Reducing sugar intake

Steroids?

Sorry. I missed that bit.

OK NanKate , and as you're trying to cut down your intake here's something worth considering.

If you cook from scratch you will generally already know if you're adding sugars. But if something is coming out of a jar, tin, packet, etc then look at two things.

Firstly how many carbs per 100g and how much is sugar.

Then secondly, and possibly more importantly, look at the ingredients list.

If no sugars are listed in the ingredients then you know the sugars are intrinsic, that is natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables generally.

I don't want to overload you with information but there are two more things you need to look out for. Firstly most fruits contain a great deal of sugar so you need to limit these and fruit juice is especially high. Berries are lowest and your best bet.

Secondly on the ingredients list sugar can be disguised under names such as dextrose, glucose, sucralose, fructose, so beware any ingredients ending in 'ose' and also any kind of 'syrup' eg corn syrup, malt syrup and invert sugar.

Even if you're cooking from 'scratch' you might be adding a jar of tomato paste, or similar. eg. some jars of pesto have added sugar, chilled pesto usually doesn't.

Hope this helps. It's something I've studied for many years.

I have a slice of home made cake every day with my afternoon tea.

I do smaller portions on smaller dinner plates keeping within the middle and smaller dishes helps too. If not I'm forever obsessing about calories, fat etc.
A little now and again of what you fancy is better for you.

I still don't quite understand where steroids come into the equation. If there is a medical problem then advice might have to be quite different, but the OP says she is not hugely overweight.

I've been on a low sugar/carb diet since the New Year. Well I consider it low sugar/carb cos it's lower than it was. I cut out pasta, bread, potatoes and all added sugar. Increased fruit and salad and cooked more instead of ready meals.

However, I have had a couple of shocks with this diet.
1. I haven't lost any weight., although I haven't put any on either.
2. When my daughters treated me to an afternoon tea for my birthday (I didn't have the heart to say NO) I was buzzing till 4am. My brain just wouldn't go to sleep with the sugar bomb I'd eaten. That's happened twice so it wasn't just a coincidence.

I'm not totally sugar-free as I have a smoothy for breakfast every day (Strawberries, Blueberries, Pear, small Banana, handful of Kale and unsweetened Almond Milk. Not necessarily all at once.) and that has made a huge difference to my nails. At this time of year they are usually splitting and broken but they are so strong this year. I can even garden without gloves and still retain my nails. Unheard of before this year.

I'm going to increase the exercising to see if that will help with the weight loss. I only need to loose half a stone but it makes so much difference to the fit of my summer clothes.

Good luck with the diet NanKate, there's all sorts of help and ideas on the internet these days. A quick 'Google' should sort you out.

Is honey as bad as sugar? I used to read a lot of John Briffas articles and he said that is was a 'better' form of sugar. Although I've cut right back on sugar I do use a lot of honey on porridge, in smoothies etc.

We used the Rick Gallop GI diet about 12 years ago- I was a size 20 and husband overweight too. It took us a year- slow and steady and reached our target weight - I'm now a 14 and husband 32 inch waist.
It's a brilliant way of eating - very similar to how diabetics have to eat so it's really tasty. You can read about him online and there are recipes too. We still follow the diet but have cake or every now and then cream as as Rick says having the occasional cake etc won't make you a size 20 ! His philosophy is very sensible. Good luck ?

Thanks all you are really helping me through a tricky time healthwise. Up until a few weeks ago, I have been pretty chipper and healthy and suddenly being hit with aches all over my body, no appetite, too hot or too cold and lethargy it has been a complete shock to me. Thanks for listening to my moans.

If the diagnose is correct, Polymyalgia Rheumatica the introduction of steroids I am told can be almost a miracle I am told.

I am cutting back on sugar now as steroids increase the glucose in the body and I will be susceptible to type 2 diabetes, which I want to avoid at all costs.

