how much????

hi, how much of carbs, sugar and fat should ladies consume in a day?

thanx

[Divided]

Bad news first.

Your body has no dietary requirement for sugar at all. It's harmful even in moderate amounts because it is so addictive. Kicking your sugar habit is about the best thing you can do for your body. The less you eat, the less you will want.

I would say the jury is still out on the other two. If you follow conventional advice saturated fat should be kept to a minimum, allow some polyunsaturates and get plenty of fibre and carbs, but you don't have to do much net research before you find the opposite advice. I found this one particularly startling. It was given by an American heart surgeon and he goes through the history of where our ideas about a low fat diet comes from. He's not a great public speaker and he gets a bit technical at times, but try to watch at least half because he explains exactly why America chose to advise people to go on low fat diets. The UK followed the American idea giving their own 'triangle' of what citizens should be eating in the late seventies. If these few scientists and doctors are right (and I happen to think Atkins and Paleo backs up their theories) the Nixon administration made yet another huge mistake in advising a higher intake of carbs to saturated fat and the model was copied worldwide.

youtube.com/watch?v=vRe9z32...(Not working as expected?)

I was skeptical a few weeks ago, but I put myself on a diet removing added polyunsaturates. (Obviously they occur naturally in nuts and fish but I haven't added any in the form of cooking oil and margarine in order to remove trans fats.) I also removed all cane sugar, lowered my carbs intake and stopped eating some vegetables that aren't supposed to be good for the thyroid gland. There's nothing much wrong with my thyroid at the moment so I don't imagine the veg made loads of difference, but I have gone from feeling constantly ill to feeling great. I'm cooking in coconut oil - a saturated fat - and spreading butter on what little bread I'm eating (multiseed, of course.) I'm almost twice the weight I should be and was showing signs of heart disease so this was a risk. It's one that has paid off. I'm losing weight hand over fist. I'm no scientist and I don't go much for conspiracy theories, but also on You Tube you will find a series called 'The Men Who Made Us Fat.' Honestly, if you want to be healthy, it deserves your attention.

Lol, short question, long answer!

[Penel]

I agree completely with Divided when it comes to sugar. We have suffered from terrible advice on food for the last 40 years. The low fat diet we were recommended meant that food had fat removed and it was replaced by sugar. The "spreadables" in tubs often contain trans fats and high levels of Omega 6, neither are good for your health.

This is another video which explains the dangers of sugar and especially fructose (as in fruit juice and high fructose corn syrup). It's a bit long and technical but very informative.

ucsf.edu/news/2010/03/3222/...

I eat full fat food, but very little in the way of carbs. It works well for me, my weight, BP and cholesterol levels are good.

[Chrisraj]

Hi, I've been using an app called my fitness pal which I found to be very good. It tells you the % of fat, protein and carbs you should be consuming.

[Hidden]

Hi nizniz,

I guess this really depends upon how deeply you want (or need) to go into it.

In my view one of the major reasons that many people become overweight it that - related to their activity levels - they eat too much and most of that "too much" is in the form of either fat and/or carbohydrate/sugars.

But then we do need sugars to use as an energy source, though probably not 'sugar' as in that refined white powder stuff or similar products. And many natural foods contain sugars, like the fructose found in fruits.

But I agree, the human machine was not designed to eat the sweetened up (with refined sugar and other sweeteners) food that most people these days eat. And they eat it in many ways, from alcopop drinks, to cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweetened sauces and ketchups, etc., etc.

Also, wind back the clock a few hundred years and people in this country hadn't even heard of 'sugar', let alone normally consumed it. The sweetener they used was generally honey.

I don't like to demonise any food type, but if you eat a sensible, nutritious, healthy diet - the sort of diet that should normalise your weight if you're overweight - then you're very likely to find yourself eating a whole lot less carbohydrate/sugar anyhow. I know I did.

You may find it helpful to look at the nhs live well web pages on nutrition, the eatwell plate, and things like that.

They say moderation in all things. I'd say if you're going to eat 'sugary' things, then eat small amounts and very occasionally and watch out for the hidden sugar in many foods.

[Penel]

This article from the BMJ is from a heart specialist who advises his patients to eat butter and avoid sugar to lose weight and stay healthy. It was on the BBC news this morning.

bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6340

[Poochie in reply to Penel]

Wow! Very interesting stuff. It also reflects the health and longevity of the people of Brittany, France where the diet contains a LOT of dairy but the population (especially in the villages) reaches incredible ages whilst staying fit and active.