KraneXL

SylvainG

What do you mean "Useless sugar cal."?

fietsbob

Live culture Yogurt saving a little and you can make more, in warm milk ..

KraneXL

You highlighted more calories and sugar but left your position on both being a pro or a con ambiguous.

SylvainG

For me, pro, as can be read here. Surely you didn't mean yourself that sugar is a worthless calorie.

Carbohydrates, including sugars, get broken down during digestion to be used for fuel. When you have more fuel than you need immediately, a small portion of this fuel is stored in your muscles and liver in the form of glycogen, and the rest is stored as fat. Then, when your body needs extra fuel quickly, such as during a workout, it draws upon these glycogen stores, which need to be replenished regularly. This glycogen also helps regulate your blood sugar levels. Eating carbohydrate-rich foods after a workout helps to build up the levels of glycogen back to normal.

KraneXL

There is a glitch in your reasoning that is two fold. First, sugar is simple molecule that doesn't have to be broke down that much. Which lead to its inherent problem: its too easy to get way too much of it at one time. Therefore, its much more likely to be stored as fat than used as fuel.

This leads to the secondary problem. When your system encounter this large influx of sugar, its response is to release insulin which is your fats storage hormone to quickly remove it from the bloodstream. Thing is, this is not a smooth transition which is why you get the high and then the crash. If you're a world-class athlete involved in an active workout, you might be able to get away with it. But that's a possibility reserved only for the very elite.If you're referring to carbohydrates then I couldn't agree more. But not sugar. Yes, sugar is a carbohydrate but its in "simple" form. The worst way it should be consumed. The sport drink article isn't giving you the entire story.

What they left out is that we need complex carbohydrates that are unrefined. Keeping in mind that sugar (as a food additive to those sport drinks) is not found in nature, but is a man-made product created through processing. Human beings have evolved to handle complex forms of carbs but not these processed forms which is devoid of all nutrients and which is what makes us sick and unhealthy.

willibrord

Exactly. Sugar or any carbohydrate really but sugar is the worst, will cause insulin to spike in the blood stream. This will cause fat to be removed from the blood and deposited in fat cells. Because there is no fat in the bloodstream, a feeling of hunger will be triggered and you will eat more. If you keep eating carbs a vicious circle is started, more fat is deposited in fat cells, but you get hungrier and hungrier. If you consume fat or protein, this process will be halted and you will feel full.

79pmooney

My theory on sucrose (white sugar and also the newer formulated sugars) is that humans never had access to large amounts of sucrose so our systems simply are not designed to process large amounts. Before food processing, where could you get large amounts of white sugar to eat? Sugar cane sap isn't very concentrated. The kids who grow up chewing on sugar cane do not develop the issues so well known in kids today. (They also do not get cavities.) Sugar beets - same thing. Cooking and eating two or three of those isn't going to pump up your blood sugar. Maple syrup is 50% sucrose but before "sugaring off", nobody ate enough maple sap to get any effect. Flowers have drops of (I think pretty pure) sucrose at their base. I used to love to pick my grandma's honeysuckle and sip the flower dry but those drops were tiny,

Now another animal has evolved to drink that honeysuckle drop in huge amounts, Also thrives drinking pure sucrose and water, mixed with so much sugar the water temperature has to brought to a near boil to dissolve it. Hummingbirds. My 4 birds, two year 'rounders and two April to October) drink most of a 10 pound bag of white sugar every year. Rough calcs - about 140 times their body weights. In winter, their consumption is massive.

By contrast, mankind has consumed fructose in large amounts forever. Pigging out on ripe fruit has been happening since before we evolved to humans. Doesn't cause us any issues at all except looser stools. The kid who has consumed a quart of strawberrys is none the worse for wear (until mom finds out).

Granted, this is not scientific, just many years of observation and noting what I eat and how I react,

Ben

wolfchild

Plain yogurt is very healthy and has very minimal effect on blood sugar because all the naturally occurring sugars in milk get broken down through fermentation process...The problem starts when food manufacturers start adding refined sugar to yogurt to satisfy consumers addiction to sweet things....When you add refined sugar to yogurt it's no longer a health food but comfort food no different than eating candy.

wolfchild

Most fruit contain an almost even split of fructose and glucose... Before industrial revolution humans never consumed large amounts of any sugar. Pigging out on fruit or honey was a seasonal thing lasting few weeks per year and not everyday. Back in the old days it was really hard to overeat fruit or sugar to cause weight gain because of its limited supply...In our modern times majority of sugar consumption is not from fruit but from refined sugars which get added to so many different foods out there....Most people today don't eat sugar for fuel but as comfort food because they are addicted to it.

Happy Feet

Some good observations.
There are no bad calories perse, just bad applications. A little bit of glucose will not hurt anyone, especially if consumed during physical exertion. But if over consumed on a regular basis it does.

I basically quit sugar a little more than a year ago after doing a month long food challenge that excluded it while also watching a friend my age go through complications due to diabetes. The break helped me get over the craving for sugars and refined carbs and I began looking at how many "instant" calories I usually consumed on the average day along side any slower acting nutrients:

Breakfast
2tsps sugar (2 coffees for breakfast)
carb (toast)

Break
1tsp sugar (coffee) or juice
carb (buns crackers or cookies)

Lunch
1tsp sugar (coffee)
carbs (bars, buns, cookies, crackers)
Cake or treats if someone brought them. I work in a facility where there is always a birthday, pizza day or something.

Break
1tsp sugar (coffee)
carb

Dinner
Lots of carbs...

Night snack
carbs...

I saw that I was constantly dosing myself with fast acting calories so that any slower acting ones would be never be used and consequently transformed into fat. I was also riding a roller coaster of sugar spikes/insulin dumps/sugar lows. It was a bad habit I picked up while being extremely physically active that carried over into a later somewhat active (but not to that degree) lifestyle.

