A math question from the very lovely and talented Pookie, who's battling the diet devil right now:
"How is it that there are 3 grams of sugar in a cup of grape nuts, twelve in an orange, 13 in a cup of cookie crisp, 20 in a cup of Raisin Bran, and 12 in a glass of 1% milk?"
I'm not a calorie counter myself, so I'm not quite sure how to explain the science of sugars. Anyone else care to take a stab?
And Pook: the best advice both my mother and sister ever gave me was NOT to diet--to simply try to eat healthy, and eat organic, and not obsess over every point (Weight Watchers) or calorie. If you educate yourself on what's good for you (which is a HUGE education, but is still incredibly valuable, as I'm learning every day), then you're golden. I think. Someone prove me wrong, please.
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I recently had some correspondence with the doctor who headed the Harvard study on diets. What the doctor discovered is that it doesn't matter if you cut back on carbs or fats, as long as you don't consume more calories than you should each day. And, as the doctor emphasized to me, all your calories should come from wholesome, natural foods.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in an earlier post, when you start eating clean, you might feel hungry and need to eat a lot of fruit or nuts or raw veggies between meals. But as you become properly nourished, you won't crave so much food.
So the answer to Pookie's question is to forget about counting the grams of sugar in various of foods. Try hard to eliminate all refined sugar from your diet, as well as refined flours and processed foods. Eat as much fruit as you want and as many whole grains. Your calorie count will drop to the correct range when you start feeding your body the nutrients it needs. It doesn't matter if you're eating the 13 grams of sugar in Cookie Crisps or the 20 grams in Raisin Bran--most of that sugar is refined and NOT what your body needs.