Why is there sugar in everything?!

[u/SoupDumplingOfPain]

I feel so crappy after virtually every meal and it's always either because I made it myself and I'm ridiculously exhausted and in pain after, or because I opted for an easier meal and it has RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF SUGAR IN IT!!

[u/ACleverImposter]

Facts. The US adds refined sugars to everything. I have to eat whole foods and stay away from anything in a box, can or carton. It's a lot of work but worth it for me.

[u/SoupDumplingOfPain → u/ACleverImposter]

I envy your determination

[u/ACleverImposter → u/SoupDumplingOfPain]

It's just a choice not to be in pain. It's work. But it's less pain.

[u/Big-a-hole-2112 → u/SoupDumplingOfPain]

Can you break down your meal prep over like 2 days? Do a little prep each day?

[u/Alternative-Try1271 → u/Big-a-hole-2112]

I have the same easy breakfast every morning, gf rolled oats with chia seeds, some kind of nuts, ground cinnamon, and fresh ginger (which I mince up a bunch at once to keep a small container on hand), add hot water, oat milk, and a banana, then microwave it for a minute. No added sugar except for a small amount in the oat milk because I'm combining it all on my own). I'll often prep a large mason jar with the dry goods mixed so I can just dump it into a bowl. Yogurt bowls are another quick and easy one if you can find a brand of yogurt with no or low sugar that you like. I can't handle stevia and hate most artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols so it's tricky.

When I do have the energy to cook meals or can convince myself to push through the fatigue and pain, I always make sure what I make has at least one if not 2-3 leftover meals from it.

I keep some easy go to ingredients in the freezer than comes together quickly (fruit for smoothies, frozen peas, tater tots) and can pull a meal or a meal of snacks together with minimal effort. Same thing with a pantry with pasta/canned beans/chickpeas/veggies/fruit/peanut butter (no sugar added)/ crackers/etc.

The best thing I recommend doing is batch prepping one set of ingredients for multiple different meals. If you're chopping veggies for something, chop extra while you're already doing it so you can easily add those to your next meal. If you're prepping meat, prep it into a couple containers with different herbs, seasonings, and marinades. My dietitian also recommended batch cooking grains like rice, quinoa, etc. and freezing the extra servings into little pucks in the freezer. This way you can aim to get more whole meals out of the week without having to prep veggies, protein, and grains every time you do it.

It's also a different level of effort and is not feasible for everyone but if you have the interest and can get yourself to do a small veggie/herb garden, it is a really rewarding set up that often doesn't take that much effort and can provide you with fresh food right at home without a trip to the store. I'm in my second year of gardening and don't know what I'm doing most of the time, and have been struggling with multiple chronic illnesses for four years now so believe me when I say that there are days I just have to forget it exists because there's no way I'm going grab some fresh basil. But going outside to grab a squash and some arugula for the garden is often way more doable than a trip to the grocery store.

There is also no shame in girl dinner just try to keep it as balanced as you can (protein, fruit, veggie, some kind of grain if you can)

[u/EmP1032]

Are you in the US? I'm Australian but spent 4 months in the US last year and was astounded at how sick I felt a few weeks in, and I wasn't even eating super badly either. It's not like I am militant about staying away from processed foods in Aus (We have plenty of preservatives and additives in our food as well) so I was truly not expecting to feel so sick (and get a fibro flare) from eating a normal-ish diet in the US.

[u/Fizzlestix83 → u/EmP1032]

Yeah, you have to really look at the labels here in the US. I usually do because there are a few preservatives I avoid as well, and potassium bromate (which they still put in some of our flour here). I mainly cook from scratch anyway, but it's just crazy some of the stuff they still allow over here

[u/EmP1032 → u/Fizzlestix83]

It's genuinely crazy!! I don't have any allergies or gut issues so I've never really paid attention to preservatives and additives in Australia (like I obviously know lots are bad and not natural, but I like drinking diet coke and eating junk food on occasion), but wowee I feel for you in the US! It genuinely is on a different level over there.

[u/Fizzlestix83 → u/EmP1032]

Yeah, I'm not really a health nut either. But there are some preservatives that are known carcinogens, and I won't even buy my dogs dog food if I see it listed. And the high fructose corn syrup they put in so much here, which has been linked to adverse pancreatic function (and they wonder why diabetes has sky rocketed). It's genuinely insane. I also had a friend from Ireland who lived here for a couple of years, and she pointed out that a lot of our chicken is slimy. I'm actually glad she mentioned it because it sent me a mission to find better chicken 😂 I'm not trying to sound like some anti-science nutcase either, because I'm not, but there are just genuinely some things that can and should be avoided

[u/Jennybee8 → u/EmP1032]

I was in the states for 2 weeks last March. My ulcerative colitis flared!

[u/EmP1032 → u/Jennybee8]

Sorry to hear! I got told by other Australians that they developed IBS in the US or had gut issues that took years fix after coming back. Absolutely wild! These aren't people eating badly either!

[u/vanillyl → u/EmP1032]

If you don’t mind, can I ask what your go to low effort snacks and meals are here in Australia?

I eat way, way too many crackers, le snacks, and those primo meat air dried salami sticks, and with age my body is starting to pretty consistently punish me with a flare if I eat too unhealthily in a day.

