Confused about sugar! Help surgery is Monday!
OKay my surgery is Monday, so I went shopping today for my post-op diet.
My surgeon says he has everyone on full liquids when you leave the hospital. I have a shopping list from the bariatric institute but it's confusing.
Shopping list says no more than 2-4g of sugar per serving but then they put things on there like milk which has way more sugar than that in it. Or, it says "Lite Yogurt under 100 calories" but then all the lite yogurt under 100 calories has 14-15grams of sugar!!
Help!!!
My surgeon says he has everyone on full liquids when you leave the hospital. I have a shopping list from the bariatric institute but it's confusing.
Shopping list says no more than 2-4g of sugar per serving but then they put things on there like milk which has way more sugar than that in it. Or, it says "Lite Yogurt under 100 calories" but then all the lite yogurt under 100 calories has 14-15grams of sugar!!
Help!!!
There are different kinds of sugar. The white grainy stuff you put in coffee or tea is sucrose. Sometimes called table sugar. That's what's in most sweet treats like cookies, candy, cake, etc.
Then there is fructose. That's the sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and some veggies (like corn; you've probably heard about high fructose corn syrup and how it's really bad for you). If you go out in the orchard and pick an orange right off the tree, you didn't add any sugar to it but it still has sugar in it in the form of fructose.
Then there is lactose. That's the sugar that occurs naturally in milk. If you go out to the barn and milk a cow, that fresh milk has sugar in the form of lactose. (And if you go to the store and buy chocolate milk, it has the sugar from lactose AND a whole bunch of added sucrose)
These are not the only names for sugar but they are probably the most common. If you are reading the ingredients in something and you see words that end in "ose" but you're not sure what they are, they are probably some sort of sugar.
After RNY, some people get sick if they eat too much sucrose. Some get sick if they eat too much fructose. Some don't do well with too much lactose. Some do poorly with all these things, others (like me) feel miserable if they eat sucrose but can eat tons of lactose and feel just fine. Unfortunately, the only way to know how you'll do with these different kinds of sugar is to try them and see.
But don't test yourself too much too soon.
Don't worry about the sugar (lactose) in milk. Well, don't worry about it unless you find that after you drink milk, you get bad gas or your stomach hurts. But otherwise, drink skim milk if you want.
Eat very little sucrose (table sugar), especially to start with. Now, all yogurt is gonna have some sugar in the form of lactose 'cause it's made from milk. If the yogurt has fruit added to it, then it has some fructose, too. But some yogurts have added table sugar, too. Some light yogurts even have high fructose corn syrup! Don't eat those.
If you look for the words (no sugar added) on labels, that means there is no sucrose in there. It means any sugar that is in there is the naturally occuring sugar in milk or fruit.
Your best bet for yogurt is to buy plain Greek yogurt, because it has no added sugar and more protein than most light yogurts. But it doesn't taste so great. So you need to add stuff to it to make it taste yummy. If you put a spoonful for sugar free cheesecake flavor pudding mix in it, it tastes just like cheesecake. Seriously. Just like it. You can add a little splenda, you can add no sugar added jam, etc.
Then there is fructose. That's the sugar that occurs naturally in fruits and some veggies (like corn; you've probably heard about high fructose corn syrup and how it's really bad for you). If you go out in the orchard and pick an orange right off the tree, you didn't add any sugar to it but it still has sugar in it in the form of fructose.
Then there is lactose. That's the sugar that occurs naturally in milk. If you go out to the barn and milk a cow, that fresh milk has sugar in the form of lactose. (And if you go to the store and buy chocolate milk, it has the sugar from lactose AND a whole bunch of added sucrose)
These are not the only names for sugar but they are probably the most common. If you are reading the ingredients in something and you see words that end in "ose" but you're not sure what they are, they are probably some sort of sugar.
After RNY, some people get sick if they eat too much sucrose. Some get sick if they eat too much fructose. Some don't do well with too much lactose. Some do poorly with all these things, others (like me) feel miserable if they eat sucrose but can eat tons of lactose and feel just fine. Unfortunately, the only way to know how you'll do with these different kinds of sugar is to try them and see.
But don't test yourself too much too soon.