I am just under 5ft 3ins and weigh 10 stone 6lbs, so just a bit over weight.

Pleas excuse my over indulgence about my health but to be honest GN has been a lifeline and once I am sorted you won't, I hope, be seeing me on the Health Forum much.

Anya your advice is very welcome as up until recently I knew little about carbs. Can you tell me what is seen as a low carb on say 100g of any food please ?

I intend cutting back on sugar, not totally eradicating it unless the doc tells me to.

Over and out.

Here is a link to the long running low-carb support thread NanKate.
www.gransnet.com/forums/dieting_and_exercise/1222065-A-new-low-carb-support-thread-for-2016

As recommended on the above thread www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb will help you get started and explains low carb in 60 seconds. I found it very informative.

If the weight does creep up, there is always the Michael Mosley Blood Sugar Diet.
thebloodsugardiet.com/how-it-works/

Have you told the doc about your worry re diabetes? He might be able to put your mind at rest. I would take it slowly and see what happens. You might be able to keep your weight steady without going on a too restricted diet. Just watch the old calories.

NanKate that's an interesting question. You see some things which are high in sugar, such as tomato ketchup, you might only use teaspoonful, which might actually be less than something with lower sugar but you eat a big plateful of ('cuse grammar )

You can either try to
1. Count actual grams in the food you eat and limit that to 25g (6 teaspoons)
2. Cut everything sugary you normally eat in half....eg just one biscuit not two, or a much smaller piece of cake, etc or
3. Forget all the counting and just cut out fruit juice, jams, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, fruit (1 piece a day), smoothies, dried fruit, yoghurt (except naturel) and everything you know in your heart of hearts contains sugar...and yes, honey is just as bad!!

I struggle for my OH who is pre-d and really should lose weight. However he is adamant that he'd sooner eat and drink what he likes even if it shortens his life and I find any 'help' I give is counter-productive. We do cook almost everything from scratch but he supplements with sweets, pastries and biscuits and beer (that he buys and brings in) and I can't do this for him, if I bring anything described as low-fat into the house he refuses it. Smaller portions just lead to more extras afterwards. He works long hours so his time for exercise is limited, never mind motivation! Has anyone else cracked this? He is utterly intransigent and I fear so much for his health.

Most prepared items have sugar in them. If you look at some things they can contain 3 or so forms of sugar, anything that ends in ose (glucose,fructose etc is sugar ). When looking at products look at 100g and individual portion size a nd calculate sugar contents ie. 100g item may have 24g of sugar so 25% (or 1/4 of it is sugar ) Even diet yogurts contain a fair amount of sugar in - maybe 2.5 teaspoons. The supermarket luxury yogurts may contain 5/6 spoons per 1 serving pot ! It's worth remembering as a quick guide 4g of sugar is one teaspoon of sugar.

All of the above solved by eating real food....

To be fair, I guess with yogurts the sugar might not be all added sugar. There would be quite a lot of lactose from the milk.

Homemade jam is real food. And so is sugar, in moderation. It's energy giving. People of normal weight don't need to cut it out completely.

Homemade jam is indeed real food, as is sugar. You don't have to read a label because you know exactly what it contains.

Guilt speaking. Just eaten two slices.

You could download the sugarsmart app,that will tell you how many cubes of sugar are in a produce( if it's been scanned previously )
I just wish producers would put how many cubes or teaspoons of sugar are in the food,then we would all know at a glance

I was diagnosed with diabetes2 when in my eighties. Started off with two tablets a day then reduced to one now am on one half a tablet a day. I read all the labels and if the sugar content is too high then I discard it. I trust the manufacturers to tell the truth about the sugar content. I order on line and therefore have plenty of time to read all the ingredients. I do get a craving for a bit of sweetness sometimes and keep a bag of jelly babies and its surprising what one or two will do to ease the craving. One problem is you can get too low but my doctor gives me a blood test on a regular basis and has been ok so far. Like all problems you can only do your best.