To much healthy foods?

AndrewR

Assuming one is healthy, should it be worried about sugar consumption from natural whole sources? as in 160 grams of sugar daily mostly from fruits and vegies and only about 20-30 grams would be added sugars (most of which in the form of honey).

Susan_RD_101

@AndrewR

Definitely not. The World Health Organization has been able to quantify the number of deaths and disease that could be reduced by people increasing fruits and vegetables. In addition, all clinical guidelines suggest that added sugars should be no more than 10% of your total daily calories (sounds like you hit this target). Finally, if we look to the Blue Zones (the world's longest living people) and study their diets, we can see that they are thriving by eating A LOT of plant foods.

Unless you have kidney issues and can't properly digest potassium or phosphorus, you are absolutely fine to include these foods in your diet.

Kind regards,

jefmcg

I think you should. The biggest health risk is type II diabetes, and the sole diagnostic criterium is hba1c, which is the the average of your blood glucose over the last 3 months. All carbohydrates (especially sugar) raises blood glucose. A banana has a similar effect on blood glucose as 6 teaspoons of sugar. And your organs don't know the sugar came from healthy wholefoods.

https://phcuk.org/sugar/

AndrewR

@Susan_RD_101 - Just looked into blue zones and got mostly curious about Sardinia and Ikaria, since I live in Europe. Based on their consumption recommendations I wonder what's their activity level like, with just about a 1h hybrid workout (resistance & cardio) daily I find myself consuming a "healthy" amount of calories, I estimate to be far more than what they seem to suggest.

As someone coming from fitness suggestions of 2.2g of protein per kg. The reliance on meats, eggs and dairy is inevitable. What do you think would be a good balance?

PS: Apologies for this off topic, but can I find people discussing this topic in the Cronometer forums or maybe somewhere I can read about this subject to understand it and make better choices?

Susan_RD_101

@AndrewR What's interesting about the Blue Zones is that they are active as part of their daily life, but mostly through walking and manual labor. If that's not an option for you (as it's not for most of us!) maintaining your fitness routine is helpful.

I'm always blown away by these high protein recommendations as they really aren't necessary. It's rare to find a professional athlete needing more than 2 g of protein per kg per day. And the more trained an athlete is, the less protein the body actually needs.

If you're overall active, I'd probably aim for 1.5 to 1.8 grams of protein per kg per day, having it spread throughout the day. As long as your kcal intake is adequate, this shouldn't be an issue.

Hope this helps!

henry_thinman

Never heard of Blue Zones before, interesting and my wife and I eat pretty much that way. Before I retired I was a general labourer for a builder and ate fruit every 2 hours plus eat other foods. My last months at work I was 100% vegan and took all my food to work and it was a lot.

Susan_RD_101

The other wonderful thing about the Blue Zones is the focus beyond diet.... Sometimes, in the desire to improve our nutritional health, we forget about mental and social well-being. I like to incorporate these aspects in my recommendations.