Tuesday 30 June 2015

Fat or Sugar



Infographic borrowed from Mail Online/Food and Drink

Fat or sugar the debate rages on, which is bad for you, which does the most harm, which one should we avoid.  My view and that of a lot of well respected researchers is we should avoid sugar.  It does nothing for us other than give us insulin spikes, rot our teeth and cause us to become more and more addicted to it, there are NO vitamins, minerals or nutrients at all in sugar.  But the good thing is once you start it is surprisingly easy to cut down your consumption of it until your sweet tooth vanishes altogether.

I thought my sweet tooth had simply gone into hibernation until last Friday.  We were out and about running errands, picking up building supplies, paying for the last lot of building materials that had been delivered etc and I said to Lovely Hubby "I'll treat to to a cream tea", his eyes lit up like the eyes of a man that had not eaten a cream tea for a long time (he hadn't, he's been very good).


The reason for my offer, we were just about to drive past our favourite, and possible the cutest tea-rooms in Llanrwst .... Tu Hwnt Ir Bont, which means Beyond the Bridge.


Inside it looks like this, but with the glorious sunshine on the day we sat in the gardens and enjoyed the fresh air.  Why this ramble ... well I always order a plain buttered scone with my coffee while Lovely Hubby goes the whole hog with a pot of tea and a cream scone.  You get pretty impressive portions of jam and cream here so he offered me some, I spread the smallest quarter of one of my scones with jam and topped with some cream ..... and it was sickly sweet, I swallowed it down and had a quick swig of my strong black coffee to take the taste away.  

The thing is we know jam is full of sugar, but seeing the infographic shows just how much sugar is actually hidden in foods we think are good for us.  I used to eat Activia yoghurts, but I haven't for a long time, while they don't taste overly sweet because of the sour fruits in there I prefer to eat food in it's more natural state so just simple plain yoghurts for me and I add my own additional ingredients if I want any, usually a banana or some strawberries.

In the infographic I was shocked at the amount of sugar in the KFC coleslaw ... WHY!!  Coleslaw is a savoury thing why would it need sugar at all.  It's as though we are being driven purposefully into the clutches of the sugar producing companies, after all the more we get addicted to and come to expect the taste of sugar in everything we eat, the more we will spend on products that they make money out of.

Sorry for the rant, this infographic really got me going didn't it  :-)

Image result for buttered vegetables

My opinion on fat?  Well it's natural, it comes attached to various foodstuffs and it has nutrients we need, it also helps our bodies pull the vitamins and minerals that they need from the foodstuffs we eat, particularly vegetables,  So in my book fat has a place in our lives but sugar should be relegated to the bin.

I'll jump off my soap box now and go and sob quietly in the corner ...... the rabbits have eaten ALL my onions and shallots from the Veggie Patch.  I have to stop rescuing baby rabbits from Rosy and Ginger  they grow up to be veggie munching monsters, so from now on I will let them get on with pest control in their own way and just not watch while they do it.

Sue xx

42 comments:

  1. You echo my thoughts exactly about sugar and fat, Sue. I'm T2 diabetic, so avoid sugar as much as possible. Yogurts (or rather, the manufacturers of) have always annoyed me......you can buy no end of fat free ones, but it's virtually impossible to buy sugar free ones! I know milk contains sugar (lactose) so it would be hard to find a totally sugar free yogurt, but surely they could at least reduce the sugar? I agree with you, fat is a natural product and we need it in our diet....we don't need sugar.

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    1. Lactose in yoghurt is converted to Lactic Acid by the good bacteria in it. That's why sa lot of people including me, who are lactose intolerant can usually get away with eating some of it.

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  2. Being a diabetic, I really watch the sugar in foods. I have a yogurt each moring. I use Dannon light and fit greek yougurt because it is in low carbs and sugar and helps fill me up. The coleslaw was a shocker for me too. Cheryl

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    1. I've just looked at the ingredients list for these yoghurts, sorry but I wouldn't touch these with a barge pole. They have two types of sugar in them and modified corn starch :-(

      We don't have any foods here that are aimed at diabetics (Lovely Hubby is a T2) as they are generally the worst for having lots of really bad ingredients and being highly processed. And if you compare labels most are actually higher sugar than a 'normal' product would be. Fat is a diabetics friend not carbs or sugar.

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  3. My husband became an insulin dependant diabetic at 24 and promptly lost his job as a HGV driver. In our ingnorance we begged the doctor to put him on tablets like T2 diabetics and was told 'Thats fine, but you'll be dead within 6 weeks' Boy was it a wake up call. My children have been brought up with low sugar foods. They are 35 and 31 this year and they've never had a filling at the dentist. A testament to a low sugar diet! Sue, Did you see the superfoods program last night channel 4?

