is sugar fattening

[Dave G]

which is fattening (sugar) or is it the fat in everytjhing we eat . I thought sugar was carbohydrate which we need ???

[steveb]

when you are concerned about gaining/losing weight the main thing to concentrate on is the calorific value of the food, usually given as a value of hundreds, or possibly thousands of kcal's, i think its at the top of the nutritional values table on food.

Some foods lead you to believe that they are healthy as they are "fat free" but these can still be extremely fattening foods due to their high sugar content.

Both sugar, or carbohydrates, and fat are fattening when eaten in large amounts. Again in the nutritional values table it tells you how much of the carbohydrates you are consuming are sugars, "of which sugars."

In all if you are concerned about weight it is your calorie intake that you need to watch rather than the sugar or fat content.

[tamborine]

sugar-cane is eaten raw in the far east - very few obese there.

[Ice.Maiden]

Tamborine's right, but I think once it's refined, it becomes almost like a poison to the body. Too much sugar is worse than too much fat. An over-dose can prevent your own insulin from being manufactured - hence diabetes - puts on weight, and causes tooth decay.

[steveb]

sorry miaow that isnt quite right, no extra refined sugar is required if a balanced diet is consumed, but sugar is most definately needed in the diet

[BertiWooster]

Your body needs each day , a certain amount of energy
( measured in calories ) to function .

If you consume more calories ( from whatever foods / drink ) than your body can ' burn up ' , then it will store that excess energy as fat .

So the answer to your question is that sugar can be fattening , depending on the individual .