Carrot Soup (low sugar?)

olwen, Jun 17, 11:10pm
Countdown have a carrot soup recipe and it is labelled low sugar, I would have thought that there was quite a lot of natural sugar,
https://www.countdown.co.nz/recipes/2368/roasted-carrot-and-cumin-soup

kateley, Jun 17, 11:13pm
Better than all those 'low sugar' recipes that have honey and maple syrup and coconut sugar in them

olwen, Jun 17, 11:27pm
True

buzzy110, Jun 18, 12:04am
Natural sugar is not what people should be concentrating on in this instance. Low sugar means "added sugar".

Just for your information the current "low or no sugar" dietary advice applies usually, only to added sugar rather than naturally occurring sugars. All plant foods come with sugars of some sort or another. There is a difference between starch and sugar as well. And here is an interesting tidbit - even lemons have sugar in them.

So read the label. There is no reason why a carrot soup should have added sugar but that does not stop manufacturers. They stick it in everything and if not sugar then they use artificial sweeteners. Only you can decide how much added sugar is low sugar and how much added sugar is too much sugar, not the manufacturers, no matter how much they would like to take that decision away from you.

olwen, Jun 18, 12:39am
Natural sugar can be worse for you in some cases than refined sugar,

buzzy110, Jun 18, 12:58am
Mmmm. Can you expand upon that statement?

olwen, Jun 18, 1:00am
If you are on a low FODMAP diet sucrose is okay. Fructose and lactose can be disastrous.

buzzy110, Jun 18, 1:31am
Got it. Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. I'll have to do more reading on the subject to fully understand why you make the distinction between natural sugars and sucrose because it is not actually clear to me at present. I agree that lactose is a problem because from what I understand, once people pass babyhood, their ability to produce lactase diminishes, making lactose hard to digest.

However, I would have thought that the issue is still one of added sugars, which are considered not OK in the current 'anti-sugar climate' as opposed to natural sugars which have to be accepted, up to a point, if we actually want to eat fruit and vegetables.

sarahb5, Jun 18, 1:46am
And that’s why I would struggle with going sugar free - I do love fruit and eat at least 3 serves a day

buzzy110, Jun 18, 5:02pm
You could just go 'added sugar free'. I cannot actually see a situation where a person with a normal attitude to food would actually be able to go totally sugar free without them giving up all plant based foods and dairy. That certainly is not something I would find in the least bit desirable.

The sugar free debate has echos of the low carb debate. There are plenty of experts and, not so expert, people who claim that low carb is unhealthy. They can only make these claims by deliberately, and with malice aforethought, confusing low carb with no-carb in the minds of their readers or listeners, in order to validate their argument.

eljayv, Jun 18, 8:38pm
Haven’t tried this yet but will
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 large leeks, white and light green ends only, cleaned, trimmed, and thinly sliced
salt
1½ pounds large carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch coins
¼ cup diced Braeburn, Empire, McIntosh, or Cortland apple
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
4 cups chicken stock or Bone Broth (from Nom Nom Paleo)
½ cup full-fat coconut milk
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS

Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks, along with a generous pinch of salt, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Toss in the carrot, apple, ginger, and cardamom, and stir until fragrant. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
Turn down the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the carrots are easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes. Mix in the coconut milk.
Transfer the soup in batches to a blender and process until smooth. Alternatively, purée the soup directly in the pot with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6 serviings

sarahb5, Jun 30, 5:48am
I made this last weekend - it was delicious but I added some chilli flakes because it needed some extra kick

wildflower, Jun 30, 10:22pm
We're not concerned about natural sugars in carrots surely?! I would think all the goodness in them would over ride that. Blimey if we worried about sugars in carrots we'd better off not eating at all.

sarahb5, Jun 30, 10:39pm
I’m with buzzy on this one - avoid added sugar. The soup I’ve made this week is roasted winter vegetable - pumpkin, parsnip, carrot and kumara - with lots of garlic - it’s delicious and cheap because I was given the pumpkin and it will last me most of the week for lunch

cosimo, Jun 30, 10:47pm
I don't know. I have a friend who complained bitterly that she wasn't losing any weight after she had given up her usual snacks and was having a glass of orange juice instead whenever she felt peckish!

sarahb5, Jun 30, 11:19pm
ORange juice is full of sugar, natural or otherwise - better to eat an orange

wildflower, Jul 1, 9:10pm
A glass of orange juice has about the same amount as several fresh oranges.

I wasn't talking added sugars but the natural sugars in a carrot. If you avoided a carrot due to it's natural sugars you would be also missing out on important nutrients. I read the recipe through; there was no mention of added sugars so presumably the OP was referring to naturally occuring sugars.

I too am very aware of added sugars but I'm not about to avoid vegetables due to natural sugars!