I was explaining this to my daughter in quite simplified terms the other day- we evolved to taste sugar and enjoy it because finding a sweet edible plant meant we had a source of energy to help us hunt that day. Pretty useful if you’re a hunter-gatherer.

So we seek out sugar. Now we can get it whenever we want it, in much more massive quantities than we are supposed to be processing. Most of us are addicted. I’m not an exception.

  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
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    19 minutes ago

    Right, bad healthcare, no pressure to make people’ lives healthier. I guess that’s why you still don’t have a less sugar novement?

  • Frostbeard@lemmy.world
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    2 minutes ago

    Pretty much any fruit flavoured food that is not artificial will contain sugar from the fruit juice. But most companies add sugar anyway.

  • Ravi@feddit.org
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    1 hour ago

    Check out how much sugar they put into frozen pizza. It’s basically a sweet.

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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    3 hours ago

    If you eat Siggis yogurt, there is a full-fat option with barely any sugar that is way, way, better. I don’t typically like yogurt, but like it. Add honey if needed.

    I happen to be eating it right now.

    And don’t forget bread. So much sugar in the US…

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      53 minutes ago

      It doesn’t ultimately matter, but it looks like total sugar. I don’t believe fage has added sugar, but it has some left from the milk.

    • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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      43 minutes ago

      The “other” ingredients is tomato puree, salt, and herbs like oregano. There isn’t any sugar except the processed sugar that they add to the sauce.

      Tomato sauce is surprisingly easy to make. There’s virtually no need to buy sauce from a jar unless you just can’t be bothered to do anything yourself.

  • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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    45 minutes ago

    Pretty much any food you buy that comes from a box or a jar is going to be littered with sugar.

    If you want to cut sugar out of your diet you need to start eating whole food that you prepare yourself.

    Most people are too lazy for this so they scarf down processed foods that slowly kill them.

  • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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    5 hours ago

    That seems about right for sugar contents for such foods, especially since the yogurts have berries in them. I dont quite get what point is getting made, most fruits and berries have a good bit of sugar in them. There isnt anything inately bad about sugar, maybe when its high fructose corn zyrup but thats kinda its own thing. Also tomatoes are a berry.

    • omsai@reddthat.com
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      2 minutes ago

      The intrinsic sugar in fresh berries with fiber are different than free sugars. Excess sugar is problematic for several reasons, chiefly chronic metabolic and cardiovascular diseases [1]. The more well known among them is insulin resistance. Insulin is an essential hormone for metabolism; without insulin you die (as in the case of type 1 diabetes). The pancreas pumps insulin to get the cells to absorb blood sugar, but if cells don’t respond to the insulin properly (“resistant”), the pancreas keep pumping insulin and eventually cannot keep up resulting in high blood sugar that damages your body [2]. That’s why one should avoid spiking blood sugar. Like many physiological systems sugar triggers a homeostatic response, so the body “expects” a level of sugar consumption once it gets used to it. This is also why artificial sweeteners are problematic: they don’t reduce the dependency on sugar and moreover they disrupt the blood-sugar response whereby you don’t get the same satiety from carbohydrates, etc. [3]. But it’s not all doom and gloom, exercise increases your insulin sensitivity and reducing your sugar intake will almost always result in weight loss [2]. Reducing sugar intake also reduces your sugar dependency but can take a few months.

      1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10074550/
      2. Interview with Prof. Jim Mann https://www.foodweneedtotalk.com/episodes/s02e22
      3. Interview with Prof. Jotham Suez https://www.foodweneedtotalk.com/episodes/s4e1
    • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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      58 minutes ago

      Berries like raspberries blackberries blueberries and even strawberries don’t have lots of sugar, maybe 5g per 100g. That’s one level teaspoon.

      The lactose in milk is almost all consumed in the fermentation process, so maybe a few more grams per 100.

      The rest of the sugar in those glasses is just sugar manufacturers include to make their product more appealing.

      One of the problems with sugar is that it represents empty calories.

      Given my age, weight, and activity levels maybe I need x calories per day, any more and I’ll gain weight. I also need protein and fibre and micronutrients. As you get older (like me) you get less good at extracting nutrients.

      The challenge is, getting enough nutrients in few enough calories to avoid gaining weight.

      In this context sugar is just dead weight.

    • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      There isnt anything inately bad about sugar

      Well in moderation sugar isn’t too bad. The problem comes when food manufacturers start adding sugar to foods so it will taste better and if you are not paying attention to the content you can consume a significant amount in a day.

      In conclusion, very little scientific evidence exists that indicates a benefit of added dietary sugars; however, an overwhelming and growing body of evidence highlights the negative effects of excessive or prolonged sugar intake

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        2 hours ago

        Fair enough, though I was mostly commenting on the above meme. The sugar content seems about right for everything involved, maybe on the higher end but not by a massive amount.

        Also added sugar is usually in an ideal situation would be for preservative and manufacturing reasons. But then again I dont actually get cooking as a whole, I can cook meat and thats about it.

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    6 hours ago

    stares in European

    I’ve heard of one of those brands but have never tried it myself (Chobani) and who impregnated the tomato sauce? 🤨

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        Fair. Still not available in my particular part of Europe, though.

        Here in Denmark we have so many domestic variants of yoghurt (big dairy producer per capita) that most grocery stores simply don’t have room for/incentive to offer any imported ones, except for Greek yoghurt for the purists 😄

        In fact, there’s a great Scandinavia and the World comic about how much we love yoghurt 😁

        • Deway@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          Makes sense. The only reason I know Yoplait is because I live in a neighboring country and speak French.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    I might advise not downing an entire pound-and-a-half jar of spaghetti sauce in one go.

      • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        10 hours ago

        gf is prego

        we like to get kinky anyways

        one night things get particularly saucy

        i’m sticking my noodle in her when I notice weird fucking chunks coming out, so I turn on the lights

        wtf it’s red everywhere and she’s obviously not on her period

        i look up at her, she’s got a glassy, jarred look on her face and she’s not answering

        ohshitohshitohshitohshit

        i rush her into my car and speed all the way to the hospital

        she’s still bleeding everywhere

        by the time we get there, she’s not bleeding much anymore, but all the color has drained and she looks colorless and almost transparent

        oh shit, she looks like she’s in a vegetative state

        storm into to the emergency room, cary her to the nearest doctor and explain eveything

        he takes one look at ther and says

        “sir, i’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do”

        “WHY THE FUCK NOT???”

        “we don’t operate on empty jars of spaghetti sauce”

    • Donkter@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Maybe it’s saying instead of eating yogurt just slam 1.5 lbs of tomato sauce instead?

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      The actual spaghetti you add it to has an even higher percentage of carbohydrates - in the form of starch which the human body easily turns into sugars - than the sauce so paradoxically you’ll end up with less sugar in your blood stream by downing that sauce by itself than if you eat it with spaghetti.

      (That said, this is for uncooked spaghetti: when you cook it it grows by absorbing water which reduces the fraction of carbohydrates in the final product, so depending on the type of spaghetti it might or not end up with more carbohydrates than the sauce).

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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      6 hours ago

      I don’t think you can make tomato sauce without any sugar… Tomatoes have a fair amount.

      Which kind of begs the question is this added sugar or?

      (Please god stop adding sugar to your red sauces people. Fruits/vegetables bring their own)

  • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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    12 hours ago

    To be fair, if you make pasta sauce from scratch you’re going to be using a fair amount of sugar to balance the acidity of your tomatoes, so I don’t find pasta sauce a useful demonstration.

    But you’re still making a good point. Once you start making stuff yourself, you really see what isn’t required.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      49 minutes ago

      the amount of sugar i put in my from scratch sauce doesnt compare to what usually comes with these premade satchets

    • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      My pasta sauce doesn’t have any sugar in it, but it does have tomatoes, browned onions and wine, all of which contain natural sugar.

    • thenextguy@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      I have never put any sugar in my from scratch sauce. But that’s probably why I don’t like jar sauce.

      • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        You get it from different sources. Breakdown of onions and as someone else mentioned, carrots. Balsamic vinegar has some. There’s other sources as well, I’m just blanking on them.

        But agreed, I rarely add actual plain sugar to my pasta sauces.

        • thenextguy@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          I don’t pit anything like that in my sauce. Tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, herbs and spices.

          I think cooking it for hours tends to lower the acidity a bit.

          But I think I just like it that way.