I still eat quick calories if riding or running long distance and some here or there won't kill me but day to day I forgo the constant dosing of them and instead eat slow acting carbs/proteins and vegetables for more constant blood sugar levels. It really was an eye opener to see how constant and insideous the quick sugar/carb dosing was.

Bandera

“Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.”
― Michael Pollan

SkyWave

Plao has no sugar
Greek has more protein.
Need flavour other than fruit, add several tbsp of cocoa powder.
Oats, anything but single serve packs
Add ground flax, wheat germ , hemp hearsh, chia etc sd you wish.
Enjoy. I always have two eggs, soft or hard boiled, over Esty.

Jbarcs

The idea of actually eating yogurt is enough to shut me down. But I have to use antibiotics quite often so I have become a regular daily user of the category. I drink my yogurt every morning... Chobani fruit drinkable yogurt. Strawberry/banana is my preference but the berry version is fine as is the orange and the peach also. It's fast and easy and done before I get offended. Seems to keep my stomach calmer and it serves as breakfast along with V8 and coffee.

vicavale

There's another kind of oat called oat groats which is the unprocessed whole oat. Horse owners feed this type to horses. But, you can eat them too. I put organic oat groats in a crockpot overnight on the "warm" setting with 4-to-1 water. Then, when I wake up in the morning they are plump and ready to eat with blueberries, almonds and yogurt. I like to add additional protein to this sometimes as well, such as whey protein or vegan peanut butter protein powder. I've been making this for at least 25 years. Also often make my own yogurt or kefir.

BTW, be careful if you are not eating organic oats. Producers have been spraying RoundUp on oat and wheat crops late in the growing season to make them dry out quicker for harvesting. If you eat non-organic oats, you are also possibly having a big serving of Round-up with those oats.

A physician I follow, Frank Lipman, recently did a podcast about this issue. And, since a lot of kids eat oats, this is a significant problem, especially with the rates of childhood asthma, allergies, ADHD hugely on the increase. There is also a bill in Congress banning late-harvest spraying of RoundUp.

KraneXL

When I visited the doctor they had a healthy food display where you would guess which food had the most sodium per serving and V8 was at the top. The V8 can be good for you (I used to drink one every day) but it has a lot of salt. Almost half by some daily requirement scales. There is a low sodium alternative however, but I've never tried it. Well, yes and no. Oats are a good healthy food choice but we're not horses so we can't digest it like they can. I see you suggest letting them slow cook overnight so that likely makes them more digestible.

I always loved oat as a kid but the kids nowadays don't eat oats. At least not the old fashioned roll oats. They do eat the instant packets that are half ruined by all that sugar.

Full disclosure: sugar is my weakness -- I lover fruit juices. But I've manage to reduce my intake by 75% when I cut them from my diet. I still treat myself once a week to juice or coffee though. Always in moderation.

Jbarcs

The low sodium V8 is just plain undrinkable, in my opinion. I buy the half gallon size and have six ounces in the morning. Because I am likely to either be on the treadmill or on the bikes the sodium is helpful.

Bandera

"Low" sodium V8 makes for a very nice Bloody Mary if the correct relationship between Bombay's Gin, Lee & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and Horseradish is strictly observed.

-Bandera

Jbarcs

L&P... 167 mg sodium
Tabasco... 35 mg sodium
Prepared Horseradish (Zatarains)... 90 mg sodium

An adult dose.

Bandera

The Adult contribution is 2oz of Gin, Bombay by preference.

BTW: Read your product labels again before you make a Bloody Mary

L&P Worcestershire Sauce 1 Tsp/5ml = 65Mg Sodium, it only takes a few drops per Bloody Mary
Beaver Brand Horseradish 1 Tsp/5ml = 35Mg Sodium, it takes 1/4 Tsp per Bloody Mary
Tabasco 1 Tsp/5ml = 35Mg Sodium, it takes as many drops as one prefers per Bloody Mary but it's "Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Kosher & Halal"



-Bandera

SylvainG

^^^^
This

We're talking about yogurt here, not candy, juices or any food with simple sugar. Mind you, low fat sugar is actually worse for your health than full fat yogurt. Reason, they add sugar to improve its taste...

Happy Feet

If it's plain yogurt it's plain yogurt. My wife likes full fat 11% and I like low fat 2% - the same amount of naturally occurring sugar. The taste is fairly consistent but the texture is different; full fat being a lot thicker.
Olympic Krema brand - Per 3/4 cup:

11% vs 2%
Cal. 250 / 130
Fat 19g / 4g
Sodium 125mg / 90mg
Carb 12g / 7g
Sugar 7g / 7g
Protein 8g / 16g
Vit A 20% / 4%
Calcium 30% / 45%

In every measure except Vitamin A, unless you are looking for calories, lower fat is a better choice.

csaxby

I am an incredibly unhealthy eater, so I cannot speak to the nutritional value of yogurt, Greek yogurt, or non-dairy yogurt alternatives.

I can, however, answer the first pat of your question.

I flipping love yogurt, and I love berry flavored anything. Tillamook has a lot of options that I constantly have in my refrigerator: marionberry (pretty sure it's just blackberry, but I don't know anything about growing fruit), raspberry, blueberry, and a mixed berry. They're all awesome.

I will occasionally eat the Greek ones (relatively same flavors are available), but they're more expensive and I'm cheap and unhealthy (assuming the Greek is a healthier option, that is).

TimothyH

I think that was a Dannon yogurt commercial

KraneXL

I just prefer Greek solely for its chunkier texture as an alternative. Never really applied any additional health rating beyond ordinary yogurt.