A couple questions for the brits

antyoch

antyoch

New member
Alright I didn't know exactly where to put this so I guess this fits. I figured GB would be similar for foods but its wayy opposite of what I had expected (my fault entirely) so I'm coming here for a few questions and some guidance.

I do mainly the GI diet, fibre rich foods, low-fat, no sugar added style foods. I knew what I was doing in Canada but I'm lost here!!

So here goes:

First is a matter of Squash, the drink squash as I'm sure most are aware, is it bad or good for you? I get the no sugar added squash and according to the label it seems like it should be okay, but I feel like its too good to be true. A tasty drink with virtually no calories and sugar... Any opinion on the matter? I know most will say to drink water because its the best for you, but after a while a person can get bored of water and want a tasty treat.

Next on the list. Sugar free yogurt? Does it exist in England? The only stuff I've managed to find that isn't loaded with sugar is the plain soy yogurt. Which I find completely appalling. I've looked at sainsburys, aldi, lidl, tesco, and iceland and I can't seem to find any fruit yogurts made with sweetener instead of sugar. I'm rather frustrated that every yogurt is "fat-free" but if you look it has ~15-20g of sugar per serving, which is useless, i'd rather have full fat no sugar yogurts. Excuse my frustration, I just went shopping today :banghead:

Next question is about margarine/butter. So far the best I've found is Flora, having the essential omega-3's and 6's while not having most of the bad fats, whats the best brand in your opinion?

And for another thing I can't find sugar-free ice cream, anyone know where I can get some sugar-free ice cream? I really love my ice cream and I dont want to be without it :(

Sorry for the long post! Halp!! :willy_nilly::willy_nilly:
 
Hi, I'm also in the UK. I will try to answer the food/drink questions you have but am sure otheres out there can offer more help too!

First up squash, you say you get the sugar free stuff? do you drink alot of it? the only thing I would worry about over sugar free squash is the additives which trick your body into thinking its going to get sugar. So you drink, then 20 minutes later your body has clocked there is no/very little sugar! It wants more! It sends out cravings and you either drink more or reach for something high in carbs (sugars your body finds easily obtainable). Its not that you will end up eating more (your still in full command of what you put in your own mouth) but it can be an unwelcome addition if your already struggling to keep the calories down (which I'd imagine you are trying to if your looking for sugar free things).
An alternative could be to have a dash of lemon (or however much lemon you want) in your water.
Another alternative is to make sure you get say 1 liter of plain water at least and then have whatever else you want instead. Just reduces your intake of the stuff.
And a further alternative is to have half or 1/3 fruit juice to water. Not that you should ignore the calories, just that it is a bit more natural and your body actually gets the sugars it can taste. It could be something you could even have just one glass of a day and then go back to water. I find that I only drink water in the day time and then fizzy diet crap at night. I would if I could drink the fizzy crap all day too but I've made rules with myself and don't let myself. Its not in my habit to keep to water in the day, just feels wring to be drinking anything else. Now if I could just apply that to the night times!!

With yogurts, I don't think/know if we do have Sugar Free over here- fat free yes, but not sugar free. I used to eat muller light, not sure how much sugar that has in it but am thinking it cannot be terrible as it has fewer calories in then the plain fat free yogurt I eat in its place! I eat the fat free sugar free types but again no sugar substitutes as I don't like to take too many additives. I just worry about what it does to my body and cravings.

Not sure about butter substitutes, but you could always try omega 3 + 6capsuals instead? I have heard EyeQ is the most or one of the most reputable (you need good quality stuff not just any old pill).

I don't know about Ice cream, but maybe try Holland and Barratt? they may have something in (don't know, never looked) or Wholefoods in London. If you have a health food store near you, maybe ask if they can order in some stuff for you?
 
I'm pretty sure that the plain natural yogurts - 'onken' do a plain natural set yogurt - have no added sugar to them. All the ones I checked have a certain amount of sugar according to the nutritional information (about 7% was the lowest) but I believe that's from naturally occuring lactose, which is the same culprit for the 'sugar' in milk.

Does the states have zero sugar yogurt?

As for the squash - I drink it and don't really count the calories or worry about it too much - though I would agree with the above that it is full of chemicals etc and definitely not the best way to get your water. Maybe, as already mentioned, just cut down? I've got to the point now that I can drink a pint of water with very little squash in it just from slowly weening myself off.

No sugar icecream? I'm sure diabetic icecream can be found but requires a little searching. Most bigger supermarkets will have a specialist foods - I would just ask a member of staff - or Holland and Barrett is a good bet as they have a lot of specialist stuff such as diary free etc etc in their freezers.

I wouldn't be bought by the add ons in margerines etc - sometimes on closer inspection you'll find that the amount you would have to eat to significantly improve your intake of omega 6 (or whatever it is they've added in) is ludicris. I think you're much better off making a judgement based on your own preferences (low sat fat, low cal, as little additives as possible - whatever you think is most important to you).
 
If you are in London or any of the bigger cities try Planet Organic. I used to shop a lot in there, it is expensive but they have diabetic icecream for sure (I have seen it they also have lactose and sucrose free icecream), they also have tons of weirdo yogurts (I think mainly soy but check) and bio organic whatever margarine.
Also some health shops will have "weird" food (I have coeliac disease so needed the weird food too), and you can buy fructose there for instance if you do not want to use white or cane sugar to sweeten up your food.

Squash... well I am in the "drink water" dept. but yeah the sugar free one has basically no calories in it. It has aspartame though.
I am sure you know but aspartame is not good for you and it might actually be a nice break for your brain cells if you don't eat all that yoghurt and stuff full of it for a while. The natural fat free yoghurt has like 40 cals per serving and it tastes fine, the Mueller light is fat free normal sugar yoghurt and has between 92 and 98 cals depending on flavour. I am sure you can work in a few extra cals in exchange of possibly saving your neurons from damage with an aspartame overload ;)!

Hope to have helped, Camy
 
Thanks everyone for the replys, I usually dont drink a lot of squash, sometimes just with dinner to mix things up, i've never noticed any cravings from it, but its good to have some reassurance that its not horrible :p

and I know canada has no sugar added and sweetened with splenda yogurt, its got just the sugar from the milk. But I never know to look at the sugar how much is coming from milk. I really dont like natural yogurt :p I find it gross, and I dont like frozen berries so I'm sort of stuck. I think maybe the muller lights are the way to go :p

As for the ice cream I'll check holland and barrett, I can't seem to find any diabetic / no sugar added ice cream any where else.

thanks for all the help :D
 
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