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    1. It's a real wake up call that sort of news isn't it. I bet your children have really had a good start in life due to this though.

      Yes, I did see the superfoods programme last night it was very good. wasn't it. Now I have even more reason to keep growing and eating Kale :-)

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    2. I will buy some seeds next year. My father swore by eating greens he was all there and more when he died at 86.

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  4. From the "latest" talk out there, sugar is the devil and fat is no longer the thing to avoid at all costs. The comparison chart you featured is really eye opening! As someone with a fierce sweet tooth, it is awfully hard to give it up and good for you having done such a great job (apart from the cream tea). I would love to visit that tea room someday. How warm and charming it is on the inside! -Jenn

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    1. To warm in there on a hot day but they have a lovely little patio area at the back with parasols to keep you in the shade .... it's lovely.

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  5. When I first developed diabetes I started looking at the contents of foods, it's amazing where sugar turns up, it's in just about every tin from the supermarket.

    Rabbits are good, no sugar, no fat, very healthy meat. Keep the rescues in a hutch and feed them garden waste and kitchen trimmings, should be very tasty in about 8 weeks. Saves your veg and provide a few healthy nutritious meals.

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    1. I was amazed when I started reading labels properly a couple of years ago to find that even sliced packaged meat has sugar in it.

      Once you know that everything on the ingredients list that ends in an 'ose', dextrose, fructose, sucralose etc etc is a type of sugar you realise just how much we have been conned into consuming over the years. Scary stuff!!

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  6. I don't eat much in the way of sweets or chocolate anymore but I was amazed how much sugar is actually in the other stuff on your list, coleslaw?? why? I know my sweet tooth could easily re-surface at any moment so I try to avoid too much sugar in other stuff. I will read labels even more avidly now. The tea room does look divine though, I'd love to give it a try....

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    1. It's well worth a visit if you are in the area. They do a divine Welsh Rarebit and sandwiches as well as the cream teas.

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  7. I'm not surprised at the yoghurt - I find them really sickly sweet. I usually just buy natural yoghurt. I bake for my son's packed lunches but I reduce the amount of sugar in the recipes. Also, I don't add sugar to the bread in the bread machine (the recipe says to add it) and the loaves turn out lovely. If I get a sweet tooth, I have a couple of squares of good quality chocolate. We don't eat puddings and I don't eat cakes. The amount of sugar added to packaged food is scary. Thank goodness I make most of our food - I can see what goes into it.

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    1. We sound very similar.

      I think I was shocked at the sweetness of the jam, because I've only had tiny bits of my homemade jams for the last few years, and I don't add anywhere near as much as the recipes state you should. I don't add sugar to my bread either, as long as the yeast is either fresh or in date, it works just as well without it.

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  8. Isn't that the tea room where the brother and sister from Long Lost Family meet up again after 64 years apart? I'm definitely more savoury than sweet. But it's terrifying how much hidden sugar there is in everything. With the various dietary restrictions in our house, I am used to looking at labels, but even then it's not made clear. Stick to eating 'pure' foods like veg, fruit, beans and pulses and we'll all be better off.

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    1. I don't know I've not been watching this series, I meant to but got sidetracked by a box set :-)

      I think eating foods without a label at all is the way forward. Fruit (in moderation), as you say pulses and beans and vegetables don't have ingredient lists and don't need them, and I look out for things with minimal lists, compare for instance a packet of Lightly Salted Kettle Chips with a pack of Cream Cheese Pringles and you will be shocked .... I bet you already have :-)

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  9. Good advice Sue. Especially the last paragraph ;)

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  10. Our philosophy here is to eat as little pre-fabricated food as possible. Most of it is full of junk our bodies don't need and may often prove harmful. I make my own jam, with very little sugar, and then freeze it. All my cooking is gluten free and mostly from scratch. Scary the stuff that goes i to a lot of pre-fabricated food. Pam

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    1. I love the term 'pre-fabricated food' .... describes it perfectly!!

      I've always called it fake food, it's just lists of 'things' made into something that resembles something nutricious.

      We should all just JERF (just eat real food).

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  11. Back in the 80's I worked as a cook for KFC and we made our own coleslaw, and we always added loads of sugar. I stopped eating yogurts because of the sugar. we avoid fat, sugar and salt and feel much better for it, oh and our weight is better. The best way we managed this was to stop purchasing processed foods, we make everything including bread in our own kitchen.

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    1. That is exactly the right way to go about things. Once you've worked in the food profession you get to find out all the little secrets and tricks they use to make food more palatable.

