Sugar

[big_ron]

Now i know its generally a bad thing to have sugars, unless its post work out. BUT

I want to know in amounts, what is considered good/bad.

Lets say an energy drink with 20gms of sugar?

Im sure its alot better than having a full strength soft drink or soda as the USA call it with 70+gms of sugar.

Post away

[musclestack]

Now i know its generally a bad thing to have sugars Then, it's best to not have any., unless its post work out. The era of thinking high GI carbs PWO is more beneficial than complex carbs has come and gone. BUT

I want to know in amounts, what is considered good/bad. Any and all main sources of dietary sugar are bad.

Lets say an energy drink with 20gms of sugar? Too much

Im sure its alot better than having a full strength soft drink or soda as the USA call it with 70+gms of sugar.Sounds like you want someone to agree with you here. I doubt anyone will. Drop all unnecessary sugars from your diet. Probably the worst thing you can put in a BB's diet.

Post away

Sorry if I sound short; I'm getting ready to go to work. But I honestly think you knew the answers to this before you posted and are just looking for confirmation on what you WANT to hear. Sorry man, but drop the drinks. You'll thank me later.

[musclestack]

I should also add that this is entirely dependant on your goals. I need to stop and realize that not everyone on here has the ambition to be a body builder. If you train and diet modestly and just want to stay in 'descent' shape, I suppose these drinks won't hurt you too much in the long run as long as they're kept in moderation. Cheers, bro!

[big_ron]

Thanks for the reply mate, the debate of simple carbs pwo I do not believe is over.

Anyhow I do realize no sugar in the diet would be best.
But I am more interested in when we do now ad again, in cheat meals ect how much does it effect us.

[n00bs]

Depends on the purson.. Some people cant take it, it makes them feel crap then the cravigns kick back in...

[musclestack]

I would say that anything in moderation will have a negligible impact on your progress. By 'moderation', I mean having a cheat meal once every couple of weeks........a small cheat meal. Then again, if you're trying to go from 15% bf down to 10% within 2-3 months, then I would suggest you limit these cheat meals to absolutely zero......so again, it depends on your goals and how fast you want to reach them.

I guess I shouldn't have said that the era of simple carbs over complex PWO is over. It seems to me, though, that the ones that support the simple carbs and find studies to back them, are the same people who feel the need to satisfy that sugar craving they always have and go looking for studies so they can justify it. Just my opinion

[gbrice75]

I'm not into purposely eating sugar at any time, regardless of the goal. I don't see the point. There are other ways to create an insulin spike without eating 'poison'. You can certainly get away with it more on a bulk, but even then I personally wouldn't do it.

[big_ron]

No milk then

[Flier]

No milk then

Not only, but no milk products.

[n00bs]

Kefir and yoghurt are a must

Oh and whey is a milk product

[Flier]

Kefir and yoghurt are a must

Oh and whey is a milk product

hehe...yes I stand corrected on the whey,and Casein.
But kefir and yogurt....check the sugar content. Not ok for me.

[Twist]

I drink about 100g per day of sugar and stay at a low bf. Genetics plays a role here. I would not say at all that sugar or high gi carbs are not a tool that one can use. I use them to create an insulin spike to induce hunger after meals. It works and it is just one of many tools that can be used. I would also not say that it is poison...

Here is the problem with most guys, they don't put in enough effort and they also are relaxed on their diet. Same guys who should be doing cardio but don't are the same guys who shouldn't be eating sugar but do. 9 out of 10 times people are too lazy to get results and that is where they fall apart. In all my training I have only trained 1 person who, no matter how hard I try, I can't get the results I want from.

High gi is great pwo for stopping any catabolism in its tracks. Anytime you expend a bunch of energy and you don't want it to come from muscle, sugars can be utilized to fuel your body.

Now if you are overweight and are trying to lose weight then sugar pwo is not the best idea. Also if you are overweight and trying to lose weight then don't drink any sugar at all (if you can help it).

[gbrice75]

^ ^ when I called sugar a poison, I meant it literally - tooth decay among other problems. If it can have that effect on bone, imagine what it can do to soft internal organs.

[n00bs]

Tooth decay is from sugar feeding bad bacteria.. Imagine it feeding pathogenic bacteria on your gut!

[n00bs]

It's more sugars effect on inflammation In the body.. However everybody has different insulin sensetivity so there is no one size fits all. It's why it makes following someone else's diet almost impossible for optimal results because we are all biochemically unique.

Inregards to kefir and sugar.. The fermentation process removes Alot of the sugar as it is fuel for the bacteria...

[Twist]

Supplement with probiotics. I don't think its really that big of a deal but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it is the reason we are having all these stomach problems. I would think it is safer to say it is from the millions of other exposures we get but who knows.

[n00bs]

Depends on the person once again.. Alot of people need to remove polysacharides from their diet.

[Damienm05]

I'm going to compile a "best answer" here after viewing the above replies:

It depends on the goal and the individual. Broken down into three categories:

- Serious about losing substantial body-fat: No sugar at all. Any amount will hinder progress.

- Casually losing "weight" and just living more responsibly: As long as you stay in a caloric deficit and get plenty of protein - sugar won't kill you; have up to 100g/day but realize it's not an efficient energy source and is only going to prolong cravings and slow progress in the long-run.

- A big, strong, lean man/woman with no short term goals other than to gain/maintain muscle mass: Minimal sugar as you won't receive any sustained energy from it. You're better off having complex carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats to comprise your daily caloric intake. However, this person would already know that having achieved a lot in bodybuilding and should merely focus on not combining insulin spikes from sugar with high calorie/high fat meals and sedentary periods.

[bigbossofdariver]

so what about fruit?

[Damienm05]

High nutritional value and in most cases, lower calories, lower glycemic value/load. Certain fruits are very high GI like Watermelon but are mostly water and contain such low calories that they won't be detrimental unless eaten in large quantity with other high calorie foods.

That said, sugar is sugar and other than maybe some berries or an apple/banana first in the morning, you're hindering your body's ability to burn fat when eating fruit over complex carbs. Also, in terms of sustained energy production and replenishing muscle glycogen, fruit is inferior to most starchy carbohydrates as fructose must be converted in the liver before being readily available as energy.