          • Cris@lemmy.world
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            10 hours ago

            Your sauce will still have less sugar than others, but if I understand correctly, simmering for hours will break down the more complex sugars in tomatoes into simpler sugars resulting in a somewhat sweeter taste

            I think cooking does also dull the percieved acidity of food though, hence lemon juice or other acids often being added at the end so as to keep the brightness. But I’m not actually sure if the pH changes or if it’s just a change in the tartness we associate with acidity, maybe someone can chime in with more information :)

        • KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz
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          9 hours ago

          But is the sugar of broken down (caramelized) onions the same sugar? As in, would the jar with sugar next to my meal to show me how much sugar I’m eating fill up as the onions caramelize?

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          Yes, but aren’t those sugars much different (read: better) than refined cane sugar (or worse: HFCS)?

          • RonnieB@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            Sugar is sugar, but it’s better that you’re getting vitamins and fiber from those plants as fiber will slow the rate of absorption.

            • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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              8 hours ago

              Fair and excellent point.

              What I failed to articulate originally was that a lot of food already naturally contains sugar in some form, so adding in more sugar (like cane sugar or HFCS) is what makes it bad for you.

    • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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      9 hours ago

      Add me to the team that at least almost never adds sugar to any pasta sauce. In very rare occasions, I might add a tiny bit of honey, but I can’t remember the last time I did that.

    • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
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      11 hours ago

      If you let the sauce simmer for long enough, 4-5 hours, or pressure cook it the starches of the tomatoes will break down and you won’t need to add sugar. The acidity will also go down the longer it’s simmered too.

    • comador @lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      If you can grow your own tomatoes, give Amish Paste Heirlooms a try.

      They grow small, but a single plant can produce hundreds of low acidity balanced tomato fruits that are perfect for pasta sauce.

    • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      I have literally never once added a single granule of sugar to a pasta sauce. Heat and time on the stove are the only 2 things required to balance tomato acidity, and even this can be cheated with tomato paste. If you are putting sugar in pasta sauce, you don’t now how to cook pasta sauce. It’s shocking that your comment has upvotes…

  • teft@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Try making tomato sauce without sugar. Get back to me when you’ve tasted your horror.

    • CiderApplenTea@lemmy.world
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      This is ridiculous, I hardly ever make tomato sauce with (added) sugar and it tastes delicious. I suppose if you’re used to sugar being in everything it may taste odd, but it is far from horrendous

        • CiderApplenTea@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          After reading the other comments for a bit, it may depend on the tomatoes. The tomatoes I tend to use don’t need to balance out as much, I suppose

          • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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            2 hours ago

            The tomatoes used for sauce often time have a higher acid content so you want a little sugar.

            Some tomatoes, especially older heirloom varieties have more sugar than modern varieties and actually will make candy sauce if you’re not careful.

            I spent the summer growing Cherokee purple just to make spaghetti sauce and it was like fucking dessert, no sugar added.

    • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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      3 hours ago

      If you can afford it, using good quality Italian tomatoes really make a difference.

      I don’t add any sugar in my sauce and it is pretty good and the acidity is at a good level.

      • teft@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        I’ve never tried stevia in tomato sauce. I’ll give it a try sometime. I’d worry about making it too sweet though since a lot of sweeteners are thousands of times sweeter than sugar.

        • Coreidan@lemmy.world
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          41 minutes ago

          They also taste disgusting.

          I’d rather eat sugar or nothing at all over that shit.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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          3 hours ago

          I haven’t either, but I think it would work pretty well. The nice thing about stevia is that there are different products to buy with different levels of sweetness. I always put a stronger stevia extract in my tea at home that I get from Amazon because the stevia packets they have in restaurants next to the other sweeteners do not even come close to as sweet.

          Then I have to use the tiny little cocaine spoon that comes with the extract to put some in my tea, and less than a full spoonful because it’s so sweet.

          I’ve also seen stevia products made specifically for baking, so that might be worth a try since I’m guessing they tried to get it 1:1 with sugar.

    • Sandbag@lemm.ee
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      3 hours ago

      I have done that, it’s not bad, a bit bitter but still pleasant in my opinion.

      Though I do like my coffee black so maybe I just have a liking of bitter tasting items.

  • Mercuri@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Fage is definitely my favorite yogurt. I’m always like “how the fuck is this so God damn good? It has virtually no sugar or anything added”

    Also in case you didnt know, for many reduced fat items they just end up adding more sugar.

    • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml
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      8 hours ago

      I love fage, mixed with some roughly chopped cherries is so good. I’ve switched to making my own yogurt recently but the original starter I used was fage and it hasn’t let me down