Sugar

[dim]

I can confirm that!

I managed to get my weight down to sub-12 stone (fairly light for someone of my medium build and height 6' 1"). Thinking it would be really healthy, I started treating myself to a big smoothie every afternoon and was soon back up to 13+ stone, with no other change in my diet.

I was basically necking a banana, an apple, 3 or 4 strawberries, 6 or 7 grapes, 250 mL of natural yoghurt (and whatever else I felt like adding) every day. If I'd eaten the actual fruit I would probably just have made do with the apple.

I was given a nutribullet as one of my Christmas presents .... I substitue breakfast for a smoothie and I have not picked up weight (you need to substitute a meal with a smoothie and not have it as a 'snack')

I add a ripe banana, an orange, some grapes, some spinach, a carrot, a pear, an apple, mango, brocholi etc etc plus a tablespoon of organic cold pressed coconut oil and instead of topping up with water, I top up with fresh fruit juice (apple or orange)

brilliant, as I am now getting my 5 fruits/veg a day .... in the nutribullet, I get 3 glasses of smoothie, so my children are getting a glass aswell .... brilliant.... if you don't have a nutribullet, buy one

 

[sarahale]

[QUOTE 4634390, member: 259"]That sounds really sugary to me. I wouldn't want to have that lot all in one go. I would dump the juice for plain water.[/QUOTE]

I do sometimes dilute with water but it doesn't taste very nice.

So it is more damaging to my health to have it all in one go? Having a larger spike of sugar is worse than 3/4 little spikes if eaten throughout the day? But better for my teeth surely (that's what my dentist tells me anyway) I was always under the impression that if you do a good ish amount of exercise the impact of sugar is less, because surely you do need it for energy.

 

[Reynard]

I just have plenty of fruit & veg with my meals. No need for smoothies and hard-to-clean blenders LOL.

Today I had an orange, a banana, half an avocado (on toast), plus a medley of carrot, courgette and cauliflower with my supper. If not totally 5-a-day, then close enough.

 

[tyred]

So fruit can actually be a bad thing. New 2017 health resolution - ditch the lemon and lime slice and just have a healthier drink without it

 

[Reynard]

On the other hand, artificial sweeteners make you want to eat more...

 

[snorri]

On a recent visit to my dentist I noticed a display board with actual cans of popular soft drinks, under each can was a poly bag containing the number of grams of sugar as described on the can labelling.
For me this displayed a much more powerful and thought provoking message than the photographs of cans and little heaps of sugar often seen in health messages in newspapers and magazines.

 

[swee'pea99]

brilliant, as I am now getting my 5 fruits/veg a day .... in the nutribullet, I get 3 glasses of smoothie, so my children are getting a glass aswell .... brilliant.... if you don't have a nutribullet, buy one

Won't!

We all get all the fruit we need, by....wait for it, wait for it....eating fruit.

 

[Spinney]

I was given a nutribullet as one of my Christmas presents .... I substitue breakfast for a smoothie and I have not picked up weight (you need to substitute a meal with a smoothie and not have it as a 'snack')

I add a ripe banana, an orange, some grapes, some spinach, a carrot, a pear, an apple, mango, brocholi etc etc plus a tablespoon of organic cold pressed coconut oil and instead of topping up with water, I top up with fresh fruit juice (apple or orange)

brilliant, as I am now getting my 5 fruits/veg a day .... in the nutribullet, I get 3 glasses of smoothie, so my children are getting a glass aswell .... brilliant.... if you don't have a nutribullet, buy one

Nope - if you read the guidelines about no. of pieces of fruit and veg per day, things like smoothies only count for 1 portion, no matter how many smoothies you have or how much fruit and veg goes into each one - because of the deleterious effect of the huge sugar spike.

 

[Spinney]

[QUOTE 4634867, member: 259"]That makes sense I suppose, but you wouldn't get much of a sugar spike from kale or broccoli [/QUOTE]
True, but look at the rest of the stuff he (?) puts in!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 4634867, member: 259"]That makes sense I suppose, but you wouldn't get much of a sugar spike from kale or broccoli [/QUOTE]

Kale and brocolli, the twin green bastards of the veg world.

 

[ColinJ]

I love them. Two of my favourite veg.

I haven't actually tried kale, but I love broccoli!

By the way - some people working in the NHS are still giving some very out of date advice to patients on warfarin about eating veg such as kale and broccoli which are rich in vitamin K. One doctor told me to eat very little of it, and a nurse told me very forcefully that eating broccoli was akin to a 'suicide attempt'!

I told them that they were wrong and that they should spend a few minutes actually reading the NICE advice on the subject ...

Seek medical advice before undertaking any major changes in diet, especially if [their] diet is rich in vitamin K (such as broccoli, kale, or spinach) — this can potentially affect control of anticoagulation.

My dose suits my vitamin-K rich diet and my regular blood test results have been way more consistent than the average.

I'll add kale to my veg shopping list!

 

[Reynard]

I like broccoli, but am meh when it comes to kale. I prefer swiss / rainbow chard instead. Or a nice savoy cabbage.

 

[ColinJ]

I like broccoli, but am meh when it comes to kale. I prefer swiss / rainbow chard instead. Or a nice savoy cabbage.

I like savoy cabbage, but chard is another to add to my 'new veg to try' list.

 

[Sandra6]

Interesting - as the fruit also gives fibre and various minerals etc - possibly one of the last sources of sugar you should give up?

Apparently not -you can get all the nutrients you need from veg and pulses.
@ColinJ kale just tastes like cabbage, and it's very good for your eyes too.

 

[jefmcg]

Kale and brocolli, the twin green bastards of the veg world.

Oh, are you a supertaster?