my intake of fiber. Plus soluble fiber can decrease bad cholesterol levels. So I tried these new Fiber One Oats & Chocolate Bars - they have 9 grams of fiber per bar. Which is a significant portion on the 20 grams of fiber RDA.

The bar was tasty and all the ladies in the office agreed that we couldn't really taste the added fiber. The bar also kept me feeling full; all the fiber was working double duty. The bar is quite sweet with 10 grams of sugar - that is roughly 2 teaspoons (as I have learned recently). The sweetness comes from high fructose corn syrup - my least favorite sweetener on the planet. Plus reading further into the label I found partially hydrogenated coconut oil. Ironic, no? I am eating fiber for my heart and hydrogenated oils are really bad for my heart. Hmmmm, something seems amiss.

It comes down to this - this Fiber One Bar is better for you than a candy bar - a Snickers has 30 grams of sugar, and only 1 gram of fiber. The Snickers also contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. I think it is always better to eat less processed food. Especially when it comes to fiber, I say eat an apple in your oatmeal and snack on some carrots.

Fittingly Mad: Grams to Teaspoons

FitSugar — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:00:00 -0800

I am a label reader, there is no doubt about that. I want to know what I am eating and how much of it too. So I look on the back of food packages, let's use yogurt as an example, to see how much of some ingredient it contains, for instance - sugar.

A serving size of this new vanilla yogurt I bought was a cup. I looked to see how much sugar there was in one cup and the answer is listed in grams. 33 Grams, to be exact. But I have no idea what that really means. We never went metric here in the U.S. so why are ingredients listed in grams? If the serving size is listed in cups, shouldn't the amounts be listed in ounces, tablespoons and teaspoons. I know roughly how these units of measurement break down. There are: 8 ounces in a cup, 2 tablespoons in 1/8 of a cup, and 3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon. These measurements I am familiar with. But grams - I do not know grams.

So after consulting the web, my favorite research tool, I found gourmet sleuth a really great cooking measurement conversion site . Here's the deal: 33 grams of sugar = 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon. I don't know about you, but that seems like a lot a lot of sugar.

From now it is plain, non-fat yogurt for me with a smidgen of maple syrup as sweetener. I have to tell you though, I really want to be able to eat without my computer.

Chai Tea - Raise a Cup to Your Health

FitSugar — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 02:30:00 -0800

What is not to like about tea? Tea and especially chai tea help prevent and fight many different kinds of cancer, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and may reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The fact is - every ingredient in chai tea is good for you, and when you put them all together they pack a powerful punch for your immune system.

Chai is a great alternative to your morning cup of coffee - a 5 ounce cup of coffee contains 200 mg of caffeine and black tea contains half that.

In the winter, after a long day of playing out in the snow, it's nice to come home, take a hot shower and curl up on the couch with a steaming cup of chai tea. Of course you can buy chai tea packets, but nothing compares to making it yourself.

Want to see my recipe? Then

Yogurt Breakdown

FitSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:30:00 -0800

Recently I did a post on Stonyfield Farms 2-a-Day yogurt. And scratch5 made a comment that sparked a question in my mind - How do all the yogurt brands compare?

Keep in mind that some yogurts contain modified food starch, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and other not so healthy ingredients, so check the label.

Here are some popular brands of yogurt, with their calories, total fat, sugars, and protein. I compared them all in Strawberry flavor, but realized that not all yogurt comes in 6 oz containers (I specified if they didn't):

Breyer's Light (8 oz): 110 cals, 1.5g fat, 10g sugar, 8g protein
Breyer's Creme Savers (8 oz): 240 cals, 3.5g fat, 36g sugar, 7g protein
Breyer's Fruit on the Bottom (8 oz): 240 cals, 2g fat, 39g sugar, 8g protein
Brown Cow No Fat: 130 cals, 0g fat, 24g sugar, 7g protein
Brown Cow Lowfat: 150 cals, 2g fat, 25g sugar, 6g protein
Brown Cow Cream Top: 180 cals, 6g fat, 27g sugar, 5g protein
Cabot Nonfat: 130 cals, 0g fat, 19g sugar, 8g protein
Colombo Light (8 oz): 120 cals, 0g fat, 15g sugar, 7g protein
Colombo Classic (8 oz): 230 cals, 2g fat, 42g sugar, 7g protein
Dannon All Natural (3.3 oz): 110 cals, 1g fat, 19g sugar, 5g protein
Dannon Fruit Blends: 170 cals, 1.5g fat, 30g sugar, 6g protein
Dannon La Creme (4 oz): 140 cals, 5g fat, 18g sugar, 5g protein
Fage Total Classic (7 oz): 260 cals, 20g fat, 6g sugar, 12g protein

Want to see the rest? Then

Sugar By Any Other Name

FitSugar — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:00:00 -0800

Just because you walk into a health food store doesn't mean you're going to get something healthy. You've still got to read the labels because unwanted sugar can still sneak into your food, cleverly disguised under other names.

