Sugar Free Foods
Anyone got any good suggestions for backpacking sugar free?
Pretzels and goldfish
Tuna
Chicken
Soups
Noodles
Any others you can recommend?
Sent from somewhere.
Sugar and fat are major food groups when it comes to hiking.
Nuts, seeds, brown rice, pastas, millet, amaranthe, some jerkies, oatmeal, legumes(beans), vegetables, etc
Becareful, as I would not consider things like pretzels or crackers to be sugar free. Check the label for a brand like Rolled Gold, and you will find that it includes corn syrup. Gold Fish also have sugar as an added ingredient. Breads, pretzels and crackers are usually going to have sugar added, unless the product is actually leavened with an honest to goodness starter/mother.
Also be careful of foods listed as sugar free, but that use sugar alcohol.
igne et ferrum est potentas
"In the beginning, all America was Virginia." -William Byrd
Refined flours and grains are basically straight sugar to your body anyway, so whats the point. What is it you are trying to avoid?
On the glycemic index, glucose = 100
bagels = 95
white bread = 71
white rice = 89
instant oatmeal = 83
brown rice = 50
pretzels = 83
potato = 82
coca cola=63
peanut mm's = 33
snickers bar = 51
Sugar isnt as bad for you as some other things. Refined flours are just as devoid of nutrients, and cause a big insulin spike too.
Its why diabetes is epidemic in our society, but unknown in 3rd world countries, btw.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 10-16-2013 at 22:21.
+1 to Tuckahoe's comment. Be careful how you or the packaging defines sugar free. Sometimes the package says sugar free but it's loaded with artificial sugar(sweeteners) or things like high fructose corn syrup(corn sugar)! Beware of the no sugar added advertising too because that may not be the same as sugar free. And even when advertisers label foods sugar free that's not always correct either. Sorry to make it sound complex but that's what advertisers have been allowed to do under the watchfuleyes of those in gov't who are supposed to always be watching out for the public.
Malto- virtually sugar free.
Agave nectar is a near perfect alternate to the White Crystals of Death. Sprouted grain breads, like Ezekial & Genesis, are better than processed flour.
Meanwhile, blueberries, barley and avocados are considered Super Foods. Blueberries are not sugar free.
I personally would not avoid plain oatmeal. Smarter Oats with flax seeds, dried blueberries, craisens and a healthy dollap of real buttter keeps me going for a long time.
Wayne
25 pounds lighter than Christmas, 2012 after giving up white sugar in his coffee.
Sugar (sucrose) has a glycemic index of 58Originally Posted by Just Bill
maltodextrin is 105+
Sugar is better for you.
maltodextrin is basically a polymer chain of glucose that is quickly digested, it is basically sugar.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 10-16-2013 at 23:49.
Let me clarify. I'm looking for foods without added sugar. Natural sugars in food are ok.
I am not overweight. I am not diabetic. I am not on a diet. The average American (I read this) consumes over 130lbs a year of sugar. I have slowly began to rescue eating foods with added sugars or sweeteners.
Now on the flip side it takes me twice as long to shop when reading and comparing labels.
There are pretzels without sugar and goldfish without sugars.
Sent from somewhere.
Sarcasm- basically a chain of words or ironic statements that are occasionally hard for some minds to digest.
Sorry for the cheap shot.
You got it down then- whole foods=good for you.
There may even be a store of that name which carries products of that type that you may wish to eat. Sarcasm- not just for comebacks.
Many of them are good on the trail. While parts of the store can slam your wallet, the bulk bins and 365 house brand is very competitive.
"Now on the flip side it takes me twice as long to shop when reading and comparing labels." But perhaps now you're more educated about nutrition and might just might make up for the time reading labels by spending less time on healthcare! I hate paying into forced healthcare when I feel I'm doing a lot of things right to reduce and eliminate my healthcare needs. Ok I can go to sleep now.
But if you are eating refined garbage, you are still wasting your time. Refined flours are all as bad for you as refined sugar, or fruit juices, so I still dont get what your goal is.
Your body was meant to consume all starches/ sugars in their natural forms with the natually occurring fiber, which is slow to break down, and slows the absorption of the sugars into your bloodstream, in addition to containing the nutrients necessary for your body to process the sugars. Refining them removes nutrients, leading to deficiencies, and greatly speeds the absorption by the body. Just as true for wheat and rice as it is for sugar cane, oranges, and apples.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 10-17-2013 at 00:03.
Toot. Toot. I'm tooting my own horn. No kidding, I hiked for a bit with John Mackey, the CEO of WholeFoods, a GREAT guy. He told me my trail diet was the best(healthiest) he's ever witnessed on a trail.
My trail diet is largely unprocessed nuts and grains and cheese with no added sugar, even fresh vegetables and fruit. I do well with it. The guy I've hiked over 7000 miles with eats packaged muffins, sweetened cereal, cookies... He does just as well and is closing in on 70 and strong and healthy as a horse. It's hard to make a case that my diet is better than his.
Anyway, it is possible to eat on trail without added sugar, as Dogwood has posted. You can add tortillas and cheese, peanut or almond butter, and instant potatoes as items that are readily ought in most grocery stores.
One thing that helps me is keeping up the fat content, rather than simple carbohydrates even if they are whole grain. Thus the cheese and nuts and nut butter.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
My thoughts exactly. Mind you, I'm no nutritionist. But the more time I've spent thinking about food, the more I've felt that I should avoid processed/refined grains, fruits and sugars (perhaps "simple carbohydrates in general" is a better way to put it). I feel better when I do.
"We can no longer live as rats. We know too much." -- Nicodemus
The nuts & bolts of agave nectar...
http://www.allaboutagave.com/agave-n...emic-index.php
Wayne
What is Glycemic Load?
Like the glycemic index, the glycemic load of a food is used to characterize its potential effect on blood sugar. A food may have a high glycemic index, meaning the carbohydrate it contains will quickly convert to sugar, but if that food does not contain much carbohydrate per average serving, there will not be much impact on the blood sugar.
To calculate the glycemic load of a food, multiply its glycemic index by the number of digestible (non-fiber) carbohydrates in a single serving, then divide by 100. That number may be interpreted as follows:
- 20 and above = high glycemic load
- 10 to 19 = medium glycemic load
- less than 10 = low glycemic load
How Does Agave Nectar Compare?
food carbohydrates x glycemic index ÷ 100 = glycemic load 12 oz. regular cola: 40.5 x 90 ÷ 100 = 36.4 fresh apple (medium) 21 x 54 ÷ 100 = 11.3 2 Tbsp. agave nectar 32 x 30 ÷ 100 = 9.6
Once can see that even though the apple has fewer carbohydrates, the glycemic load of the agave nectar is actually lower.
With a fasting glucose level of 96 last July. After I lost the 25 pounds.
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
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Hi...
Also make sure that none of your foods contain aspartame. If you haven't already done so, just google aspartame, and you'll see what I mean...!!
The glycemic index of pretzels is 83.
The glycemic index of snickers bar is 41.
Just sayin
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