So confused about SUGAR!

[kelcaybray]

I'm on day 13 of induction and things are going good. I'm still confused about sugar though. All of my bacon/sausage etc has sugar listed on the ingredients. My dressing has 1g in it and 2carbs per serving. As long as my carbs are below 20 is it okay for me to eat this small amount of sugar? Obviously I'm not eating cookies etc..but there is sugar in alot of my food.

[Alexa]

Hi Laura,

Though, as your progress has shown, it is possible to lose weight when eating a little bit of sugar, it will be easier and better for you in the long run if you cut all sugar from your diet. It is normally possible to find equivalent products without sugar - you just need to read the labels carefully.

I say better in the long run for two reasons - firstly, though weight loss is smooth at first, it can slow a lot later and stall. Any level of sugar will worsen this problem and could make it harder to reach goal. Secondly, cravings or problems with sugar are more likely to arise if there are still traces of sugar in your diet.

I hope that helps. Well done on being 5lbs down - a quarter of the way there!

[kelcaybray]

Well I went to the store today and I couldnt find one dressing that didnt have sugar in it. Mine is one of the lowest ones with only 1g per serving. I cant eat salad without dressing...i'm not a big veggie eater..so I dont know what to do here...should I stop using the dressing or do you think it will be okay? I usually have two servings of it a day...so 2grams of sugar a day. Since I'm in Japan my dressing choices are limited.

[Greeneggs&ham]

I use Marie's Super Blue Cheese dressing with 1 gram of carb per serving, 0 sugar and no sugar listed in ingredients. I have also mixed a small amount of sugar free mayonnaise, sour cream and crumbled blue cheese to make my own dressing as well as using just olive oil and wine vinegar to my salads.

I believe Atkins says dressings with up to 2 carbs per Tablespoon are acceptable if sugar is not in the ingredient list although he suggests the "make it yourself" variety as well. In my shopping experience (in the US of course), Caesar and Blue Cheese tend to have the lowest carb amounts per serving. The "fresh" options in the produce/specialty section tend to have less carbs than their dressing aisle counterparts.

If after all that information you are still without a good alternative, I say stick with the dressing you have already found. If you continue to lose, it may be okay. You can always try to wean yourself to a lower portion on your salad over time to further reduce carbs -- I have found that placing my salad in a covered bowl with the dressing and shaking it well helps to spread the flavor of the dressing more evenly over the whole thing.

Best of luck to you!

[eclectikat]

your other option is to make your own dressing... being in Japan you can find some amazing flavoured vinegars and mix them with a good quality Olive oil... this is a good way to get some healthy fats. Most prepared dressings use an inferior vegatable oil... check out some recipee sites for some home made dressings.
My fav dressing is one part olive oil, 2 parts organic apple cider vinegar, and 2 tbsp whole graind dijon mustard... IT is strong and acidic but I love it...

I did not have bacon at all on induction. I searched high and low for a bacon what was not cured with any sugars at all. If you can't find them, I would eliminate them.
Induction is critical in breaking our ADDICTION to carbs... so eating anything with sugar in it is like having just a little alcohol, or a drag of a smoke, or just a little heroin... that never works...
Hope you having fun in Japan!

Good Luck
Kathy

[LivinLowCarb2008]

I am confused as well. Especially, since Atkins himself in the original 72 book says to eat mayonnnaise. It has sugar in it...granted, a pretty small amount. He also said bacon and eggs for breakfast. Bacon has sugar in it. I think it's such a small amount, that it doesn't matter I guess. Why can't they just make sugar free bacon and mayonnaise? I guess I could make my own mayonnaise

[kelcaybray]

I couldnt find any bacon without sugar in it as well. I have since stopped eating bacon...which stinks but I can live without it. Dressing is something I couldnt give up though. So sugar causes you to stall with weight loss??? If that is the case it could explain why I didnt lose one pound on my second week of induction. I lost 5 the first week and have stayed the same through this week. Tomorrow is day 15 for me..but I'm going to continue with induction b/c my weight loss has stopped. I guess I will try to make my own version of ceasar dressing and see how that goes.

[zoewmu]

Our local grocery store has a store brand, sugar free bacon.

[cheryllynn]

I don't know where you live, but if you can find Duke's mayonnaise... it has no sugar in it and lots of healthy fats, plus ALA (alpha linoleic acid) which is also good for you!

Originally Posted by LivinLowCarb2008

I am confused as well. Especially, since Atkins himself in the original 72 book says to eat mayonnnaise. It has sugar in it...granted, a pretty small amount. He also said bacon and eggs for breakfast. Bacon has sugar in it. I think it's such a small amount, that it doesn't matter I guess. Why can't they just make sugar free bacon and mayonnaise? I guess I could make my own mayonnaise

[Greeneggs&ham]

I'm sure my two cents in US dollars is worth practically nothing in Japanese currency (yen?), but I concentrate on the ingredients more so than the nutrition info. I don't mind eating a product whose nutritional info claims a couple of sugar grams per serving if sugar (in any of it's processed forms) is not included in the first 2/3 of the ingredient list.

While I would not pretend to be an official Atkins spokesman or someone with a degree in fitness and nutrition, I have found that minimal amounts of sugar in otherwise "sugar-free" items such as bacon, salad dressing, and mayonnaise have not caused slowdowns for me. While this may not be true in extreme cases, I doubt these items will be the cause for failure for most of us.

At later stages of the diet, we are encouraged to add back some fruits and dairy products which will have sugar carbs included. The key in these cases are to mix them with high fat/protein foods to lessen their impact on insulin levels. Mayo, dressing, and bacon should more than compensate for the carb-to-fat ratio to minimize the effects of the 1 or 2 grams of sugar in the serving. Of course, as always, if the item incurs cravings or you have a hard time sticking to one serving, then you should remove the item to avoid addiction.

While some here may disagree with this logic, I think Atkins has always been clear that this WOE is highly individualized, and we each must find what works for each of us. A very minimal amount of sugar in traditionally high-fat items is not a cause for alarm for me, and shouldn't cause stress and anxiety in the average low carb follower. Certainly, the anxiety of not eating sugar is no better for your health than the 2 grams of sugar ingested from your side salad or deviled eggs!