Sugar free is it safe??

[Capemay Eagle]

I really have not researched it, but is is safe to be completely free from sugar??I have tried to be free from sugar, but from week to week I am finding there is sugar in things that I have been eating, bacon, mayo, ham and Vanilla etc...I have taken steps to avoid these things by changing products that do not contain sugar. But I think that it is almost completely impossible to avoid sugar 100%, but is that a bad thing??. Does the body need some sugar to stay healthy, or do you get natural sugar from ordinary foods we eat..???

[attek]

Re: Sugar free is it safe??

From Chapter 5 of DANDR,

From the carbohydrate you eat, your body will absorb sugars, all of which are, or quickly and easily become, glucose.

The chemical composition of table sugar is sucrose, which is glucose + fructose. Lactose, which is found in milk, is glucose + galactose. Fructose, in fruits, is already a simple sugar. According to the web, other sources of sucrose include fruits and vegetables, so there is sucrose in your diet. No matter what type of sugar you eat, according to the above-quoted passage they will all be efficiently converted into glucose, leading to the blood sugar/insulin reaction. So the carbs you eat end up as glucose. Of course, eating fiber slows the absorption of carbs into the bloodstream so eating a candy bar has a very different effect on your blood sugar than eating a bowl of salad.

The question really then becomes, is glucose necessary for the body to function? Later on in the chapter is a section entitled "Lipolysis vs. Glucosis", in which Dr. Atkins argues that the body does not need glucose as a source of fuel when it has ketones as a source of fuel.

I would say, though that the carbohydrates from vegetables in Induction are very important - less as a source of fuel, and more as a source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Another note is that some people, such as myself, feel a lot better on a higher level of carbs than Induction permits.

It is possible to eat entirely free of white sugar, if one avoids all processed meats, condiments, and other processed sources of table sugar. I have done so in the past, made my own salad dressings, ate only fresh meat, etc. Is it necessary? Generally not for the purposes of weight loss, as these products have so little sugar in them that it does not contribute significantly to the carb total, and probably have very little impact on blood sugar as a result.