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Quitting Carbs and Sugar: Does It Help With Weight?

Written by Jamie, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Nearly 200 years ago the average American only ate 6.3 pounds of sugar a year.

Not that a 19th-century menu was great — but at least we know it wasn’t loaded with the refined sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, starches, gums and tons of artificial ingredients that we have today.

This is to say nothing of the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, whose food selections featured fruits, nuts, seeds, fish, tubers, roots and wild game.

It’s obvious that the nutritionally compromised U.S. diet — stripped by modern processing of many of its minerals, vitamins and natural enzymes — has gone off the rails.

And so has our health.

Instead of nutrients, manufacturers have replaced wholesome food with the nutritional version of gunk and goop — and at the top of the list is sugar.

In fact, these companies today add gargantuan levels of sugar to upwards of 74 percent of all food products!

While we do need limited amounts of sugar in our diet — our cells and brain do very much need glucose for energy — the problem is that the U.S. diet has become weighed down by one massive sugar overload.

Fortunately Almased helps us to take charge of our relationship with sugar, but more on that below ...

Quitting Sugar Is Not the Answer, But Being Smart About Our Sugar Is

In fact, the three main nutrients that the human body needs for energy are carbohydrates, protein and fat. 

Carbs are composed of fiber, starch and sugars, and their primary function is to provide energy for the body. That being said . . . all carbs are not created equal.

Biochemists usually categorize carbs in one of two categories: simple carbohydrates (known as sugars) and complex carbohydrates (known as fibers and starches).

Complex carbohydrates are found in such foods such as whole grains and vegetables. These carbs pack in more nutrients than simple carbs, plus they’re rich in fiber and digest more slowly. So they’re more filling, which means they’re a good option for fast or moderately paced weight loss results.

How Do We Know Which Foods Are “Sugar Smart”?

To measure the impact of sugars and carbs on our body, scientists and nutritionists developed the glycemic index (GI), which assigns a number to each food depending on its ability to increase blood glucose levels. 

Science reminds us that eating low-glycemic, fiber-rich foods — peas, lentils, legumes, whole grains — in one meal, for example, can prevent blood sugar levels from spiking upward after eating the next meal.

The lower the GI value of a carbohydrate, the less of an impact it has on blood sugar levels. The smaller the number, the slower the food is converted and the lower the effect on our blood sugar.

A good rule of thumb when trying to figure out what foods to choose and what foods to generally lose is to look at their GI: 55 or less is low (great); 56–69 is medium (good); and 70 or higher is high (or bad).

Harvard Medical School gives us a great list of some excellent low-GI foods, such as non-GMO soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, apples and carrots. Medium-GI foods include such things as muesli, sweet potatoes, wheat roti and couscous.

Some high-GI foods that we should generally avoid are white rice, watermelon, regular potatoes and cornflakes.

While Harvard’s list is helpful, there are two big things we need to keep in mind when trying to convert this into a shopping list:

  • Just because something is low-GI or medium-GI doesn’t mean it’s good for us (for example, ice cream and French fries).
  • Listings of these foods doesn’t help us figure out what main food groups or nutrients we need more of, such as protein.

A No Carbs No Sugar Diet Is Not Right (Or Really Possible) Either

Foods with no carbs — like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, herbs, and spices — and specific food components (like protein and fat) aren’t listed on the glycemic index because they don’t have any carbohydrates. 

A big advantage to a low-carb / high-protein diet is that it dramatically restricts carbohydrates and sugars and pretty much forces the body to burn fat — since it has very little of the sugary stuff that evolution has programmed it to burn through first.

Considering that carbohydrates should make up approximately 45% of our daily diet, we just need to be carb conscious and aim to include more of the healthiest carbs onto our plates. 

Almased contains a small number of carbs from raw honey and, with the combination of high-protein, Almased is low-glycemic, supporting both energy and healthy blood sugar levels. 

How does Almased do this? Because it’s low in carbs, and with no refined sugar added, Almased helps us reset the level of sweetness that our taste buds are willing to handle. Things that we added sugar to before start to taste way too sweet!

Plus, the 27 grams of high-quality protein in Almased naturally support hormones that work to burn fat and help control appetite by making us feel full. One serving can satisfy hunger for up to 5 hours.

Less sugar in your diet, fewer cravings and a healthier appetite all spell a brand-new relationship with sugar, putting you in the driver’s seat — not sugar and carbs!

Almased is there for you since it’s part of a simple, easy-to-follow way of eating that can help you reach your goals — and avoid those sugary pitfalls!

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