Sugar : (Part 13) What to eat and avoid?

Folks, this will be my last post on sugar, farewell to fructose discussion. One of the villain in food and beverage sources, I now present to you, what you could eat, and what to avoid, or you could call it low fructose diet. By now, surely you must be wondering, what should I eat? 

Remember guys, I will list down what type of foods and beverages to eat and avoid, but this is NOT a 'one size fits all' diet guide. This, primarily, is a recommendation for low sugar, particularly low fructose eating guide, a guide, which is effective for cutting down your waistline, shedding off that stubborn remaining pounds, etc.

Fruits

Let's start off with fruits. A favorite amongst many people, fruit juices in particular, poses a major threat, apart from soft drinks. Fruit poses a dilemma. On the other hand, biting into a crisp apple or a juicy orange slice makes us feel virtuous for a reason. Fruit is full of vitamins and minerals, as well as micronutrients called phytochemicals. Fruit is also an excellent source of fiber. Yet, the sweetness that makes apples and oranges so delicious has a bitter edge, because every bite of fruit provides a potent dose of fructose, between 5 to 10 grams per serving, in most cases. Do you still remember I did mention about the safe limit of daily fructose consumption? Yes, 15 grams daily, and try not to exceed the 20 grams limit if possible. 

This makes fruit a good yet bad news food group. The large amounts of fructose in fruit activate the unhealthy metabolic pathways which I described in earlier post. It ultimately causing cells to absorb too much fat and become insulin resistant. 

You probably never dreamed that a physician would tell you to stop eating fruit, but in this case, I would recommend to cut down the consumption of fruits, but not fully eliminating them. I would personally recommend a serving per day, and not exceeding two servings daily. Eat fruits which is low in sugar, and there are variety of fruits which has lower glycemic index and avocado is one of them. Again, consume organic fruits if possible. Avoid fruits such as watermelon, a high glycemic fruit, yet usually contaminated with pesticides. Meanwhile, I have NOT seen organic watermelon before. Avocado, grapefruit, lemon, are all lower in sugar/fructose content. Apples, grapes and watermelon are generally high in fructose. Banana is okay for consumption but do not overdose yourself with multiple servings per day. 

Well, generally if you would to eat any higher fructose fruit consumption, try to eat only one serving daily, because you have not add up the remainder of other food products such as beverages, vegetables, processed food, etc. 

Vegetables and Legumes

Diet plans often lump vegetables and fruits into one group, with the advise to eat at least 5 servings per day. Honestly, I think the food pyramid chart is stupid and absurd. Whoever created this food chart, knows nothing about nutrition and food. You have to know, fruits and vegetables are two very different foods. Vegetables contain far less fructose than fruits do. Think of vegetables as fruit with all the benefits, but little of the risk.

The benefits of eating vegetables are beyond dispute. But, do you know the problems we are facing in society? We are not getting enough vegetables in our daily consumption. Particularly, organic whole vegetables. There are people thinking that ketchup is vegetables! Thinking that ketchup is made of tomatoes doesn't mean you are eating fresh organic whole vegetables. What's wrong with these people? God! 

For starters, while few vegetables are overly sweet, a handful have modestly high levels of fructose. For instance, peas contain more fructose by weight then raspberries. Surprisingly, some vegetables, including asparagus, mushrooms, and cauliflower, contain moderately high levels of purines. The same goes to peas, beans, and other legumes. Many gout sufferers avoid these vegetables and legumes, assuming that their relatively elevated purine content will cause a rise in blood levels of uric acid, leading to a painful arthritic flare up. But, my point of view, there is no reason why you should avoid these healthy foods, if consumed in moderate or smaller portion. 

There are many vegetables you can choose to consume daily, such as brocolli, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, spinach, etc. They are generally low in fructose, compare to fruits. Buy and eat them raw if possible, and avoid high temperature cooking, and ensure they are grown organically. 

Bread, Pasta, Rice & Grains

When it concerns low fructose diet, and again, this particular guide is not for 'one size fits all', consuming rice and grains products is acceptable at certain limit. Grains do not contain fructose, so they do not raise uric acid  levels. But food manufacturers often add sugar, honey, HFCS and other fructose-rich sweeteners to grain products. Bread, in particular, to enhance their flavor and appearance. To avoid hidden sources or sugar or fructose in your diet, read product labels before you buy. 

I have a colleague who asked me "Can I eat white rice at night for dinner?".  His BMI is slightly above 30, belongs to obese category. It is not that eating rice is not good, but I would always prefer organic brown rice for most people. Lower glycemic type of rice and should be grown organically. Avoid bagels, pretzels, muffins, as these bread products contain lots of sugar all the time. Basically we are talking about varieties of bakery products, high amount of sugar. A slice of raisin bread, could easily contain up to 6 grams of sugar. 

Pasta does not contain fructose, but tomato-based sauces often do, usually in form of HFCS. Likewise, the wheat, oats, and other grains used to make breakfast cereal are free of fructose, but these popular products are often coated with sugar. Don't be tricked into thinking that 'natural' breakfast foods are necessarily fructose free, and it is safe and healthy for consumption. 