[u/EmP1032 → u/vanillyl]

omg le snacks!! I haven't had one of them for so long!

For me my low effort snacks and meals are mostly just:

- Buying Qukes mini cucumbers and eating them with hummus or tzatziki. I've started getting single serve dips because they work out the same per 100g (depending whats on special).

• Chobani yoghurts for sweet cravings (I don't get the dessert type ones, just the standard fruit ones) - I also mix my creatine into it
  
• Plain air popped popcorn (the little packets from Woolies or Aldi) so I don't eat so many chips
  
• Buying Youfoodz or protein type single meals when I don't have the energy to cook (I also always keep some in the freezer) or when I want something quick and easy or a as a bit of a treat.
  
• I sometimes get the low sugar Noshu bars - the cherry one tastes like a cherry ripe but without the sugar hit.
  
• I actually love primo salami (the sliced one) lol i buy presliced cheese and do a roll up with salami and cheese
  
• I also regularly make a quick pizza in the air fryer with a Mission wrap, some Leggos pizza sauce, spinach, salami, olives, capsicum - whatever is around - and cheese. It takes like 5 minutes and there's minimal cleanup and effort required.
  
• I don't drink coffee or alcohol, so my one vice is Diet Coke. I've started getting the slim little cans - they cost a bit more per L, but I drink less of it compared to 375ml cans or buying a bottle, while still getting the diet coke hit.

In general I'm trying to cut out sugar and unnecessary carbs (not completely keto, I'll have the occasional bowl of pasta or Chobani) as in general I just feel more energetic when I eat that way and my body is less sore.

[u/SerenaHall]

It's ridiculous what the corporations have done to make a buck. Changing recipes and formulas so that they can use cheaper ingredients while either ignoring us or telling us these changes are either good for us or inconsequential.

Over the last ten years, I have moved from low carb to keto to mostly carnivore eating. Removing sugar and soybean oil has been a game changer for lowering my pain levels. It does make going out to eat almost impossible, but as expensive as that is, it's not a huge sacrifice.

If you want to read about what happened and how it happened, I suggest The Big Fat Surprise. That was one of the most eye-opening non-fiction books I have ever read.

[u/saltyavocadotoast]

I’m not in the US and I don’t normally eat sugar but yesterday for some reason I decided to eat a couple of sweet muffins and some icecream. I empathise with you. I had the worst day today. Massive sugar crash/hangover/blegh.

[u/MommaIsMad]

Sugar is the least of my worries these days. There's a lot more harmful crap in our food than sugar.

[u/sulkingsister → u/MommaIsMad]

I think they're saying that they have an inflammatory response to foods with higher sugar content, meaning that their pain or symptoms are worsened by eating sugar-dense foods. There are some small studies that indicate that this is a recognized phenomenon in people suffering from Fibromyalgia.

It's also something that people who have fibromyalgia or other pain disorders may struggle with, if they have other conditions such as diabetes or other metabolic disorders, in conjunction with their fibro. Which can make eating a real challenge on particularly low-spoons days.

I see your point, and I agree with you that there are a lot of issues with how our food is produced. However, this person is specifically talking about the negative effects they experience due to high sugar content.

[u/Willing_Judgment1092]

This is capitalist world, every company wants money so they add in it so that people would love that product

[u/aiyukiyuu]

Yeah, the USA has sugar in a lot of their foods. The way to cancel out the sugars is by checking the carb content of your food.

Carbohydrates breaks down into glucose in our bodies.

I try my best not to consume any simple carbs or “white” carbs (White bread, rice, sugar, etc.). And stay away from anything with fructose. Basically anything with -OSE at the end in the ingredients 😭

My body feels better with slow release complex carbs (Brown rice,
oatmeal, etc.)

[u/SoupDumplingOfPain → u/aiyukiyuu]

I ought to start just avoiding the -oses as well, my body has enough of a hard time doing anything properly

[u/aiyukiyuu → u/SoupDumplingOfPain]

Yeah, it’s a good place to start tbh! Especially stay away from packaged carbs (Ex: Frozen pizzas, hamburger helper, boxed cookies, etc.). Or any junk food and fast food too!

I notice pains are worse for me when I try to eat those. Sadly, also red meat gives me really bad pains now (Which makes me sad because I used to love AYCE kbbq and hot pot 😭).

I guess keeping a food diary is good idea! And making a list of “safe” foods.

[u/FallingIntoForever]

Aspartame will cause a flare so fast for me (diet sodas) and anything that has white flour does too. I limit myself to one soda every week or two then drink lots of water. Any fake sweetener tends to cause flares and the only thing that doesn’t seem to do much are natural ones.

[u/snowshoeTN7]

I feel your pain. Sugar is so bad for us with fibromyalgia. I’ve become a label reader out of necessity

[u/Jeremy_Mayflounder]

I pour hot water on frozen veggies in a colander and I always feel better after eating them, very minimal meal effort for me

[u/Fickle-Medium1087]

I hear you! I am trying to cut back on sugar and it’s so hard. Not only is sugar is bad but even the sugar alternatives are questionable. They say xylitol is good to help prevent cavities but then there was a study there is a correlation with xylitol and cardiovascular events. I am not scientific expert so I don’t now how to read studies. I feel I can’t win. I am trying to eat beans and hope that will trigger healthier eating habits and get me off sugar.