sugar question

  • I have a question for those of you who don't eat sugar. If a food lists "evaporated cane juice" in the ingredients, but the RDA % is 0g for sugar, would you eat that food?
  • What is the food? If it is way down on the ingredient list, and you know that it is not a sweet item per se and is a healthy & not too processed item, then I would not sweat it. Again, it would help to know what it is.
  • Chemically, all forms of sugar must end in "ose" such as sucrose, glucose, maltose, fructose, dextrose, etc. Sometimes, sugars are chemically converted into "sugar alcohols". Sugar alcohols are carbohydrates which are also called "polyols". Part of their chemical structure resembles sugar, and part of it resembles alcohol -- hence the confusing name. Examples of common sugar alcohols are maltitol, sorbitol, isomalt, and xylitol. Sugar alcohols occur naturally in plants. Some of them are extracted from plants (sorbitol from corn syrup and mannitol from seaweed), but they are mostly manufactured from sugars and starches. Sugar alcohols are like sugar in some ways, but they are not completely absorbed by the body. Because of this, the blood sugar impact of sugar alcohols is less and they provide fewer calories per gram. Additionally, sugar alcohols don't promote tooth decay as sugars do, so are often used to sweeten chewing gum. One, xylitol, actually inhibits bacterial growth in the mouth.

    All carbohydrates contain calories. Food manufacturers often use several different forms of sugars and sugar alcohols in a product and avoid adding sugar (sucrose) as a main ingredient (which would be easy to spot in the ingredients). They can get by saying something is "sugar free" meaning "sucrose free" if they use a different sweeting carbohydrate instead.
  • Thanks!

    It is a light soy mayonnaise, Nasoya brand. Sugar is a BIG trigger for me so I am avoiding it as a part of my plan. I would like to use some kind of mayo for making things like egg salad and salmon salad, and this is the only one I found that says 0g sugar. It lists sugar in the ingredients though. I was wondering if anyone else who is triggered by sugar can eat foods with tiny trace amounts and not be affected. I won't eat anything with 1g of sugar, or even .5g of sugar, but 0g seems safer. I don't even do juice or any other sweeteners. I could just try it out but don't want to spend $4 on a jar if it is gonna make me crave donuts!!!
  • Quote: I won't eat anything with 1g of sugar, or even .5g of sugar, but 0g seems safer. I don't even do juice or any other sweeteners.
    I believe they are allowed to say zero as long as it's 0.5g or less, or maybe it's less than 0.5g. But if you've already determined 0.5g is too much for you, I wouldn't count on zero being zero.
  • Thank you.
  • Hi, Mama K.

    I'm a sugar person from waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. My new motto is when in doubt leave it out.

    Having said that there are somethings if the sugar is waaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the list of ingredigents I can eat them and not be triggered but it has to be way down.

    hope this is of help to you.

    hugs
    patd
  • Nasoya and sugars
    I use Nasoya, often stretching/diluting it with vinegar or lemon juice. But what's ok for me may not work for someone else. I see on the label they have an 800#. Maybe you can get exact info about the sugar. Try 1 -800-848 - 2769. (I already paid for the jar.
  • I do 5th ingredient and below for sugar - if it's under there, then it's clear
  • I wouldn't just to be safe.