      We were shocked when our eldest son worked in a restaurant for a while, he told us that about 80% of the food was simply taken from the deep freeze and zapped in a high powered microwave and then plated up as though it was the best possible food .... it wasn't he saw the wrappers!!

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    2. I can't even imagine why coleslaw would need sugar! It's so easy to make - grated apple and carrot, shredded cabbage, onion (or spring onion), mayo and natural yoghurt. Delicious.

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  12. Replies
    1. It really is, and the outside changes throughout the year as the creeping ivy and various plants that live all over it change with the seasons and the weather, it's absolutely beautiful in Autumn, and then we always feel a bit sorry for it in Winter as it looks bare and quite forlorn.

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  13. I fume at sugar levels in bought food, if I make a cake it has 4oz sugar and that makes eight slices! I don't put sugar in DB's bread and don't know why shop bead has sugar. It does make me cross. I'm not worried about fat and eat some here and there. I avoid sugar and really don't have a sweet tooth.

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    1. I think trying to get rid of a sweet tooth is the best thing isn't it, food tastes so much flavoursome once you do doesn't it.

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  14. Many processed foods have hidden sugar and a lot have hidden salt. Why so much is needed I don't know. Of your list I've only eaten the coleslaw - why so much sugar?
    xx

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    1. I think the simple answer to why is .... to get us hooked on the taste, and to mask the taste of what are predominantly fake and poor quality ingredients that make up so much of the supermarkets row after row of junk foods.

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  15. I'm very much for eating real food on the few occasions I do eat something processed with loads of sugar I feel some rough the next day it's like a food hangover!

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    1. I'm just the same. I can feel as bad the next day after eating some junk food as though I've drunk a whole bottle of wine .... and I know which I would rather do ... hic ;-)

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  16. I avoid sugar since women should have no more than about 30 units of sugar per day. That would be one yogurt or candy bar, with some brands. I no longer put sugar in my coffee and don't miss it. My favorite yogurt is Siggi Coconut which has only about 8 units of sugar. Oh, if I could visit that charming tea shop I would have the full cream tea, which I had on vacation in Cornwall years ago.

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    1. I think a cream tea is one of the nicest treats as long as it's a special treat just now and then, if I have another I will just have to have the merest smear of jam and lots of cream .... no hardship ;-)

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  17. I bet many people dont realise that hot chips have sugar on them too. when they are cut they are dunked in a sugar syrup before being cooked then frozen, then recooked when they are sold to the consumer.

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    1. I didn't know that, all the more reason to make our own!!

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  18. I love seeing that picture of the tea room! We were in your part of
    the world less than month ago (spending five weeks visiting the
    UK from Australia) and stopped there for a coffee on a very cold
    day. We were staying near Betys-yw-Coed for a week and actually
    drove past your house several times and saw the famous
    polytunnels!

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    1. If you're over again and my car is there, stop for a chat and a cuppa. As Kim found out recently the kettle is always on :-)

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  19. We were at Tu Hwnt I'r Bont a few weeks ago. It was cold and drizzly, which was a perfect excuse go stop off and have something yummy!
    DH had a cream tea, whereas I opted for a cafetiere of coffee and Bara Brith! It was the first time I'd had their Bara Brith, and although it was lovely, it's not as good as my own, home made to a recipe from my aunt Glenys, who was a superb baker/cook!
    We had a quick glance at how well all your work is going, it's really taking shape now isn't it? Your car wasn't there at the time, so we didn't stop off for a natter and a nose about!
    I'm not a great sugar fiend, but DH is, he can polish off a pack of biscuits in seconds! I quite deliberately don't buy them now, but if he goes shopping on his own, he comes back laden down with 'dippy bics' to go with his endless cups of tea! I've given up on him now, if he wants biscuits he can have them, he does lots of manual jobs in and around the house, so he works them off!
    We eat fats in moderation, but we never use any sort of synthetically produced spreads, it's best butter all the way, Welsh butter, it's saltier, and salt is a tiny weakness of mine!

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    1. Oh what a shame :-(

      If you're in the area again and a little white car IS there, please call in, you're very welcome. xx

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    2. Oh, and I meant to say you are SO wise not to eat any synthetically produced spreads they are the WORST sort of food on the planet. Try putting a tub of margarine or spread out for the birds or wildlife, they will not touch it as they recognise it for what it is ..... NOT FOOD and dangerous to health.

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  20. Sue, I love your blog. My cousin lives in Dolgarrog and reading your posts and seeing your photos really makes me miss her (I live in US) But I'll keep reading because I love to hear how things are progressing for you. Incidentally, I have never been able to eat in that little tearoom as it has always been full!!

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