1. Community
  2. Health promotion
  3. Dietary, Nutrition and Exercise Advice

advise on sugar and salt content in 'healthy' foods

Posted , 4 users are following.

LoveFitness
LoveFitness

I be so grateful if you can answer, is Kimchi really beneficial? l love the taste but noticed that the 2 brands they sell at our supermarket are a "product of Korea" but seem high in salt and sugar. The brand l chose had the lower amounts: in per 100g, Sodium 1043.93mg Sugar 2.78g

should l feed my kids on that? Why do probiotic drinks like Yakult have so much sugar. Surely this is non beneficial?

Lastly, I know ~4g of sugar is ~ 1 teaspoon. But for salt l noticed the net  says its 2300mg (which is 2.3g)  but in other places it says 5.69g. which is it?

thanks so much 

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • GeorgiaS
    GeorgiaS LoveFitness

    Posted

    From what I've learnt sugar is highly addictive and that's a good reason for food manufacturers to try and get away with putting as much of it as they can in our foods. I wouldn't buy anything that contains added sugar, no matter how low because that usually means refined white sugar that's quite deadly for health.

    We need salt; it's good for us but not white refined salt. Anything refined means they've messed with it and it's no longer good food. I eat pink himalayan rock salt. Unrefined salts are good for us.

    I've never tried kimchi but like you I'd want it to be as pure as possible. 

  • EileenH
    EileenH LoveFitness

    Posted

    It says made in Korea because that is where it originates from and the nation that eats the most! It is said to be very beneficial for the balance of the gut flora (the bacteria in your intestines that keep you healthy, not all bacteria are bad!).

    Under 3% sugar is very low and will be the sugars natually present in the ingredients - pickled vegetables. Salt is used to pickle them so is unavoidable if you want to eat kimchi. If you want to know exactly what is in it - make your own. Google kimchi recipes and you'll find out all about it.

    Yakult is more a fashion fad than particularly good for you - a good organic plain yoghurt containing the right cultures is far better overall, there is far less sugar and just as many good bacteria. If you are really keen to improve your "good bacteria" then you can buy probiotic capsules from the chemist - no added anything. And a diet rich in what are called prebiotic foods is also helpful - it provides the bacteria with a nice environment to live in.

    It is added salt and sugar that is a problem - most fruit and vegetables have "sugar" and "salt" in their cells. Just because the marketing department of a company tells you their food is good for you doesn't mean it really is! A plain yoghurt and an apple or other fruit chopped up in it is far healthier than any bought one - no added sugar but sweet and no other additives. The best thing you can do for the kids is to teach them to like mummy's home cooking where you know exactly what is in it and encourage them to drink plain water - boring possibly but far better for them than anything in a can/bottle/packet. Whole fruit is always better than juice of any sort because the juicing just releases all the natural sugar into the liquid and you get the same sort of sugar rush you get from a spoonful of white sugar. When they eat an apple the cell walls release the sugar slowly.

    Good luck!

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS EileenH

      Posted

      I agree with most of what you said, except that I would never buy anything from a chemist and expect it to do me any good! (You said buy probiotic capsules from the chemist).

       

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Probiotics in general can get stopped by the stomach acid, while prebiotic foods are tougher and get through to the gut. I believe Yoplait had to stop advertising its products as healthy. People keep saying a particular food is ultra healthy, in fact it is the balance of foods and what people eat with it that is important. What is needed is a well balanced diet. I read the other day that the bacteria in our guts weighs four pounds, which I find amazing. 
    • EileenH
      EileenH GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Then you are missing out on a lot of good things - the chemist is only a shopkeeper too.
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS ptolemy

      Posted

      Four pounds! Wow I'm amazed too. eek

      I agree on balance. When I got sick with ME I didn't know what it was. I had Candida so I went on the Candida recommended diet, which meant giving up fruit and cheese, my favourite foods. 

      I stayed off them for around 5 years and my diet was to the letter perfect for what I was lead to believe. But I stayed as sick as I was in the beginning.

      I started eating hard goat's cheese and fruit again. Learnt about herbs, learnt what my body can tolerate and what it can't. Trusted my instincts towards foods and I'm improving all the time! razz

       

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS EileenH

      Posted

      Thanks Eileen for your concern but I'm not missing out on anything because anything I need I can buy elsewhere. 
  • LoveFitness
    LoveFitness

    Posted

    thanks for informative replies all. Does anyone know following:

    ~4g of sugar is ~ 1 teaspoon. But for salt l noticed some places say its 2300mg (which is 2.3g)  but in other places it says 5.69g. which is it?

    cheers

    I read that the probiotics eg in kimchi or yakult, feed on the sugar, so thats why its added. So it's more beneficial than none added sugar? confusing! 

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS LoveFitness

      Posted

      Yes probiotics do feed on some sugars, good ones I imagine, but the problem with that is that they put too much bad sugar in so we also feed on it! Which is kind of defeating the object because bad bacteria in our guts feed on it too.

      There are prebiotics, which are foods and herbs that only feed good bacteria, such as Cinnamon. You'll have to look up prebiotics.

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.