Avoid food products such as peanut butter, as most of them contain HFCS. Read before you buy, the ingredient label is important for consumer like us. My advise, try to limit the consumption of grain products, and opt for brown instead of white rice, and buy only organic grown rice. Avoid bakery foods if possible, most breads and buns will just add more sugar intake to your daily consumption. 

Meat & Poultry

When comes to uric acid, consumption of meat should be on your radar. But, I'm not saying that you should avoid eating meat altogether. Forget about health authorities telling you saturated fat from meat is unhealthy, causing high cholesterol and heart disease, that's all one big piece of bullshit. My cholesterol post will be up soon, as I will take some time to write and explain to you guys why high cholesterol DOESN'T cause heart disease. 

Meat raises uric acid because it contains purines. Yes, that correct, but high concentration of purines usually obtained from organs of the meat such as liver and kidneys. If you enjoy eating organ meats, try limiting not more then twice a month. Consuming beef, pork and lamb generally have moderate amount of purines. Chicken and turkey have lower purine levels, so you can eat poultry more often. 

As for my advise, it is alright to eat meats with different combinations, as long as avoiding organ meats. The key here is to buy and eat organic free range animals. 

Fish & Seafood

Some fish and shellfish contain large amounts of purines as well, which means eating them can raise uric acid. But seafood offers tremendous health benefits, so it should be a regular feature in your weekly menu. We have known for decades that fish protects the heart, and Eskimos in Greenland have proved that for generations after generations. 

Fish oils are one of nature's richest sources of Omega 3 fatty acids, but I would recommend krill oil to everyone out there. Omega 3 fatty acids also appear to confer other benefits too, such as reducing inflammation. 

Eating good quality fish such as salmon and cod fish once a week would be a good weekly eating guide. Try to cut down on sardines, mackerel and herring, they have longer life span and tend to bioaccumulate more heavy metals in their fat cells and have high purine as well. Anyone who suffers gout or tend to have high uric acid levels, avoid shellfish, such as shrimp and lobster. 

Milk & Dairy Products

I wrote about milk earlier, pasteurized milk. For those who loves to drink milk, be sure to only buy either raw or organic milk and nothing else. You have to ask yourself, why do you drink milk? Is it because you think you are getting calcium or protein or other nutrients from it? If you are drinking pasteurized or homogenized milk, then too bad for you, almost entire nutrients in that processed milk, is gone. You are paying to drink white liquid contaminated with pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and other god knows what chemicals these commercial farmers had injected to the poor sick cows.

Study after study had revealed that people who drink plenty of of white beverage and eat other dairy products weigh less than people who avoided these nourishing foods. Dairy foods are an excellent source of calcium, and you can nourish yourself with vitamin D as well. Bottom line is, if you would to consume milk or dairy products such as cheese and butter, ensure they are organic, raw and minimally processed if possible. So guys, do not hesitate to drink raw organic milk. Go for it.

Fats & Oils


Let me ask you, what have you heard most doctors said about you diet? Eat less fat foods right? And why people are getting fatter and sicker while reducing food high in fat? Low fat yogurt, low fat milk, low fat cheese, everything low or non fat. But, what are we seeing here? An epidemic of obesity in this country and other nations as well. Does it make sense? You do the math here.

Healthy fats and oils, are extremely important to optimum health. I'm not talking about canola or corn oil here, or trans fat found in most junk foods and fast foods. We have been eating too much of the unhealthy fats and too little of good fats. People might say, 1 gram of fat has 9 calories. It will make you fatter. Wrong! Eating good quality fat will not make you fat. It's another nutrition myth spread by health authorities and some lack of knowledge people and those food manufacturers who are promoting grains, soy and corn products.

Enjoy your avocado, fish, krill oil, flax seed oil, coconut oils for regular consumption. Again, ensure your coconut oil is cold pressed and organic. You can gulp it down 2 tablespoon everyday just like that. Increase your Omega 3 fatty acids and try to reduce trans fat as much as possible. Avoid cookies, potato chips, crackers, fried chickens, or any food which involved high temperature heating with unhealthy cooking oils such as canola, corn, sunflower, safflower, soy bean, even olive oil as well. Vegetable oils are not stable oils, and they turn rancid very easily, although olive oil is a bit more stable then the rest of the oils. Olive oil is not meant for deep frying or high temperature cooking. Any hydrogenated oil involved, you can trans fat. Read my earlier post about trans fat for more details. 

Soft drinks, Candy and Desserts


Folks, I think you know what I'm going to write about these sweet foods. These are major sources of fructose in our diet. If you would to drink let's say 12 ounces of Coke or Pepsi, you basically consume 20 grams of fructose. This is already more than the safe limit of fructose consumption for the day itself. Fruit juice sold in supermarkets is another fructose powerhouse. Most sport drinks provide a modest dose of fructose.

While soft drinks are loaded with HFCS, candy and desserts also contains fructose too. One of the worst offenders may be cake icing. My take here, avoid all these sweet foods as much as possible. They have no benefits whatsoever at all. Meanwhile, artificial sweeteners are strictly not recommended especially EQUAL, which contains aspartame. Read my post about aspartame, to educate yourself further.


With that, I conclude my final post for sugar and I hope all of you enjoy reading this series. Till then, take care.