Don't worry about the sugar (lactose) in milk. Well, don't worry about it unless you find that after you drink milk, you get bad gas or your stomach hurts. But otherwise, drink skim milk if you want.
Eat very little sucrose (table sugar), especially to start with. Now, all yogurt is gonna have some sugar in the form of lactose 'cause it's made from milk. If the yogurt has fruit added to it, then it has some fructose, too. But some yogurts have added table sugar, too. Some light yogurts even have high fructose corn syrup! Don't eat those.
If you look for the words (no sugar added) on labels, that means there is no sucrose in there. It means any sugar that is in there is the naturally occuring sugar in milk or fruit.
Your best bet for yogurt is to buy plain Greek yogurt, because it has no added sugar and more protein than most light yogurts. But it doesn't taste so great. So you need to add stuff to it to make it taste yummy. If you put a spoonful for sugar free cheesecake flavor pudding mix in it, it tastes just like cheesecake. Seriously. Just like it. You can add a little splenda, you can add no sugar added jam, etc.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Look at your ingredient lists. If the word sugar, or any equivalent of it, is listed in the ingredients then you probably don't want it. If it is not, then you should be okay. Certain foods have natural sugars that are listed in the nutritional counts, what you want is no added sugars.
Heather
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
Since 2008 my team has raised over $42,000 to fight breast cancer.
Once again, Kelly is absolutely right. You'll find natural "sugar" in just about
everything. Lots of folks look for sugar to be in the single digits per serving,
so under 10 grams of sugar per serving. In the beginning, you'll want to
be uber careful with sugar, especially until you figure out what your tolerance
is and how easily and severaly you dump. Dumping syndrome is what happens
if we RNYers eat too much sugar or fats. The short version is that the sugars
and fat**** the intestine in a form that is much less broken down than it's used
to, so it calls for help in diluting them, in the form of lots of liquid flooding the
intestine. It can make your heart race, diarrhea, vomiting, fainting, feeling very
ill......and all variations on the above. Some people get severe dumping from sugar
and some not so much. So, good job reading labels. I don't dump badly on a
good bit of sugar, but I can't do the lite yogurts...too much even for me. I really hate
yogurt but I gotta say...I tried the Greek yogurt with the sugar free cheesecake pudding mix
in it and it's absolutely heavenly. It's my favorite protein afternoon snack now. Good luck.
You're on the right track.
everything. Lots of folks look for sugar to be in the single digits per serving,
so under 10 grams of sugar per serving. In the beginning, you'll want to
be uber careful with sugar, especially until you figure out what your tolerance
is and how easily and severaly you dump. Dumping syndrome is what happens
if we RNYers eat too much sugar or fats. The short version is that the sugars
and fat**** the intestine in a form that is much less broken down than it's used
to, so it calls for help in diluting them, in the form of lots of liquid flooding the
intestine. It can make your heart race, diarrhea, vomiting, fainting, feeling very
ill......and all variations on the above. Some people get severe dumping from sugar
and some not so much. So, good job reading labels. I don't dump badly on a
good bit of sugar, but I can't do the lite yogurts...too much even for me. I really hate
yogurt but I gotta say...I tried the Greek yogurt with the sugar free cheesecake pudding mix
in it and it's absolutely heavenly. It's my favorite protein afternoon snack now. Good luck.
You're on the right track.
Jan
After surgery, I had issues with milk, so I didn't experience too much with looking at milk.
But with yogurt, I bought dannon light and fit and tried to get what had the lowest surgars.
With a lot of products that contain milk, I like to get stuff that says "no sugar added", meaning that the natural sugars are in there, but no table sugar is added.
I usually tried to stick under 5g for the first few months, and then increased it slowly. I can do about 10g now, if there is enough protein in the product.
I had to find a balance and try things to see what worked for me.
But with yogurt, I bought dannon light and fit and tried to get what had the lowest surgars.
With a lot of products that contain milk, I like to get stuff that says "no sugar added", meaning that the natural sugars are in there, but no table sugar is added.
I usually tried to stick under 5g for the first few months, and then increased it slowly. I can do about 10g now, if there is enough protein in the product.
I had to find a balance and try things to see what worked for me.
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