Here's a list of sweeteners:

cane juice crystals
corn syrup
high fructose corn syrup
evaporated cane juice
unbleached sugar cane
organic dehydrated cane juice
malted barley extract
brown rice syrup
sucrose
fructose

The thing is, once any form of sugar gets into the body, there is little difference in how the body uses it. Sugars are a kind of carbohydrate, which your body needs for energy.

When you eat foods that are mostly sugar, like soda and candy, they are absorbed quicker which causes your blood sugar levels to quickly rise, and then fall. When you eat whole foods like fruits, sugars are released slowly into the bloodstream.

Fit's Tips: If you're concerned about your sugar intake, and you don't want to bother with deciphering the ingredients, just look at the amount of sugars on the label.

5 Things: You Should Avoid Putting Into Your Body

FitSugar — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:30:00 -0800

Of course everyone eats this stuff sometimes. A brownie here, a Coke with lunch - nothing wrong with moderation. But if you're consuming these ingredients daily, it'll affect your mood and your health. Check the labels. These ingredients are in everything these days.

1. Hydrogenated oil (often labeled as trans fat) - A process that turns free flowing oil into a lard-looking solid at room temperature. The food industry uses it to increase shelf life of products and maximize profits. Eating this stuff increases the bad cholesterol (LDL) in your body and is bad for your heart.

2. Enriched flour – All the grain’s nutrients are destroyed in the refining process. Companies add a little bit of the lost nutrients back and label it “enriched” so it seems nutritious.

3. High Fructose Corn Syrup – Your body processes this differently than good old-fashioned cane sugar. It contains more fructose than sugar and converts to fat more easily, which adds to weight gain.

Are you ready to learn the rest? Then

Sweet Tooth(paste)

FitSugar — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 02:00:00 -0800

Picking out a toothpaste can be more than a little confusing because there are so many choices. One freshens breath. One is good for sensitive teeth. One whitens. One brightens. One removes tartar. One prevents gum disease. Ahhhh??!!??

So how do you choose?

The popular brands, like Crest and Colgate, all contain pretty much the same ingredients - abrasives, detergent, binding agents and humectants (to keep it moist and together), flavoring (mostly sugar), preservatives, fluoride, and water. Yum.

You should try to pick one that contains fluoride, but whichever one you choose, they all pretty much do the same thing. It's the actual act of brushing that helps to remove tartar, plaque, and food.

Use a soft bristle toothbrush, and replace it every 3 months. I change mine with the seasons and always put new toothbrushes in my family's stockings (Christmas is so close to Winter Solstice). Brush along your gum line in a circular motion, making sure to clean every inch of tooth. End with a couple of brushes on the surface of your tongue to get rid of the bacteria that causes bad breath.

Fit's Tip: If you're looking for a natural toothpaste that doesn't contain artificial ingredients or dyes, think about switching to Tom's of Maine toothpaste. It's flavored with natural oils instead of sugar.

Jones Soda is Still Sweet

FitSugar — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0800

As of January 1, 2007, Jones Soda (the Seattle based soda maker) will be selling 12-ounce canned sodas with pure cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup. All their products, which include root beer and cream sodas, will be switched over by mid-2007. This comes after highly processed table sugars and high fructose corn syrups are getting a bad rep due to their complete lack in nutrional value and very high calorie count.

High fructose corn syrup, especially, has a bad rep as it can increase Type 2 diabetes and other epidemic diseases caused by obesity since the body has difficulty processing high fructose corn syrup at high levels.

I can't wait to try the Watermelon Soda with pure cane sugar! Yum.

Sweet, Natural Sugar!

FitSugar — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 03:30:00 -0800

We all love sugar. I mean what's not love about sugar? While there is no alternative for Sugar's online community - smirk - there are some real natural alternatives to your ordinary processed (and stripped of any available nutrients) table sugar.

Stevia is far more sweeter than sugar and it comes from an herb -- Just don't call it an artificial sweetener, for now it can only go by dietary supplement.
Maple Syrup is just made from boiling sap and it has some trace minerals as well as some calcium and iron.
Natural Sugar is great because naturally milled sugars go through a single process that leaves some of the trace nutrients from the cane.
Honey is probably the most well known substitute for sugar -- Use it in place of sugar for its natural anti-inflammatory effect. Honey is also a natural antiseptic.
Date Sugar is simply ground dried dates so it still contains small amounts of several vitamins and minerals found in the dates.

Fit's Tip: Some people also use Molasses and Brown Rice Syrup as sugar alternatives but due to their distinct tastes I don't ever opt for them, but if you're indifferent you may want to give one or both a try.

GiggleSugar Sneak Peek: Andy Dick warps Audrey Hepburn Gap Ad

PopSugar — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 11:15:08 -0800

We had so much fun launching FitSugar last week that we have decided to do it again. Get excited because our byte-sized humor site, GiggleSugar is coming soon! See below for a sneak peek:

If you thought using Audrey Hepburn to hawk skinny jeans for the Gap was interesting, wait until you see Andy Dick's take on it.

Click here to see the original ad from Gap starring Audrey Hepburn. Which do you like better?

The perfect way to add a little humor to your mid-morning "brain break," GiggleSugar is coming soon. Sign up to receive an email notification as soon as we launch!